National | Technology

Cherokee scientist Mary Ross finally gains widespread attention

Thursday, August 9, 2018

The late Mary Golda Ross, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation who is considered to be the first Native woman to work as an aerospace engineer, is finally gaining widespread attention thanks to Google.

The internet giant featured Ross as its "Google Doodle" on Thursday, on what would have been her 110th birthday. Her achievements -- she worked on a number of major aerospace initiatives, some of which remain classified -- are now being lauded around the world.

“She was six feet tall but very quiet and unassuming,” her niece Evelyn Ross McMillan told Oklahoma Today Magazine in a feature story written by Cherokee journalist Graham Lee Brewer that features its own unique artwork by Kickapoo diva Arigon Starr. “She did not demand anything. She just went in and did it in her very quiet way.”

Thanks to @OklahomaToday for asking me to be a contributing editor and to add some Native stories to this issue. Really happy to write about fellow Cherokee and rocket scientist/hip lady, Mary Golda Ross. pic.twitter.com/ww324nHsL7
— Graham Lee Brewer (@grahambrewer) June 27, 2018

Ross was the great-great granddaughter of Chief John Ross, who led the Cherokee Nation during the Trail of Tears, the tribe's forced removal from its homelands in the southeastern U.S. She worked as a teacher in Oklahoma before earning a master’s degree from Colorado State College of Education.

Her love of science eventually led her to the Lockheed Missiles and Space Company, a unit of the company now known as Lockheed Martin. According to Oklahoma Today, she wasn't just the first Native engineer there, she was the only woman on a team that developed important aircraft and spacecraft for the federal government.

Ross retired in 1973, Oklahoma Today reported, and dedicated her life to organizations like the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, encouraging Native students to enter the science, technology, engineering and math fields. Her family issued a statement through Google about her historic accomplishments.

"The Ross family is excited that Google has chosen Mary G. Ross for a Doodle on her 110th birthday. A proud Cherokee woman and the great-great granddaughter of Chief John Ross, Mary is an excellent role model for young women and American Indians everywhere," the family said. "Her accomplishments are a testament to her determination and love for education. Our hope as a family is that her story inspires young people to pursue a technical career and better the world through science."