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Secret Rosies: The Female Computers of World War II
Leann Erickson
2010, 60 minutes
Documentary
I expect most people are aware that the library has DVDs of many fine feature films, new and classic, which may be borrowed for 7 days at no charge. You may be less aware that we also have instructional DVDs and documentaries.
This documentary, distributed by PBS, tells the unknown story of the World War II mathematicians who worked on top secret projects for the U.S. Army calculating trajectories for air and ground arsenal as well as helping program the first electronic computer – ENIAC. Rosie the Riveter made the weapons in the factories, but these female “computers” made them accurate.
You'll meet four of these top secret Rosies, as well as a mechanic who serviced the differential analyzer the women used in their work and one of the bombardiers who used the ballistics tables to determine when to drop bombs from the aircraft.
It's really interesting to hear these 80 year-old women talk about their work and their feelings and reactions to their part in the war effort. It's too bad that, due partly to the secret nature of their work, they never received the public recognition they deserved for their role in the war effort and as programming pioneers at the dawn of the computer age. This documentary may help rectify that wrong.
