The contributions of women to advancing the various fields of Science are often overlooked and undermined. African American women were especially susceptible to this maltreatment. However, it is a fact that these women’s contributions have shaped the field of science today. The work that these women were doing is even more impressive when you take into consideration the time periods they were working in, and the lack of resources available to them. While investigating women who contributed to mathematics and engineering, the efforts of Emily Roebling, Edith Clarke, Dorothy Vaughan, Katherine
Johnson, and Mary Jackson could not go unmentioned.
Emily Roebling was an industrial engineer born in 1843. Her education started in
Washington D.C. at …show more content…
While there, she met her husband, Washington
Roebling, whose father was working on the Brooklyn Bridge at the time. Unfortunately, after an accident on the job, her father-in-law developed health problems and soon died.
Washington took over, but he too was unable to keep up with the project after developing
Caisson disease. Thus, Emily soon took over a large majority of the job. Her work involved keeping up with tasks by becoming a secretary of sorts, relaying information back and forth, as well as checking up on the worksite. Through this experience, she learned a great deal of knowledge about the bridge and was then able to start working alongside the board, making big decisions such as negotiating with companies for materials. She played such an important role in the finishing of the Brooklyn Bridge, that she led the first group of people over the walkway once finished, and was toasted for her achievements once across.
Although she made great contributions to the project, because she was a woman, she was not given any credit for her work in the press. It was not until the dedication ceremonies in
1883 that she was recognized for her contributions. After the bridge, Emily began work