Rocket girls arose around the same time the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) was being merged with NASA. In 1939, JPL hired its first female employee, Barbara Canright, to calculate the functionality of the rockets they had to help with current military missions. Since Barbara was denoted a manager, her task was now to hire on a team of people she trusted to complete the tasks at hand, so she only hired women. From there, the female presence at JPL continued to rise throughout the 40’s. Once JPL officially merged with NASA, the focused shifted from being a military contract to work on attempting to beat the Soviets in the Space Race that they began. In 1948, Barbara Paulson began her career at JPL among the other women who have followed the call of “no degree required”. After working at JPL for a decade, she made strides that women that the time wouldn’t imagine possible. She was able to plot the trajectory of the satellite that was launched so that they were able to track where it was in orbit. To continue the trend, Macie Roberts and Helen Ling, who became supervisors just as Barbara Canright, continued to only hire women as well to be in their elite group of “human computers”. This opened the door for more of the minority sex to be able to express their gifts to help our country. Shortly to follow, Janez Lawson, a black female, applied for the job and continued the legacy of other minority black women who had joined the program before her (see Hidden Figures).
There are a few women listed above to explain how to progression of women at JPL occurred, but it is important to note that this is NOT an extensive list.
Didn't want to leave anyone out so need a way to phrase that