Mary G. Ross (1908-2008) was a crucial part of the US effort in the Cold War era missile and space race.
Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know -- but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Leading Ladies, Activists, STEMinists, Hometown Heroes, and many more. Encyclopedia Womannica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.
Encyclopedia Womannica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Liz Smith, Cinthia Pimentel, Grace Lynch, and Maddy Foley. Special thanks to Shira Atkins, Edie Allard, Luisa Garbowit, and Carmen Borca-Carrillo.
We are offering free ad space on Wonder Media Network shows to organizations working towards social justice. For more information, please email Jenny at jenny@wondermedianetwork.com.
Follow Wonder Media Network:
Today’s STEMinist was a crucial part of the US effort in the Cold War era missile and space race. She developed technology that enabled the Apollo 11 mission and interplanetary space probes. She was the first Native American woman and the only woman engineer working at the top-secret Lockheed think-tank in the 1940s. Let’s talk about Mary G. Ross.
Mary was born on August 9, 1908, in Park Hill, Oklahoma. Her great-great-grandfather, John Ross, had been the principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation in the mid-1800s. When she was very young, Mary was sent to live with her grandparents in nearby Talequah to attend school. She was brought up in the Cherokee tradition of equal schooling for all children, regardless of gender-- but she was the only girl in her math class. Mary didn’t seem to mind, and she quickly became fascinated with math, physics, and science.
Mary graduated high school at 16 and immediately enrolled in Northeastern State Teacher’s College, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics at the age of 20. She then worked as a math and science teacher for nearly ten years in public schools. In 1936, she became a statistician for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C. A year later, she served as an advisor at a Pueblo and Navajo school for boys and girls in New Mexico.
Throughout this time, Mary had her eye on furthering her own education. She took several years of summer classes at Colorado State Teachers College and graduated with a master’s degree, again in mathematics, in 1938. During her time there, Mary was drawn to the stars and took every astronomy class she was offered.
It was a passion that soon paid off -- in 1942, Mary was hired as a consulting mathematician with the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation in Burbank, CA. At the time, it was mainly focused on producing aviation technology for World War II. Mary worked on troubleshooting military aircrafts, including the P-83, a plane so fast it nearly broke the sound barrier.
Lockheed saw Mary’s potential, and with the company’s support, she continued her education at the University of California, Los Angeles. She studied aeronautical and mechanical engineering. With her degree, she became the first Native American woman to get a professional certification in engineering.
In 1952, Lockheed opened Skunk Works, its top-secret missile systems program. It opened with 40 employees. Mary was the only woman on staff other than the secretary. At Skunk Works, Mary researched the performance of ballistic missiles and other defense systems. She worked long hours and often did her calculations with less-than-ideal technology.
After a few years, Mary’s focus turned from the missile race to the space race. She worked on satellite orbits and on engineering a series of rockets called Agena. These rockets would later play a prominent role in the Apollo moon programs of the 1960s. She also worked on interplanetary travel, including the Polaris reentry vehicle, and set precedents for future engineering systems on manned space flights. She was a lead writer on NASA’s planetary flight handbook and worked on concepts for projects we still haven’t seen come to fruition, including flights to Mars and Venus.
Despite her prominence in the field, Mary constantly shocked people with her choice of career. In 1958, she guest-starred on the game show “What’s My Line,” where she stumped contestants attempting to identify her occupation. It took quite a while before they guessed she designed rocket missiles and satellites.
After a long and fruitful career, Mary retired in 1973, at the age of 65. She continued to work, most notably by delivering lectures to schools and colleges to encourage Native American youth to train for technical careers.
Throughout her career, Mary gained several awards and accolades for her work. In 1992, she was inducted into the Silicon Valley Hall of Fame. In 2004, she donned ancestral Cherokee dress to be part of a procession of Native peoples opening the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. She also left more than $400,000 to the museum upon her death in 2008. She was 99 years old.
In 2019, the United States mint included a print of Mary and her rockets on a limited edition one-dollar coin.
Though we know Mary was vitally important to advances in aeronautics, we don’t actually know all the projects and technology she created at Lockheed -- her work was so top-secret, it’s still under wraps. All month, we’re talking about STEMinists. For more on why we’re doing what we’re doing, check out our newsletter, Womannica Weekly. Follow us on facebook and instagram @encyclopediawomannica.
Talk to you tomorrow!