What Did Jean Jennings Bartik Do in WW II?
Jean Jennings Bartik was inducted into the Women in Technology Hall of Fame in 1999 for her work during World War II. She and other women acted as computers, and because it was top secret work, it was not disclosed or acknowledged for many years afterwards. The iconic woman who worked during World War II, "Rosie", is a mathematician, not just a riveter, as it turns out. After the time when these women strictly computed (i.e. were the computers), they participated in the programming of the ENIAC computer.
In 2008, Bartik was a Fellow Award honoree at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA. You can read more of her story and those of some of the other computer "Rosie the Riveters" by clicking here or going to
http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/innovation/02/08/women.rosies.math/index.html?hpt=C1
I heard about this story from Sonia Pressman Fuentes, and found it inspiring. I hope you will too. Here were women who were involved in deeply important computing just decades after winning the right to vote, and doing a vital job for the war effort to boot.
Bartik has children and grandchildren with mathematical inclinations, and she has followed the development of women in science and math with interest. She says women have not yet gotten far enough in technology, but she is hopeful. She knows women can do it, if they get the chance to show it.
The article reported a comment from Carolyn Leighton of Women in Technology International, "The most important part of all of these stories is how we can use them to shape the legacy for the next generation of women." To which I agree enthusiastically.
Friends, I'm curious, did you know about these women before? Answer the poll and comment below.
Hi Helen,
Interesting idea about the women who worked on the nuclear and hydrogen bombs. I will see what I can dig up on them. Hidden history needs to come out from under the bushel basket so we can be proud of our foremothers (is that a word?)
cheers,
Laura
Wow, I wish I could have been involved in these efforts. I was born at the wrong time, too early or too late. It sounds like these women supported each other, became friends. I would have loved this.
Hi Helen,
I think you're right. Don't necessarily, or even don't at all want to share those opportunities, on the part of some of the men. I still hear people (men) saying, "It's been just fine. I don't know what you're complaining about." But after I talked at Emory last week, a male professor came up to me and said, "Wow, I never realized things like that happened to women." Of course, he was reacting to the blatant things that happened back in the 1960s and 1970s, not the more subtle things we face today.
cheers,
Laura
I'd also be interested to hear about the women who worked on the first nuclear and hydrogen bombs. Some were mentioned in Feynman's book, but I've never seen their stories covered.
I think this is a great example of necessity providing some change. Men realize women can do the same jobs they can do...they just don't necessarily want to share them...
It's great that today we can recapture the hidden history of women before they could get credit on their own. It's too bad their accomplishments were not celebrated earlier, but good that they are now out there and available to be found.
This (the article you get on the link) reads like a movie teaser. I think these women are amazing and I'm glad to know about them.
