![]() A crash course in engineering physics is set up for new computers, and Vaughan attends, learning the basics of aerodynamics. There are black pilots in World War II, notably the Tuskegee airmen, but all Americans are concerned with the improvement of aircraft-and they’re anxious to protect those improvements from possible Axis spies. Virginia society at large is not as accepting, but the West Computers endure, “having internalized the Negro theorem of needing to be twice as good to get half as far.” Others are ambivalent about the black womens’ presence at Langley, with many engineers taking the pragmatic view that if someone can do math, they can do math-end of story. ![]() Some white employees treat the West Computers relatively well, such as Hannah, who invites them to social events even though this makes her a pariah with some white colleagues. Eventually, Langley stops putting up new signs. A West Computer named Miriam Mann starts putting the sign in her purse (even though this could get her fired). Employee sections don't generally mix, except in the cafeteria, where the West Computers are required to sit together at a table with a white cardboard sign: COLORED COMPUTERS. Langley is scrambling to maintain production and innovation. The American aircraft industry was the country’s 43rd largest industry in 1938 by 1943, it's the world’s number-one industry. Engineers come to Tucker with a computing assignment, which she gives to Hannah, who passes it along to the West Area computer best suited for the job. The computing operation at Langley includes around 200 women, supervised by Virginia Tucker, head computer. The West Area houses the black computers (the white computers are in the East Area), around 20 of them when Vaughan joins, with a white computer named Margery Hannah as their supervisor. Construction of the West Area began in 1939, and in 1942 the buildings are painted dark green to camouflage them against possible Axis attack. ![]() ![]() The laboratory at Langley was established in 1917, and it expanded as the government bought more land from Hampton and the surrounding areas. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |