Born in 1921, Mary Jackson (played by Janelle Monáe) was raised in Hampton, VA, where she earned degrees in mathematics and physical science. After graduating, Mary took various jobs — teaching, tutoring, bookkeeping, clerking, and more. Finally, in 1951, Jackson was recruited by NACA and worked as a "computer" in the West Area Computing Section, which was supervised by Dorothy Vaughan. Two years later, she began working for engineer Kazimierz Czarnecki, who encouraged her to study to become an engineer herself.
Unfortunately, this required graduate-level degrees, which she was unable to obtain because the school system was still segregated. She petitioned the city of Hampton to attend the necessary university courses, which were offered as night classes at an all-white high school. Her petition was granted and Jackson went on to become NASA's first black female engineer in 1958. She worked on wind tunnel experiments, particularly the Supersonic Pressure Tunnel, in addition to conducting several flight experiments used to better understand theoretical aerodynamics.
Although she eventually went on to become the most senior engineer in the department after 34 years, she took a demotion to become an equal opportunity specialist, helping to create opportunities for women and minorities in the field. She retired from NASA in 1985.
Jackson passed away in 2005 at the age of 83.
