Mary Sherman Morgan
| Mary Sherman Morgan | |
|---|---|
Mary Sherman Morgan, c. 1950s
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| Born |
Mary Sherman November 4, 1921 Ray, North Dakota |
| Died | August 4, 2004 (aged 82) |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Minot State University |
| Spouse(s) | George Richard Morgan |
| Engineering career | |
| Employer(s) | Plum Brook Ordnance Works; North American Aviation |
| Projects | Redstone rocket |
| Significant design | Hydyne |
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 “The Woman Who Saved the U.S. Space Race (And Other Unsung Scientists)”, Reactions |
Mary Sherman Morgan (November 4, 1921 – August 4, 2004) was a U.S. rocket fuel scientist credited with the invention of the liquid fuel Hydyne in 1957, which powered the Jupiter-C rocket that boosted the United States' first satellite, Explorer 1.
The second youngest of 6 children, Mary Sherman was born to Michael and Dorothy Sherman on their farm in Ray, North Dakota. In 1939, she graduated as her high school’s valedictorian. She then enrolled at North Dakota's Minot State University as a chemistry major.
During Morgan's college education the Second World War broke out. As a result of men going overseas, the United States soon developed a shortage of chemists and other scientists. A local employment recruiter heard that Sherman had chemistry knowledge, and offered her a job at a factory in Sandusky, Ohio. He would not tell her what product the factory made, or what her job would be—only that she would be required to obtain a 'top secret' security clearance. Short on money, she decided to take the job even though it would mean having to postpone her degree. The job turned out to be at the Plum Brook Ordnance Works munitions factory, charged with the responsibility of manufacturing explosives trinitrotoluene (TNT), dinitrotoluene (DNT), and pentolite. The site produced more than one billion pounds of ordnance throughout World War II.
Mary Sherman became pregnant in 1943 out of wedlock, a difficult dilemma in an era when this was considered extremely shameful and women were often given back-alley abortions or hidden from their friends and family. At that time she was living with her first cousin in Huron, Ohio. In 1944, she gave birth to a daughter, Mary G. Sherman, whom she later gave up for adoption to that cousin, Mary Hibbard and her husband, Irving. The child was renamed Ruth Esther.
After spending the war years designing explosives for the military, she applied for a job at North American Aviation, and was employed in their Rocketdyne Division, based in Canoga Park, California. Soon after being hired, she was promoted to Theoretical Performance Specialist, a job that required her to mathematically calculate the expected performance of new rocket propellants. Out of 900 engineers, she was the only woman, and one of only a few without a college degree.
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