top secret rosies : the female " computers " of wwii
top secret rosies | in war, math may be the most secret weapon of all .
filmmaker and professor leann erickson presents her documentary, top secret rosies: the female computers of wwii. rosies shares the story of female mathematicians who did secret u. s. army research during wwii, a handful of whom went on to serve as the programmers of eniac, the 1st computer. 
2010 marks the 65th anniversary of the end of wwii, yet the amazing account of these women remains untold until now. top secret rosies: the female computers of wwii shares a story of the women and technology that helped win a war and usher in the modern computer age .
in 1942 a group of female mathematicians helped win a war and usher in the modern computer age. top secret rosies shares the little known story of a group of female mathematicians who did secret research for the us army during wwii, a handful of whom went on to serve as the programmers of eniac, one of the first electronic computers .
in 1942 soon after the japanese attack on pearl harbor, a secret military program was launched to recruit female mathematicians who would become human computers for the u. s. military. top secret rosies: the female computers of wwii shares a story of the women and technology that helped win a war and usher in the modern computer age .
in 1942, when computers were human and women were underestimated, a group of female mathematicians were recruited to complete secret research for the us army. top secret rosies: the female computers of wwii is a one hour documentary that shares the little known story of the women and technology that helped win the war and usher in the modern computer age. read more >
from pbs - in 1942 soon after the japanese attack on pearl harbor, a secret military program was launched to recruit female mathematicians who would become human' computers' for the us military. top secret' rosies': the female' computers' of wwii shares a story of the women and technology that helped win a war and usher in the modern computer age .
because of the top secret nature of their work, the female computers of wwii - the code breakers, ballistics calculators, and programmers - never received recognition for their contribution to the war effort. this film (now available on netflix !) finally brings their experience to light and gives these
top secret rosies
the opportunity to tell their stories .
drexel university, a military - friendly school, celebrates women’s herstory month and pays homage to female veterans. a film screening of top secret rosies: the female computers of wwii will be followed by a discussion reflecting on the role of women in the military and computing. panelists will include the film director leann erikson .
berkenwald, leah .
top secret rosies
: how female computers helped win wwii .
16 february 2011. jewish women' s archive. (viewed on july 9, 2018) < urltoken > .
please join filmmaker leann erickson for a reception and a screening of her new documentary top secret rosies: the female computers of wwii on monday, december 6 th at 6: 30 p. m. in 1505 seamans center (college of engineering—across from old capitol town center). the film will begin at 7: 00 p. m. the event is free and open to the public .
by speaking at paid lectures and creating donation drives, she was able to continue interviewing and filming the project. after seven years, she completed top secret rosies .
in leann erickson' s latest documentary, top secret' rosies': the female' computers' of wwii, the university of iowa alumna aims to tell the untold story of the women behind the ballistics tables for the u. s. weapons. today, a reception will be held at 6: 30 p. m. followed by a screening at 7 p. m. in 1505 seamans center. the screening is free and open to the public .
in 1941, soon after the japanese attack on pearl harbor, a secret military program was launched to recruit women to the war effort. but unlike the efforts to recruit rosie to the factory, this search targeted female mathematicians who would become human “computers” for the u. s. military. from the bombing of axis europe to the assaults on japanese strongholds, the women worked round - the - clock shifts creating ballistics tables that proved crucial to allied success. rosie made the weapons, but the female computers made them accurate. when the first electronic computer (eniac) was invented to aid the army’s ballistic calculation efforts, six of these women were tapped to become its first programmers. “top secret rosies: the female computers of wwii” will share this untold story of the women and technology that helped win a war and usher in the modern computer age .
in 1942, when computers were human and women were underestimated, a group of female mathematicians helped win a war and usher in the modern computer age. fall 2010 marks the 65th anniversary of the end of wwii yet their story has not been widely told, until now. filmmaker leann erickson, associate professor of film and media arts at temple universitys school of communications and theater, has announced the launching of a fall tour in support of her documentary, top secret rosies: the female computers of wwii, (running time 60 minutes, c. 2010) top secret rosies shares the little known story of a group of female mathematicians who did secret research for the us army during wwii, a handful of whom went on to serve as the programmers of eniac, the first electronic computer. this tour of the documentary has been funded by a grant from the american association of university women, allowing ms. erickson to appear with the film. the ieee history center, the visual arts department, and the computer science department are thrilled that to announce that they are cosponsoring rutgers - new brunswick as one of the venues for these premier screenings. date: tuesday, november 30, 2010 time: 4pm reception, 4: 30 - 6pm screening, followed by q & a; with the filmmaker location: mason gross school of the arts, room 110 / 117, 33 livingston avenue, new brunswick nj 08901
in 1942, when computers were human and women were underestimated, a group of female mathematicians helped win a war and usher in the computer age .
