Mary Jackson and the Inclusivity in Science

 Science or mathematics, at its core, is inclusive. It is a space where logic matters the most, where curiosity and brilliance outrank prejudices. An equation doesn't care who solves it, a wind test tunnel doesn't ask for your skin colour. And yet, for so long, the laboratories and research centres of the world have been reserved for the privileged few. In this context, it is interesting to examine how women entered scientific institutions like NASA in the first place.

“Computing” — the painstaking process of doing mathematical calculations by hand during that time — was seen as dull, mechanical work. Male engineers found it exhausting, and as an experiment, labs began hiring women instead. They were reliable, precise, and, in the eyes of the institution, inexpensive. It also freed male engineers to do what they considered “real science.” The experiment became a quiet revolution. Women excelled. Many had university degrees in mathematics but had been denied opportunities elsewhere. They had something to prove, and they poured that ambition into their work. And then World War II accelerated things. With more and more men overseas fighting the war, America faced a massive shortage of technical workers. Laboratories, research centres, and aeronautics facilities suddenly needed skilled minds — fast. Out of necessity, the gates opened wider. For the first time, Black women were hired as mathematical aides. Not because segregation had softened — but because America desperately needed brains. This is the landscape Mary Jackson walked into- a world still segregated, still unjust, but one where the cracks in the system had finally become wide enough for Black women to step through.

Mary Jackson ©NASA Langley Research Center

Mary grew up in Hampton, Virginia — a place where the rules of segregation dictated where she could study, where she could sit, and even which libraries she could enter. She studied mathematics and physical sciences at Hampton Institute, graduating in 1942. Numbers made sense to her, and she was quite extraordinary. But like so many Black women of her generation, brilliance did not guarantee opportunity. Mary worked as a teacher, a bookkeeper, a receptionist and a secretary. She did whatever she could — until 1951, when the door cracked open.

In 1951, Mary Jackson joined NASA, then NACA, National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics at the Langley Research Centre, as part of the racially segregated “West Area Computing” group — a cadre of African-American female mathematicians acting as human computers. Under the supervision of Dorothy Vaughan, these women performed critical calculations that would become foundational to America’s nascent space ambitions.

After two years of doing computations, Mary was offered a position to work with engineer Kazimierz Czarnecki in the 4-by-4-foot Supersonic Pressure Tunnel — a powerful wind tunnel used to simulate supersonic flight conditions. She took it and proved her brilliance there as well. Czarnecki saw her talent and encouraged her to become an engineer. That meant taking graduate-level math and physics courses. But because of segregation laws, the evening classes were held at an all-white high school — putting Mary in a position where she had to formally request permission from the City of Hampton to enrol. She petitioned — and won the right. She completed the courses, and in 1958, she was promoted to aerospace engineer — becoming NASA’s first Black female engineer.

As an engineer, Mary Jackson worked at Langley on understanding airflow, boundary-layer behaviour, drag and thrust — technical but fundamental questions central to aircraft design and aerospace progress. In 1958, she co-authored her first technical report, “Effects of Nose Angle and Mach Number on Transition on Cones at Supersonic Speeds.” Over the next two decades, she contributed to around a dozen NACA/NASA technical publications.

In 1979, Mary made a bold decision; she opted for a demotion to become the Federal Women’s Program Manager at Langley. In this role, she opened doors for countless women and underrepresented minorities — mentoring them, helping them navigate a system not designed for them, pushing to make NASA more inclusive. She retired in 1985, leaving behind not only technical innovations but also a stronger institutional commitment to fairness and diversity.

Today, her contributions are widely recognised. She was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal after her death. And in 2021, NASA renamed its Washington, D.C. headquarters as the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters. She and other West Computers—including Vaughan and Katherine Johnson—were the inspiration for Margot Lee Shetterly’s book 'Hidden Figures', which was made into an acclaimed film as well, both were released in 2016. Her life affirms what many believe: that science, at its best, offers a universal language — indifferent to prejudice, blind to bias — where brilliance is recognised on merit and not background.

Written by Parvathy Ramachandran and edited by Janaky S.  

References:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Jackson_(engineer)

2. https://www.nasa.gov/people/mary-w-jackson-biography/

3. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mary-Jackson-mathematician-and-engineer

4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpRDtnT_LXY

5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZKQoUGMNv4