Annie Easley

Hello! My name is Annie Easley. I was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on April 23rd, 1933. My mother always told me that I could be anything I wanted to be, as long as I worked hard. Back then, things were not always fair for African Americans. When I was old enough to vote, I had to pass a difficult test just because of the color of my skin. That didn't seem right to me, so after I passed, I spent time helping other people from my community prepare for the test, too. I went off to college in New Orleans in 1953 to study pharmacy, because I loved science and helping people.

A couple of years later, I moved to Cleveland, Ohio. I needed to find a new career path. One day in 1955, I read a story in the newspaper about an amazing place called the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, or NACA for short. It was a place where they designed super-fast airplanes and rockets! The article talked about twin sisters who worked there as 'human computers.' I was so curious. What was a human computer? I found out they were people who were very good at math, and they did all the calculations for the engineers. I thought, 'I can do that!' I applied for a job, and just two weeks later, I was hired. I was one of only four African American employees there.

In 1958, NACA got a new name: NASA! We weren't just thinking about airplanes anymore; we were trying to send people to space. Around this time, giant electronic computers started showing up. My job changed from doing math with a pencil and paper to telling these big machines what to do. I became a computer programmer! I learned computer languages like Fortran and SOAP to write code. While I was working, I also went back to school at night. In 1977, I earned my degree in mathematics. I used my math and programming skills to work on a very important project: the Centaur rocket. It was a powerful rocket stage that helped launch satellites and space probes to explore our solar system.

My work wasn't just about rockets. I also wanted to make sure everyone at NASA was treated with respect. I became an Equal Employment Opportunity counselor, which means I helped solve problems if people felt they were being treated unfairly. It was important to me that everyone had the same chance to succeed. I also loved visiting schools and colleges to encourage students, especially girls and students of color, to dream about careers in science, technology, engineering, and math—what we call STEM fields today. I wanted them to know that they could be rocket scientists, too!

I worked at NASA for 34 years before retiring in 1989. It was an amazing career, and I saw so many incredible things, from the first computers to missions that traveled to other planets. I lived to be 78 years old. Today, my work is still helping us explore the universe. The code I wrote helped lay the groundwork for modern space travel. I hope you remember that with curiosity and determination, you can solve even the toughest problems and help make the world a better, fairer place for everyone.