top secret rosies: the female
computers
of wwii is a new documentary that tells the story of these women, including twin sisters doris and shirley blumberg. when the war broke out, the country witnessed a 50% increase of women in the workforce and ballistics computing was one field newly open to women. the military began recruiting young women from high schools and colleges who were skilled in mathematics to work in top secret labs where they produced the ballistics tables that would be included in the weapons' manuals and sent overseas. they also did calculations for chemical weapons, like mustard gas, and programmed the first electronic computer, the eniac, which would be used to calculate the projections for the hydrogen bomb .
in 1942 a secret us military program was launched to recruit women to the war effort. but unlike the efforts to recruit rosie to the factory, this search targeted female mathematicians who would become human
computers
for the army. from the bombing of axis europe to the assaults on japanese strongholds, women worked round - the - clock shifts creating ballistics tables for every weapon in the us arsenal. rosie made the weapons, but the female computers made them accurate .
curiosity piqued, erickson asked them what they were talking about. melvin said, “oh, during the war we worked as mathematicians for the army. we were recruited right out of high school. ” promising to come back to get their story when she was done with her current project, erickson says the sisters “laughed as if they didn’t believe me. ” but come back she did, and seven years later, in 2010, she had produced the film top - secret rosies: the female computers of wwii .
an enlightening and moving account of a heretofore little - known women' s non traditional job during wwii .
when it comes to history, it is unfortunately often only the dominant voice that writes the narrative and dictates what is worth memorializing. that’s why it’s especially exciting when something new is uncovered, a different voice given the chance to tell their version of the story. more than 70 years ago, “when computers were human and women were underestimated, a group of female mathematicians helped win a war and usher in the modern computer age. ” now, their history has finally been told. this is the story of top - secret rosies .
in 1942 a secret us military program was launched to recruit women to the war effort. but unlike the efforts to recruit rosie to the factory, this search targeted female mathematicians who would become human' computers' for the army. from the bombing of axis europe to the assaults on japanese strongholds, women worked round - the - clock shifts creating ballistics tables for every weapon in the us arsenal. rosie made the weapons, but the female computers made them accurate. when the first electronic computer (eniac) was developed to aid the army' s calculation efforts, six of these women were tapped to become its first programmers. while the work of these human computers proved crucial to allied victory, it also carried a moral weight - how to square the larger issue of ending a world war against the personal recognition that their mathematical computations made every allied bomb and gun more deadly. the summer of 2010 marks the 65th anniversary of the end of wwii, yet the amazing account ...
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in 1942, when computers were human and women were underestimated, a group of female mathematicians helped win a war and usher in the modern computer age. sixty - five years later their story has finally been told .
towards the end of the war, the military' s focus shifted to the eniac, the first electronic computer. the eniac was developed by two male engineers, but six women computers were tapped to become its first programmers. as it turned out, programming the machine was a great deal more complicated than they expected. it was the female programmers, not the developers, who actually made the machine work. naturally, only the male engineers were photographed and interviewed by journalists. the work of the eniac' s female programmers were never given credit for their contributions .
the national wwii museum tells the story of the american experience in the war that changed the world - why it was fought, how it was won, and what it means today - so that all generations will understand the price of freedom and be inspired by what they learn .
erickson learned the secret of women mathematicians by accident while working on a documentary about neighborhood blockbusting, the practice of neighborhood segregation in the 1960s. as she scanned photos one day, she overheard a conversation between two of her film subjects. she learned that at age 18, the two women had worked as
human computers
for the u. s. army .
from pbs - in 1942 soon after the japanese attack on pearl harbor, a secret military program was launched to recruit female mathematicians who would. leann erickson, associate professor of film and video production, temple university documentary film director leann erickson discusses her film top secret. i created a 20 - minute talk titled women in computing to celebrate ada lovelace day 2012. the talk starts with ada lovelace, but it fast forwards a century to .
back before microsoft, ibm, and apple, the word
computer
referred to a person who computes. during world war ii, the military relied on these
human computers
to calculate ballistics projections. in this time of national crisis, when women took on roles outside the home to help the war effort, the military called on young women with exceptional math skills to do this top secret work. many of these young women were jewish .
