"...be prepared, and work hard -- everybody that succeeds must work hard..." |
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Ignored By History
~World War II ended before ENIAC could be utilized, and the project remained top secret for five months, until the army decided to make the invention public. An unveiling ceremony was scheduled, and the six women were given two weeks to program the computer to perform the complex math problem of launching a missile and accurately striking its target. The success of the demonstration was critical in showcasing the capabilities of the machine, and thanks to the women's work, it performed flawlessly. However, while Mauchly and Eckert were honored at a dinner that night, the women were excluded from the celebrations, and received no public credit for their work. In fact, Herman Goldstine, who served as the military liaison for the ENIAC Six, later wrote a history of the ENIAC in which falsely claimed that he and his wife had programmed the demonstration.
~The role these women played in computer history wasn't known until nearly forty years later, when Kathy Kleiman, a college student studying women in computing, saw pictures of ENIAC. Although there were both men and women in the photographs, only the men were identified. When she asked who the women were, she was told that they were simply models, hired for publicity materials. Luckily Kleiman didn't accept that answer, and eventually located the women, publicizing their story through books and a documentary.
~The role these women played in computer history wasn't known until nearly forty years later, when Kathy Kleiman, a college student studying women in computing, saw pictures of ENIAC. Although there were both men and women in the photographs, only the men were identified. When she asked who the women were, she was told that they were simply models, hired for publicity materials. Luckily Kleiman didn't accept that answer, and eventually located the women, publicizing their story through books and a documentary.
Bibliography: Calkhoven, Laurie. Women Who Launched the Computer Age. New York: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, 2016. Print.
Reed, Jenniger. Computer Scientist: Jean Bartik. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 2017. Print.
Evans, Claire L. Broad Band: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the Internet. New York: Penguin Random House LLC, 2018. Print.
Reed, Jenniger. Computer Scientist: Jean Bartik. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 2017. Print.
Evans, Claire L. Broad Band: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the Internet. New York: Penguin Random House LLC, 2018. Print.
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