Miriam D. Mann

Human Computer, NACA/NASA
Miriam D. Mann
Born1907 (1907)
Covington, Georgia
Died1967 (aged 59–60)
NationalityAmerican
EducationTalladega College

Miriam Daniel Mann (1907–1967) was one of the first Black female computers for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA).

Biography

Mann was born in 1907, in Covington, Georgia.[1] She attended Talladega College. She was married to Bill Mann,[2] with whom she had three children.[3] In 1943, in the wake of labor shortages caused by World War II, Mann responded to a recruitment drive for Black female mathematicians by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA).[3] She subsequently attended a 10-week training course at Hampton Institute and was accepted for a position as a "human computer".[2][4] At the time she was hired the state of Virginia was segregated, as was the NACA campus at Langley, Virginia. Mann repeatedly removed the "COLORED COMPUTERS" sign segregating the cafeteria. The sign was replaced each time until Mann removed it a final time and it was never replaced.[5]

Mann worked for NACA (which became NASA in 1958) until her retirement in 1966.[2] She died in 1967.[1]

In 2017 Mann's granddaughter Duchess Harris co-authored a book with Sue Bradford Edwards entitled Hidden Human Computers: The Black Women of NASA.[6] In 2018 the Virginia Capitol Foundation announced that Mann's name would be on the Virginia Women's Monument's glass Wall of Honor.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Biography of Miriam D. Mann · Human Computers at NASA". Macalester College. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Sichynsky, Tanya. "How World War II opened the door for one of the first black women at NASA". Washington Post. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Hidden Figures: How Nasa hired its first black women 'computers'". BBC News. 18 February 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
  4. ^ Collazo, Julie Schwietert. "NASA's Hidden Figures: The Unsung Women You Need to Know". Biography. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
  5. ^ Cabral, Carrie (1 June 2020). "Miriam Mann and the Daily Protests That Changed NASA". Shortform Books. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
  6. ^ "Hidden Human Computers: The Black Women of NASA". ABDO. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
  7. ^ "Wall of Honor". Virginia Women's Monument Commission. Retrieved 16 April 2022.

External links

  • Granddaughter of NASA "Hidden Figure," Duchess Harris, shares story of Miriam Mann