Mary G. Ross was the first Native American woman engineer and was an aerospace pioneer. As such, she was the featured person in the August 9, 2018 Google Doodle Mary G. Ross' 110th Birthday.
Mary Golda "Gold" Ross was born 9 Aug 1908 in Park Hill, Oklahoma to William Wallace “Biscuit” Ross Jr. and Mary Henretta (Moore). Through her father she was the great-great-granddaughter of the Cherokee Chief John Ross.
Mary was a precocious learner and excelled at mathematics.[1] Graduating high school at the age of sixteen she then attended Northeastern State Teachers College (now Northeastern State University) in her hometown of Tahlequah, Oklahoma. After college, she taught math in public schools before enrolling at Colorado State Teachers College (now the University of Northern Colorado at Greeley), where she graduated with a master's degree in mathematics in 1938.[2]
At the outbreak of World War II she began a consulting mathematician job with Lockheed Martin in support of fighter aircraft at the famed Skunk Works. At the conclusion of the war, Mary once again enrolled in school taking Aeronautical and Mechanical engineering at UCLA. As Lockheed ramped up missile defense and eventually satellite systems work, forming the Missiles Systems Division in 1954, she was the only woman chosen among the first forty employees.[3][4]
Her most notable accomplishments are arguably those related to space exploration efforts, particularly with work relating to the Apollo program, the Polaris reentry vehicle, and interplanetary space probes. During her career she garnered numerous accolades and awards:
San Francisco Examiner's award for Woman of Distinction 1961
Woman of Achievement Award from the California State Federation of Business and Professional Clubs
Elected a fellow and life member of the Society of Women Engineers
Recipient of achievement awards from the American Indian Science and Engineering Society and from the Council of Energy Resource Tribes
Inducted into the Silicon Valley Engineering Hall of Fame 1992
Outstanding Alumnus - University of Northern Colorado at Greeley 1992 (Masters)
Native American $1 Coin 2019 - features Mary Ross and other Native Americans who contributed to space exploration
Portrait: Mary Golda Ross: Ad Astra per Astra by America Meredith, 2011. Acrylic on Canvas, 30" x 40" National Museum of the American Indian
As her renown grew beyond the science and industrial communities she appeared on the 1950's TV game show "What's My Line?". The June 22, 1958 episode featured a panel with Jack Lemmon, among others, who were to guess her occupation.[5]Watch: Series 9, Episode 43 YouTube runtime 26:03.
After retiring in 1973, Gold became a world traveler, and spent much of her time educating and recruiting young women and Native American youth into engineering careers.
Mary passed away 29 Apr 2008 at her home in Los Altos, California just 3 ½ months before her 100th birthday. Services were held in both her adopted home of California, and her birthplace of Park Hill, Oklahoma, where she was interred.[6]
Sources
↑ Ariel Sandberg Aerospace Engineering June 14, 2017. “Remembering Mary Golda Ross.” Michigan Engineering, 14 June 2017, news.engin.umich.edu/2017/06/remembering-mary-golda-ross/.
"United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MJMD-XZF : accessed 31 December 2020), Mary Goldie Ross in household of John Boswell, Park Hill, Cherokee, Oklahoma, United States; citing ED 21, sheet 9A, line 2, family 159, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 1451; FHL microfilm 1,821,451. Note: The 1920 census was erroneously transcribed as the children were not listed consecutively with the parents, but rather placed on a supplemental page. Therefore, they were not actually part of the John Boswell household.
"United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J5LK-3T1 : 20 May 2014), Mary Golda Ross, 29 Apr 2008; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
Find a Grave, database and images (www.findagrave.com : accessed 15 September 2020), memorial page for Mary Golda “GOLD” Ross (9 Aug 1908–29 Apr 2008), Find A Grave: Memorial #32113706, citing Ross Cemetery, Park Hill, Cherokee County, Oklahoma, USA ; Maintained by Robert Bruce Ross, IV (contributor 46488195).
Cointreau, Maya. The Girl Who Could Rock the Moon: an Inspirational Tale about Mary G. Ross and the Magic of STEM. An Earth Lodge Publication, 2019.
“Mary Golda Ross: The First Native American Aerospace Engineer and Space Race Pioneer.” www.amightygirl.com, 9 Aug. 2020, www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=26040.
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I've added categories for Needs Biography so that the existing biography, which is a direct copy from Wikipedia article, can be replaced. See: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:Copying_from_Wikipedia
Thanks for creating her profile!
Azure Rae