Women’s History Month: A Different Kind of Supper Club

The Astronaut Wives Club, 1959. Back row, Jo Schirra and Louise Shepard; middle row, Annie Glenn, Rene Carpenter and Marjorie Slayton; bottom row, Trudy Cooper and Betty Grissom
(Life Magazine, cover photo, September 21, 1959)

The Astronaut Wives Club: A True Story by Lily Koppel; 629.45 K83a
The wives of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo astronauts joined together to support and encourage one another through the historic flights, the national publicity campaigns, and even heartbreaking loss. In this engaging book, Lily Koppel tells about the lives of Louise Shepard, Annie Glenn, Jo Schirra, Betty Grissom, and the other wives of the astronauts. Per the publisher this is, “the real story of the women who stood beside some of the biggest heroes in American history.”

Did you know that women trained to be astronauts at the same time that John Glenn and Alan Shepherd were training? Check out this blog post to learn about Wally Funk and the other women known as the Mercury 13.

7 members of the Mercury 13, pictured in 1995
(NASA, public domain)

Want even more?

Black History Month: First in (Space) Flight for an African American Woman

Dr. Mae Jemison

Dr. Mae Jemison, a physician and a NASA astronaut, graduated from high school and enrolled in college when she was sixteen-years-old. With undergraduate degrees in chemical engineering and African American Studies, and a medical degree from Cornell University, Dr. Jemison began her professional career doing non-profit medical work. She served in a refugee camp in Asia and as a medical officer in the countries of Sierra Leone and Liberia (Asante, 172). In 1992, she completed her astronaut training with NASA.  Then, in the same year, Dr. Jemison became the first African American woman to go into space on the Spacelab-J mission (Asante, 173).

For more information about Dr. Jemison, including her Twitter account, see the links and references included here :

Dr. Mae Jemison’s Twitter handle: @maejemison

The Jemison Foundation: http://www.jemisonfoundation.org/home.htm

Biography.com: http://www.biography.com/people/mae-c-jemison-9542378

NASA: https://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/jemison-mc.html

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Sources:

Asante, M.K. (2002). 100 Greatest African Americans: A Biographical Encyclopedia. New York: Prometheus Books. pp.172-173.

Marshall, M. (1989, August). Child of the 60s Set to Become First Black Woman in Space. Ebony. 44(10). pp. 50-55.

A History Maker in Space

The first woman in space played tennis, had a Ph.D. in Physics, and served as the CEO of a company she created, Sally Ride Science.

In this biography, which includes both official and family photographs, Lynn Sherr presents details about the private and public life of Dr. Sally Ride.

Check out this blog post for more about women who dreamed of going into space.

Still can't get enough about women and the space program? There are two more library books that may be of interest. Stop by the library to borrow one or both of them.

• The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel; 629.45 K83a
• Rocket Girl: The Story of Mary Sherman Morgan, America's First Female Rocket Scientist by George Morgan; 509.2 M848r

For more information about Dr. Ride, the Biography.com site has a summary of her life.

They Aimed for the Stars

The Mercury 13: The True Story of Thirteen Women and the Dream of SpaceFlight by Martha Ackmann

Ms. Ackmann tells the true story of thirteen women, pilots and dreamers, who tested and trained to be astronauts. These women weren’t allowed to go into space though, despite passing the rigorous physical and mental tests. Read this book to find out more about these remarkable women and why they didn’t become astronauts.

This book is now available in the Sullivan Lexington Library with the call #: 629.45 A182m