Mary W. Jackson, the first Black woman engineer at NASA who was celebrated in the movie Hidden Figures, just became a little bit less hidden. The space agency announced Wednesday that it’s named its Washington, D.C., headquarters after Jackson, saying she was “part of a group of very important women who helped NASA succeed in getting American astronauts into space.” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a statement: “Mary never accepted the status quo, she helped break barriers and open opportunities for African Americans and women in the field of engineering and technology.” In 1951, Jackson was recruited by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics—which preceded NASA—and worked in segregated West Area Computing Unit. In 1958, she became NASA’s first Black woman engineer—a job she had for two decades. “We are honored that NASA continues to celebrate the legacy of our mother and grandmother Mary W. Jackson.” said her daughter, Carolyn Lewis.
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