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More hidden herstory
Jul. 5th, 2003 05:04 am.
I should have gone to bed an hour ago, despite my extensive napping (headache) earlier, but... iconage. I'm being an icon slut.
Anyway, I had to tell you all about this. I was skimming an issue of People magazine earlier and found an article about the Mercury 13. The who? I mean, any decently-raised space nut knows about the Mercury 7 -- The Right Stuff and all that.
But... the Mercury 13?
Welcome to another installment of hidden herstory. I'm having the same feeling I did when I saw A League of Their Own for the first time -- 'You kept this from us? You fired them because of what?!?'
The Mercury 13 were thirteen women, professional pilots, who went through the same endurance and psychological testing as the men of the Mercury program -- Jerrie Cobb, Bernice Steadman, Janey Hart, Jerri Truhill, Rhea Woltman, Sarah Ratley, Jan and Marion Dietrich, Myrtle Cagle, Irene Leverton, Gene Nora Jessen, Jean Hixson, and Wally Funk -- in 1960-61, two years before Valentina Tereshkova performed her historic space flight.
However, dear Lyndon 'Pork Barrel' Johnson killed their part of the program, and John Glenn committed some unfortunate testimony that put the stake in its heart.
There's two new books out on these hidden heroes... but why are we (OK, 'I') finding out about them 40 years after the fact?
Amazon.us references:
and maybe also:
P.S. Drew Barrymore, Rosie O'Donnell, Penny Marshall... somebody out there...? THIS NEEDS TO BE A MOVIE.
I should have gone to bed an hour ago, despite my extensive napping (headache) earlier, but... iconage. I'm being an icon slut.
Anyway, I had to tell you all about this. I was skimming an issue of People magazine earlier and found an article about the Mercury 13. The who? I mean, any decently-raised space nut knows about the Mercury 7 -- The Right Stuff and all that.
But... the Mercury 13?
Welcome to another installment of hidden herstory. I'm having the same feeling I did when I saw A League of Their Own for the first time -- 'You kept this from us? You fired them because of what?!?'
The Mercury 13 were thirteen women, professional pilots, who went through the same endurance and psychological testing as the men of the Mercury program -- Jerrie Cobb, Bernice Steadman, Janey Hart, Jerri Truhill, Rhea Woltman, Sarah Ratley, Jan and Marion Dietrich, Myrtle Cagle, Irene Leverton, Gene Nora Jessen, Jean Hixson, and Wally Funk -- in 1960-61, two years before Valentina Tereshkova performed her historic space flight.
However, dear Lyndon 'Pork Barrel' Johnson killed their part of the program, and John Glenn committed some unfortunate testimony that put the stake in its heart.
There's two new books out on these hidden heroes... but why are we (OK, 'I') finding out about them 40 years after the fact?
Amazon.us references:
- The Mercury 13: The Untold Story of Thirteen American Women and the Dream of Space Flight
- Promised the Moon: The Untold Story of the First Women in the Space Race
and maybe also:
- Space for Women: A History of Women With the Right Stuff
- Women Astronauts (Apogee Books Space Series) (scaled toward the juvenile market)
P.S. Drew Barrymore, Rosie O'Donnell, Penny Marshall... somebody out there...? THIS NEEDS TO BE A MOVIE.
