Cherokee Aerospace Engineer Mary Golda Ross Is Being Honored With A Statue Today
A new statue of aerospace engineer Mary Golda Ross is being erected at the First Americans Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Ross, a Native American, was a lifelong champion of STEM education.
The piece was commissioned by OLAY in partnership with Harper's Bazaar and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
Mary Golda Ross, the first known Cherokee Native aerospace engineer, and an advocate of STEM education across the country, will be honored with her own statue today. To celebrate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on February 11, 2022, OLAY is erecting the monument to Ross in partnership with Harper’s Bazaar and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
The statue was created with the aim to educate the public about Ross’ accomplishments and to inspire future generations to pursue their interests and careers in STEM, and it will live permanently at the First Americans Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Ross was from Oklahoma.)
Ross, who was born in 1908, studied mathematics at Northeastern State Teachers College, a tribal university that upheld Cherokee values such as equal educational opportunities for men and women. After graduating, Ross worked at the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Santa Fe Indian Boarding School. Later, she received a master’s degree in astronomy from Colorado State College of Education.
In 1942, Ross was hired at Lockheed Aircraft Corporation as a mathematician—the only woman and Native person in a technical role on the Skunk Works Advanced Development Projects team.
While at Skunk Works, she worked on projects such as the Agena rocket used in NASA’s Gemini human spaceflight program, the P-38 airplane, ballistic missiles, and more. Most of Ross’ work is still classified information.
Ross retired from Lockheed in 1973, and throughout the rest of her life she encouraged young women and Native students to take on careers in STEM.
The statue of Ross was designed by StudioEIS, which has created a number of works for public spaces, museums, and private corporations and has been commissioned for bronze sculptures of President John F. Kennedy, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and many more.
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