Science & Technology

Mary Jackson

Born April 9, 1921 · Hampton, Virginia · Joined the Ancestors February 11, 2005

NASA's first Black female engineer — Mary Jackson broke barriers in aeronautics research and then broke them again by fighting to open doors for every woman and person of color who came after her.

Known For

NASA's first Black female engineer

Depicted In

Hidden Figures (2016)

Honor

NASA HQ renamed in her honor, 2020

Mary Winston Jackson was born and raised in Hampton, Virginia. After earning degrees in mathematics and physical science from Hampton Institute, she joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA, later NASA) in 1951 as a research mathematician in the segregated West Area Computing section.

To become an engineer, Jackson needed to take advanced courses at the University of Virginia — which held classes at a whites-only high school. She petitioned the city of Hampton for permission to attend, won, and in 1958 became NASA's first Black female engineer, specializing in wind tunnel experiments and aircraft data analysis.

After two decades of engineering, Jackson chose to take a demotion to become manager of NASA's Federal Women's Program, where she worked to hire and promote women and minorities throughout the agency. In 2020, NASA renamed its Washington, D.C. headquarters the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters in her honor.