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when the first electronic computer (eniac) was developed to aid the army’s calculation efforts, six of these women were tapped to become its first programmers. while the work of these human computers proved crucial to allied victory, it also carried a moral weight of how to square the larger issue of ending a world war against the personal recognition that their mathematical computations made every allied bomb and gun more deadly .
the content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly .
hundreds of women with math training were employed across the country. the government found them particularly beneficial because they had training comparable with men, but they could receive lower salaries. women were left in charge with calculating temperature and air density that allowed soldiers to properly aim artillery. factory workers made the weapons, but those tools were accurate because of the hidden female programmers .
reflecting on the documentary, erickson says, “heroic behavior happens all around us all the time. regular people can — and do — do amazing things every day, things that may not seem important at the time but have a ripple effect. ” she tells her film students at temple university to pay attention to their surroundings and to opportunities that cross their paths, however unremarkable they may seem. after all, erickson says, if we have learned anything from the top - secret rosies, it’s that “there are stories everywhere, waiting to be told. ”
“ top - secret rosies has had extensive reach in educational circles — it is being used in junior high, high school, and college classrooms, and is held in over 500 libraries across the world, ” says erickson. her goal is to have an impact on girls in fourth through sixth grades. in order to target them, she has adapted the story for use in an ibook app with a catchy title: “the computer wore heels. ” along with the app for digital books, erickson has also created a study guide that educators can use while showing the documentary in their class .
i highly recommend this documentary for anyone interested in wwii, women' s labor issues, women' s education, and mathematics in particular, and / or the intersection of history and sociology. the film skillfully weaves individual stories with the seeping tide of wwii, and specifically the engineering required to implement state - of - the - art armaments. what emerges is how startling, not to mention infuriating it is, that this vitally successful work was ignored until now. like so many of their generation, the women who performed this herculean task returned to their regular lives after the war, never revealing what they had done. i' m so glad on their behalf that ms erickson has told their story in this eloquent film. beautifully shot and edited, it hits all the right notes .
leann erickson (far right) visits the world war ii memorial with some of the women featured in her documentary .
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when the united states entered world war ii, the army initiated a national call for women mathematicians. in fact, aauw was one of the organizations contacted for help with recruiting! erickson tells us that aauw “helped spread the word about this great opportunity open to college women. i was proud to be able to use the letter specifically addressed to aauw in the documentary. ” these “computers” — then the term for someone who computes, rather than our current notion of the machine — would be responsible for calculating ballistics tables for missiles being used by allied forces overseas. the stakes were high, and these women worked hard on their mission at the university of pennsylvania from 1942 to 1946 .
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erickson was surprised not by the sexism during the era but by the lengths officials went to segregate women from men .
erickson details the individual stories of four women in particular. her documentary illuminates a part of history that, until now, lived only in the memories of the women involved. when asked which stories stood out during her research and interviews, erickson revealed that there was yet another lens through which to look at this story — that of race. “i knew that the world war ii era was a very different one for women and people of color, but i was still surprised at various stories the women shared, ” she said. one story came from marlyn wescoff meltzer, who worked with alyce hall, the only african american in their unit. “marlyn was organizing a going - away dinner, but alyce pulled her aside to say she wouldn’t be able to come since the restaurant they had chosen wouldn’t serve her. shocked at this news, marlyn said she would find one that would. ” the photo on the cover of the film includes alyce hall (bottom row on the left) and was taken the night of that dinner .
world war ii saw the united states create one of the strongest military efforts in its history. today, scholars are familiar with the soldiers in combat, people at home planting victory gardens, and women working in factories. yet one group was missing from history books: the women mathematicians in charge of programming war weapons .
the content and style of erickson’s documentary have met with great success. she recalls, “the community action grant made it possible for me to travel across the nation, presenting the film and leading discussions with community members, stem professionals, teachers, and students. … the travel i’ve done with the film exposed me to people and opportunities i would not have had otherwise. ” she was particularly happy to be a panelist at the 2011 u. n. commission on the status of women conference .
