Ethel H. Bailey (18 August 18965 July 1985) was an American mechanical engineer who began her working life in aviation and went on to develop radar and spectroscopic equipment. She was called a 'trailblazer' by fellow engineer
Margaret Ingels in a 1952 speech.
Bailey was a member of the
American Automotive Society (the first woman to be admitted as a full member, in 1926
), the
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing ...
, the
Society of American Military Engineers
The Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) unites public and private sector individuals and organizations from across the architecture, engineering, construction, environmental, facility management, contracting and acquisition fields and ...
, and the
National Society of Professional Engineers
The National Society of Professional Engineers (abbreviate as NSPE) is a professional association representing licensed professional engineers in the United States. NSPE is the recognized voice and advocate of licensed Professional Engineers repr ...
. She was also a member of the British
Women's Engineering Society
The Women's Engineering Society is a United Kingdom professional learned society and networking body for women engineers, scientists and technologists. It was the first professional body set up for women working in all areas of engineering, pred ...
and contributed to their journal, ''The Woman Engineer''.
Early life
Ethel H. Bailey was born on 18 August 1896 in
Houlton, Maine
Houlton is a town in Aroostook County, Maine, on the Canada–United States border. As of the 2020 census, the town's population was 6,055. It is perhaps best known for being at the northern terminus of Interstate 95 and as the birthplace of Sam ...
, USA, to Walter and Anna Bailey (née Sanders). She had one sister, Margaret (b. 1889).
Education
Bailey had been interested in radios and motorboats at high school, and during the First World War she became an assistant inspector of
Liberty L-12
The Liberty L-12 is an American water-cooled 45° V-12 aircraft engine displacing and making designed for a high power-to-weight ratio and ease of mass production. It saw wide use in aero applications, and, once marinized Marinisation (also m ...
aeroplane engines for the U.S. government, at a test airfield in Indianapolis. After the war she studied at the Michigan State Automobile School in Detroit in 1918, and
George Washington University
, mottoeng = "God is Our Trust"
, established =
, type = Private federally chartered research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $2.8 billion (2022)
, preside ...
in 1920.
Career
In 1920, Bailey joined the staff of the
Society of Automotive Engineers
SAE International, formerly named the Society of Automotive Engineers, is a United States-based, globally active professional association and standards developing organization for engineering professionals in various industries. SAE Internatio ...
as a research engineer and became the organisation's first full female member in 1926.
In June 1925 she published a paper in ''The Woman Engineer'' journal entitled '
''A Ternary Alloy Bearing Metal (The Development of a Material of Unusual Wearing Qualities).
In September 1925 she travelled to Paris where she visited
Marie Curie
Marie Salomea Skłodowska–Curie ( , , ; born Maria Salomea Skłodowska, ; 7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934) was a Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first ...
at her home.
She then travelled to London, where she represented the Society of Automotive Engineers at the very first International Conference of Women in Science, Industry and Commerce organised by
Caroline Haslett
Dame Caroline Harriet Haslett DBE, JP (17 August 1895 – 4 January 1957) was an English electrical engineer, electricity industry administrator and champion of women's rights.
She was the first secretary of the Women's Engineering Society an ...
and the
Women's Engineering Society
The Women's Engineering Society is a United Kingdom professional learned society and networking body for women engineers, scientists and technologists. It was the first professional body set up for women working in all areas of engineering, pred ...
during the
British Empire Exhibition
The British Empire Exhibition was a colonial exhibition held at Wembley Park, London England from 23 April to 1 November 1924 and from 9 May to 31 October 1925.
Background
In 1920 the British Government decided to site the British Empire Exhibit ...
at Wembley.
She spoke on 'Automotive Research' undertaken by the SAE, speaking alongside physical chemist
Isabel Hadfield
Isabel Hodgson Hadfield (29 January 1893 – 6 February 1965) was a British physical chemist and one of the first women to be employed as a scientific member of staff for the metallurgy department of the National Physical Laboratory (United King ...
and electrical engineer
Margaret Partridge
Margaret Mary Partridge (8 April 1891 – 27 October 1967) was an electrical engineer, contractor and founder member of the Women's Engineering Society (WES) and the Electrical Association for Women (EAW). Her business worked with WES to identif ...
. She was also credited as part of the Advisory Committee for the high profile conference.
In 1929, Bailey wrote an appreciation of
Katharine Wright Haskell (18741929) the sister, supporter and business manager of
aviation
Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...
pioneers
Wilbur and Orville Wright, for the American magazine ''Airway Age'', and reproduced in the British ''The Woman Engineer'' journal. She ended the article with "Orville the Flyer, Wilbur the Adviser and Katharine the Inspirer".
In 1929 she moved to a new job at the
General Electric Co
A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED O ...
.’s Bloomfield works.
During the
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Bailey worked procuring radar equipment at the Signal Corps Radar Laboratory, and went on to organize radar equipment for the U.S. Navy, as a mechanical engineer at the
Raytheon
Raytheon Technologies Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense conglomerate headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It is one of the largest aerospace and defense manufacturers in the world by revenue and market capitaliza ...
Manufacturing Company in Waltham, Massachusetts. In 1945 she was director of the technical publications division of a printing company in Boston, Massachusetts. She went on to be research assistant at the
Department of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, developing spectroscopic equipment
Death
Ethel H Bailey died on 5 July 1985 in
Concord, Massachusetts
Concord () is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. At the 2020 census, the town population was 18,491. The United States Census Bureau considers Concord part of Greater Boston. The town center is near where the conflu ...
, at the age of 88, and was buried in Farmington, Maine.
Articles
* 'Automotive Research' in ''The Woman Engineer,'' 2:4 (1925) pp. 72–3.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Ethel H.
1896 births
1985 deaths
People from Houlton, Maine
George Washington University alumni
American mechanical engineers
Raytheon Company people
Massachusetts Institute of Technology staff
Women's Engineering Society
20th-century American women engineers
20th-century American engineers