Previous

Mary Jackson was born and raised in Hampton and studied math and physical science at the Hampton Institute. Like Dorothy and Katherine, her backstory shows her hard work and love of family. Education along with natural gifts of intelligence are the keys to Mary’s success. When Mary is ready to rejoin the workforce after starting a family with her husband, she applies for a position at Langley and accepts an offer to join West Computing. She quickly learns that even though she is talented and does a good job, she is still a Black woman in a society that sees her as less than equal. 

After her white coworkers laugh at her for not knowing where the bathroom designated for Black women is, Mary is hurt and humiliated. Even though Mary is used to dealing with such treatment outside of Langley, it is particularly humiliating in a professional setting alongside coworkers. Mary is angry about continued segregation and she shares her feelings about this openly. This leads to Mary finding her path as a future engineer. A supervisor sees that Mary has a background in physics as well as the critical thinking skills needed to be an engineer. He invites her to join his team and encourages Mary to continue her education. She does, even though it involves “special permission” to take classes at a school that isn’t integrated. This persistence pays off and Mary becomes the first Black woman engineer at Langley. 

As a Hampton native, Mary’s ties to the community are incredibly strong and she makes positive changes to it. She helps her son become the first Black child to win the Pinewood Derby, she helps integrate the local Girl Scout troop as a troop leader, and she works with colleagues to help Black and white girls know that they can succeed in the workforce by focusing on science and math.

Previous section Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson

Take a Study Break