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the women interviewed in the film explained the urgency they felt to produce the tables quickly so that the manuals would arrive on time with the weapons, often working double shifts. of course, as the war dragged on, stories traveled back about massacres and some women described losing sleep over the consequences of their work. it' s hard to imagine what it must feel like to know that your calculations are responsible for actual destruciton and death. i can' t help but wonder what it means to lose that connection - the direct link between calculations and their aftermath - with modern, non - human ballistics computing .
while filmmaking can be difficult to fundraise for, erickson encourages anyone with a good idea and the will to go with it to “think outside the usual film - funding box, ” and to be unafraid of approaching organizations who share your prospective audience. as she notes, “i did this with aauw and have reaped the benefits of our collaboration. ”
leann erickson (a 2010–11 aauw community action grantee) admits, “i discovered this story purely by accident. ” while working on a film project about blockbusting in philadelphia during the 1950s and 60s, erickson was at the house of twins doris blumberg polsky and shirley blumberg melvin, scanning photos for the documentary, when she overheard the ladies talking .
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leann erickson’s 2010–11 community action grant was sponsored by six aauw research and project grants from pennsylvania: the allentown (pa) branch, the lancaster (pa) branch, the laura levin / makefield area (pa) branch, the philadelphia (pa) branch centennial, the state college (pa) branch, and the valley forge (pa) branch research and project grant .
but the film explores the positive side of the experience, too. for these young women, this job meant fair pay, or even high pay. it meant independence and another option besides marriage or traditional women' s work. one woman described this time as
the happiest years for us ,
explaining that they managed to squeeze in some time for fun. with no men around, this small sisterhood of women went on picnics and
let their hair down
whenever they had a chance .
leann erickson is a professor at temple university in philadelphia and has been an independent filmmaker for over 25 years. her work has appeared on television, in galleries, and has won international recognition in video / film festivals. she is a recipient of regional and national production grants for her work from such funding sources as the national endowment for the arts, the jerome foundation and the leeway foundation .
intrigued by the hidden story, erickson began researching through libraries in pennsylvania and national archives in washington, d. c. in order to pursue the film, she needed to find funding for the more expensive high - definition film .
“no, that was taken when we were at upenn for the army. ”
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people think of programming as a very male thing ,
erikson said .
most people don' t know that it was mostly women .
like the new documentary, erickson' s previous films discuss women' s rights .
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leann erickson is an associate professor, department of film and media arts, temple university, and has been an independent video and filmmaker for more than 20 years .
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women' s rights interest erickson. she feels it is important to create pieces that give the public a woman' s perspective .
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i worked on this film for seven years, so i had to be interested in it ,
she said .
i was bringing these women out into the spotlight they deserved .
they would desperately recruit women to do math but wouldn' t allow them to be in the men' s classes ,
erickson said .
to [ women ], it was business as usual, which to me was shocking .
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in 1996, she created from one place to another: emma goldman clinic stories, a story about iowa city women who offered self - help and access to abortion. in neighbor ladies, erickson focused in on women in the late - 1950s and' 60s who integrated neighborhoods, creating a more diverse community .
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“now, was this taken after we moved to mt airy? ” polsky asked .
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this was a great opportunity, so we grabbed it ,
said women in science and engineering director christine brus .
i' m hopeful that we will get some community members and k - to - 12 students to attend .
it' s a real challenge as an independent person to raise money ,
she said .
i had to get creative .
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top secret rosies : the female " computers " of wwii is a 2010 documentary film directed by leann erickson . the film is focused on recognizing the contributions of women during wwii , serving as human computers and six of whom went on to program one of the earliest computers , the eniac . their work helped the united states improve the accuracy of weaponry as most conducted ballistics analysis . the film officially premiered on november 1 on pbs . at the time , in the 1940s , when these women were doing this work , it was considered classified , moreover contemporaries considered programming a clerical task . because of this , and because of their invisibility during the media coverage of eniac , the work of these women was largely unrecognized . herman goldstine selected the programmers from women who had been calculating ballistics tables with desk calculators and a differential analyzer prior to and during the development of eniac . under herman and adele goldstine 's direction , the programmers studied eniac 's blueprints and physical structure to determine how to manipulate its switches and cables , rather than learning a programming language , which had not yet been invented . according to jamie gumbrecht in an article by cnn : they handed out its punch cards as souvenirs . they 'd taught the massive machine do math that would 've taken hours by hand . [ ... ] but their work during the war was little known , unacknowledged or left out of official histories of the war and the development of computers . the film focuses on the contributions of several women , namely the blumberg twins , doris polsky ( née blumberg ) and shirley melvin ( née blumberg ) , marlyn meltzer ( née wescoff ) , jean bartik ( a.k.a. billie jean jennings ) . kathleen antonelli , is another eniac computer programmer recognized in the film . it has been taught widely in schools and universities and is credited for recognizing the little-known contributions of classified women technology workers during world war ii and making that history available to public audiences . in the publication for american association of university women ( aauw ) , erickson stated that the film is held in over 500 libraries worldwide . in 2015 the film was adapted for the ipad in an interactive book app , the computer wore heels . the app allows users to follow key figures from the film , and highlights social issues , the day-to-day experience or working long shifts , and the wartime context . 
