Pearl Irma Young (1895 – 1968) became the first female technical employee of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), which evolved to become today's

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

. She became Chief Technical Editor at NACA's Langley Instrument Research Laboratory, and an engineering professor.

Early life and education

Pearl Irma Young was born October 12, 1895, in

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. She grew up in

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

after leaving home at 11. She attended Jamestown College and the

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (also known as UND or North Dakota) is a public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It was established by the Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishment of the state of ...

. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1919 with honors, a

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

key and a triple major in physics, chemistry and mathematics. She was hired by the university to teach physics in 1922.Caitlin Milera. 2022.
Ms. Pearl Irma Young: "Raising Hell" For Women In Stem Fields And Women At NASA, 1914 - 1968
'. Theses and Dissertations, University of North Dakota.

Career

In 1922 Young was hired as a physicist by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), and was assigned to the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory's Instrument Research Division under the direction of Henry J.E. Reid.James Hansen. 1987

ttp://permanent.access.gpo.gov/lps69853/lps69853/history.nasa.gov/SP-4305/ch7.htm Chapter 7 NASA History Series. In 1929 Reid appointed Young as Langley's Chief Technical Editor. She established an office, hired staff and formed the research reports and official documents that communicated the extraordinary technical accomplishments of Langley. Young wrote NACA's ''Style Manual for Engineering Authors'', a reference work which had lasting influence at Langley and elsewhere at NACA. In 1943, Young left the Langley lab to go to NACA's new Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory in Cleveland, Ohio, which became the NASA Lewis Research Center. In 1947 she went to

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

to be an assistant professor of engineering physics. She returned to the Lewis Research Center in 1958. NACA was incorporated into

in 1958. Over her 28 years at the NACA and NASA, Young helped define the public image of the NACA and influenced the way the U.S. government's aeronautical engineers communicated in publication. Young retired in 1961 from NASA, and taught physics for another year at Fresno State University. She then turned her full-time attentions to researching a biography of aviation pioneer

Octave Chanute Octave Chanute (February 18, 1832 – November 23, 1910) was a French-American civil engineer and aviation pioneer. He provided many budding enthusiasts, including the Wright brothers, with help and advice, and helped to publicize their flying ...

. Chanute is one of the most important figures in the history of aviation. In addition to his own experimentation with flight in the late 19th century, he was the "central disseminator of aeronautical developments around the world." She compiled her findings in various article and pamphlets. A theater at NASA Langley was named for Pearl Young in 1995.Welcome to the Pearl I. Young Theater
brochure, at NASA Langley Archives of Pearl Young's papers are at the Denver Public Library.

Works

*. The publisher printed 255 copies, of which 250 were for sale or distributed to various libraries. The 28-page booklet contains a short biography (3 pages) with the remainder listing writings and speeches by or about Chanute. * ''Style Manual for Engineering Authors'' (NACA)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Pearl I. NASA people 1895 births 1968 deaths 20th-century American physicists Scientists from North Dakota University of North Dakota alumni Pennsylvania State University faculty American women physicists 20th-century American women scientists University of North Dakota faculty