Celebrating Annie Easley
Dignari believes in the spirit of innovation and those who are brave enough to drive industry forward, often under significant personal and professional pressure. When we named our company services, we wanted to recognize and celebrate the impact of historical women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). For our emerging technology services, we had one woman in mind.
In 1955 Annie Easley had recently graduated from Xavier University, married, moved to Cleveland, and was pursuing her goal of becoming a Pharmacist. Unfortunately, the nearby School of Pharmacy had recently closed and she found herself looking for options. One day as she was reading the local paper she came across a story about twin sisters who were working as human computers at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). She was so interested in the job that she drove to the lab the next day and was working there two weeks later—changing her life’s trajectory and sparking a lifetime of contributions in STEM.
Growing up, Easley’s mother was always her role model and instilled in her a belief that she could do anything she put her mind to. Her mother’s words, “You can be anything you want to be, but you have to work at it” resonated with Easley and formed the foundation for how she approached life.
Starting her career at NACA as a human computer, she supported the engineering department by analyzing problems and doing calculations by hand. At the time she was one of only 4 African-American employees at the lab that would ultimately become NASA, and the only one in her department. She summed up her perspective in a 2001 interview when she said, “I didn't feel like I'm a minority, I'm less. I just have my own attitude. I'm here to work. You may look at me, someone else may look at me, and see something different, but that's okay. But I'm out here to do a job and I knew I had the ability to do it, and that's where my focus was, on getting the job done. I was not intentionally trying to be a pioneer. I wanted a job, I wanted to work.”
Even so, she still recognized the challenges and constraints in front of her. When asked about facing discrimination as an African-American or a female she tells of one story that she remembers vividly, “As a minority, I know that it was there, and one of the things I remember is having a picture made at a work site …I think there were six of us who worked on it. Once a year or once every two or three years, they'd have an open house, and this picture was blown up. I was cut out of that picture. I was so embarrassed, when we go through this building, to see this—and one of them says, ‘Oh, Annie, they cut you out of the picture.’” She was fully aware of prejudice and bias but she would not be discouraged and would persevere, continuing to move forward with a perspective she summed up as, “...if I can’t work with you, I will work around you.”
Her career spanned 34 years as she embraced a lifetime of learning–continuing to evolve while inspiring those around her. As machines replaced human computers, she adapted and learned new skills, including programming in FORTRAN. She worked on numerous projects for NASA including simulations for the Plum Brook Reactor Facility, ozone layer assessments, launch vehicle calculations, development of the Centaur rocket, and analysis of advanced battery technology that influenced hybrid and electric vehicles many years into the future. In the 1970s she returned to school to get a degree in mathematics, at times going to school full time and working full-time, while paying her own way as she faced misinformation from supervisors about NASA’s willingness to provide financial support for employees like her.
Throughout her career she believed in teamwork, social interaction, and the importance of a well-rounded life experience. She started skiing when she was 46 and helped form and lead a ski club that would grow to 200 members and branch out to other activities such as canoeing, whitewater rafting, and snowboarding. She tutored throughout her life, recruited engineers at Universities across the country, participated in the Speaker’s Bureau, and served as an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) counselor helping supervisors address discrimination based on gender, race, and age.
Easley was a pioneer for women and African-Americans and her passion, energy, and relentless curiosity and work ethic symbolize the spirit of innovation.