Annie Easley, Computer Engineer, Mathematician & Rocket Scientist
By: Rachel L
Tags: Computer Science, Womens History, NASA, STEM, Technology

Annie Easley, Computer Engineer, Mathematician & Rocket Scientist

Trill Partnership: Rediscover STEAM

Annie J. Easley was born in Birmingham, Alabama on April 23, 1933. As a black woman born before the Civil Rights Movement, her educational and career opportunities were limited. At the time, children were taught in segregated schools. However, this did not stop Easley: she worked hard and eventually graduated from Holy Family High School as valedictorian. After high school, she majored in pharmacy at Xavier University in New Orleans. Four years later, she returned home and had to pass a literacy test and pay a poll tax in order to vote due to the Jim Crow laws. During her time in Birmingham, she supported and helped other African-Americans pass the tests while advocating for women of color to join STEM-related fields for years to come.

Easley’s passion for computer science developed while living in Cleveland, Ohio with her husband. She tried to continue her education in pharmacy but was unsuccessful because of the lack of pharmacy programs in her local area. At this time, she stumbled upon a newspaper article detailing the work of the “human computer” twin sisters at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), now NASA. This single article pushed her to immediately apply to work at NACA as a mathematician and computer engineer. She was accepted and welcomed to the job as one of four African-Americans to work at NACA at this time. With her outstanding work ethic, valedictorian status, and her mother’s constant support throughout her childhood, Easley was unstoppable.

During her 34-year career, she was able to work on many projects and technologies that undoubtedly enabled current spaceflight and exploration. With technology becoming ubiquitous in everyday lives and new innovations constantly being created, she eventually had to stop working as a “human calculator” and became a math technician. In fact, she started working harder and even decided to pursue a math degree at Cleveland State University while still working full-time at NACA. Although she made significant contributions to various projects, this sadly did not protect her from discrimination while working at NACA. While her male colleagues had their undergraduate tuitions paid for, she had to pay for her education out of her own pockets. In addition, there were instances where her face was deliberately cut out of pictures. However, she persevered, worked harderm and eventually evolved alongside technology, learning how to code with languages such as SOAP. She soon returned to school in the 1970s to complete a mathematics degree, which she did in 1977 all while working full time at NASA. Later in her career, Easley worked as an equal employment opportunity counselor, where she addressed issues of gender, race, and age in discrimination complaints. After working for NASA for 34 years, she finally retired in 1989. Although Annie J. Easley passed away on June 25, 2011, her legacy still lives on and inspires countless young women to believe in themselves while making a difference in the STEAM fields.

“When people have their biases and prejudices, yes, I am aware. My head is not in the sand. But my thing is, if I can’t work with you, I will work around you. I was not about to be discouraged that I’d walk away. That may be a solution for some people, but it’s not mine.” — Annie Easley

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