Mary McCarthy was a freshman studying communications technology at an Oklahoma junior college when the United States entered the Second World War. She joined the Civil Service shortly after and spent the war years repairing damaged planes and…
Realizing that her dream of becoming a concert pianist would not materialize, Ruth Gordon instead decided to pursue a degree in civil engineering at Stanford University. She completed a master's degree in structural engineering in 1950 and has since…
Thelma Estrin originally intended to become an accountant but became interested in engineering after taking a three-month training course at Stevens Institute of Technology in 1943 and working as a machinist at the Radio Receptor Company. When her…
A ceramic engineer and former NASA astronaut, Dr. Bonnie Dunbar is currently President & CEO of the Museum of Flight in Seattle, WA. Dunbar received her M.S. in ceramic engineering from the University of Washington in 1975. Upon graduation she joined…
The first person in her family to graduate from high school, Lois Cooper originally went to Tougaloo College in Mississippi to study law. She discovered that she preferred working with numbers and eventually graduated in 1954 with a degree in…
Yvonne Brill's high school principal encouraged her to become a teacher, her parents remained neutral, and her physics teacher believed that, as a woman, she would not become anything at all. Nevertheless, Brill pushed to receive a Bachelor of…
There were few other women studying engineering at the University of Illinois when Betty Lou Bailey entered its undergraduate mechanical engineering program. When she received her degree in 1950 she was the only woman in a graduating class of 700…
Joseph Billups was one of the first members of Local 600. He worked at Ford and was fired numerous times for his union association. Mr. and Mrs. Billups discuss their roles with the Ford Hunger March of 1932, their participation with the Detroit…