top secret rosies: the female " computers " of wwii is a 2010 documentary film directed by leann erickson. the film is focused on recognizing the contributions of women during wwii, serving as human computers and six of whom went on to program one of the earliest computers, the eniac. their work helped the united states improve the accuracy of weaponry as most conducted ballistics analysis. the film officially premiered on november 1 on pbs. at the time, in the 1940s, when these women were doing this work, it was considered classified, moreover contemporaries considered programming a clerical task. because of this, and because of their invisibility during the media coverage of eniac, the work of these women was largely unrecognized. herman goldstine selected the programmers from women who had been calculating ballistics tables with desk calculators and a differential analyzer prior to and during the development of eniac. under herman and adele goldstine's direction, the programmers studied eniac's blueprints and physical structure to determine how to manipulate its switches and cables, rather than learning a programming language, which had not yet been invented. according to jamie gumbrecht in an article by cnn: they handed out its punch cards as souvenirs. they'd taught the massive machine do math that would've taken hours by hand. [... ] but their work during the war was little known, unacknowledged or left out of official histories of the war and the development of computers. the film focuses on the contributions of several women, namely the blumberg twins, doris polsky (née blumberg) and shirley melvin (née blumberg), marlyn meltzer (née wescoff), jean bartik (a.k.a. billie jean jennings). kathleen antonelli, is another eniac computer programmer recognized in the film. it has been taught widely in schools and universities and is credited for recognizing the little-known contributions of classified women technology workers during world war ii and making that history available to public audiences. in the publication for american association of university women (aauw), erickson stated that the film is held in over 500 libraries worldwide. in 2015 the film was adapted for the ipad in an interactive book app, the computer wore heels. the app allows users to follow key figures from the film, and highlights social issues, the day-to-day experience or working long shifts, and the wartime context.
top secret rosies: the female " computers " of wwii is a 2010 documentary film directed by leann erickson. the film is focused on recognizing the contributions of women during wwii, serving as human computers and six of whom went on to program one of the earliest computers, the eniac. their work helped the united states improve the accuracy of weaponry as most conducted ballistics analysis. the film officially premiered on november 1 on pbs. at the time, in the 1940s, when these women were doing this work, it was considered classified, moreover contemporaries considered programming a clerical task. because of this, and because of their invisibility during the media coverage of eniac, the work of these women was largely unrecognized. herman goldstine selected the programmers from women who had been calculating ballistics tables with desk calculators and a differential analyzer prior to and during the development of eniac. under herman and adele goldstine's direction, the programmers studied eniac's blueprints and physical structure to determine how to manipulate its switches and cables, rather than learning a programming language, which had not yet been invented. according to jamie gumbrecht in an article by cnn: they handed out its punch cards as souvenirs. they'd taught the massive machine do math that would've taken hours by hand. [... ] but their work during the war was little known, unacknowledged or left out of official histories of the war and the development of computers. the film focuses on the contributions of several women, namely the blumberg twins, doris polsky (née blumberg) and shirley melvin (née blumberg), marlyn meltzer (née wescoff), jean bartik (a.k.a. billie jean jennings). kathleen antonelli, is another eniac computer programmer recognized in the film. it has been taught widely in schools and universities and is credited for recognizing the little-known contributions of classified women technology workers during world war ii and making that history available to public audiences. in the publication for american association of university women (aauw), erickson stated that the film is held in over 500 libraries worldwide. in 2015 the film was adapted for the ipad in an interactive book app, the computer wore heels. the app allows users to follow key figures from the film, and highlights social issues, the day-to-day experience or working long shifts, and the wartime context.