Reposted by Request of Her Popeliness
You know, often when talking about feminist issues, we get caught up in talking about issues that are rather rage inducing, not surprisingly. So today, I want to share some cool feminist icons that I don't think get enough attention: the first six computer programmers, all of whom were women.
To quote their profile from the Women In Technology International Hall of Fame:
"The first programmers started out as 'Computers.' This was the name given by the Army to a group of over 80 women working at the University of Pennsylvania during World War II calculating ballistics trajectories - complex differential equations - by hand. When the Army agreed to fund an experimental project, the first all-electronic digital computer, six 'Computers' were selected in 1945 to be its first programmers. They were Kathleen McNulty Mauchly Antonelli, Jean Jennings Bartik, Frances Snyder Holberton, Marlyn Wescoff Meltzer, Frances Bilas Spence and Ruth Lichterman Teitelbaum."
To quote their profile from the Women In Technology International Hall of Fame:
"The first programmers started out as 'Computers.' This was the name given by the Army to a group of over 80 women working at the University of Pennsylvania during World War II calculating ballistics trajectories - complex differential equations - by hand. When the Army agreed to fund an experimental project, the first all-electronic digital computer, six 'Computers' were selected in 1945 to be its first programmers. They were Kathleen McNulty Mauchly Antonelli, Jean Jennings Bartik, Frances Snyder Holberton, Marlyn Wescoff Meltzer, Frances Bilas Spence and Ruth Lichterman Teitelbaum."