Mary Winston Jackson (1921-2005)

Mary Jackson, aerospace engineer, was born in Hampton and graduated from Hampton Institute in 1942. The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), later NASA, hired her in 1951 to be a “human computer” in the segregated West Area Computing Unit at Langley Aeronautical Laboratory. In 1958 she became NASA’s first African American female engineer. Her research focused on airflow around aircraft, and she contributed to Projects Mercury and Apollo. Jackson later worked to advance the careers of other female engineers and scientists. She was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, a Girl Scout leader, and a volunteer in many civic organizations.