Mary Golda Ross

Mary Golda Ross was the first Indigenous woman in the U.S. known to have become an engineer. Her impact on the field of aerospace engineering is hard to quantify, because much of her work is still classified. Research: Agnew, Brad. “Cherokee engineer a space exploration pioneer.” Tahlequah Daily Press. 3/27/2016. https://www.tahlequahdailypress.com/news/golda-ross-left-teaching-to-support-war-effort/article_c500cbc4-eeba-11e5-9b57-2b127651fcb5.html Agnew, Brad. “Golda’ Ross left teaching to support war effort.” Tahlequah Daily Press. 3/20/2016. https://www.tahlequahdailypress.com/news/golda-ross-left-teaching-to-support-war-effort/article_c500cbc4-eeba-11e5-9b57-2b127651fcb5.html Brewer, Graham Lee. “Rocket Woman.” Oklahoma Today. July/August 2018. Cochran, Wendell. “Cherokee Tear Dress Facts.” The People’s Paths. https://www.thepeoplespaths.net/Cherokee/WendellCochran/WCochran0102TearDressFacts.htm Hogner-Weavel, Tonia. “History of the Cherokee Tear Dress.” Cherokee Nation. Via YouTube. 9/15/2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90V5fM0DiMk Lake, Timothy. "Mary Golda Ross". Encyclopedia Britannica, 5 Aug. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mary-Golda-Ross. Accessed 21 October 2025. Margolis, Emily. A. “Mary Golda Ross: Aerospace Engineer, Educator, and Advocate.” Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/mary-g-ross-aerospace-engineer Museum of Native American History. “Historic Trailblazer: Mary Golda Ross.” Via YouTube. 12/17/2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzC14hGbPug National Park Service. “Mary G. Ross.” https://www.nps.gov/people/mary-g-ross.htm New Mexico Museum of Space History. “Mary Golda Ross: First Native American Aerospace Engineer.” Via YouTube. 3/31/2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT9r5trwZEs Oklahoma Hall of Fame. “Mary Golda Ross Induction Ceremony Video.” 11/22/2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bovabx6ITW4 Rosengren, Paul Lief. “Mary Golda Ross: She Reached for the Stars.” IEEE-USA and Paul Lief Rosengren. 2025. Schroeder, Mildred. “A Far-out Cherokee Chick.” San Francisco Examiner. 4/16/1961. Smith, Betty. “Pure Cherokee Gold.” Tahlequah Daily Press. 6/26/2008. https://www.tahlequahdailypress.com/archives/pure-cherokee-gold/article_44c0a25a-94e2-53d8-b80c-be1ff86305e7.html Viola, Herman. “Mary Golda Ross: She Reached for the Stars.” American Indian: Magazine of Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. Vol. 19, No. 4. Winter 2018. https://www.americanindianmagazine.org/story/mary-golda-ross-she-reached-stars Wallace, Rob. “Mary Golda Ross and the Skunk Works.” National World War II Museum. 11/19/2021. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/mary-golda-ross-and-skunk-works Watts, Jennifer. “John Ross: Principal Chief of the Cherokee People.” Tennessee State Museum. https://tnmuseum.org/junior-curators/posts/john-ross-principal-chief-of-the-cherokee-people Yang, John. “The cutting-edge work of Native American aerospace engineer Mary Golda Ross.” 11/26/2023. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/the-cutting-edge-work-of-native-american-aerospace-engineer-mary-golda-ross Zhorov, Irina. “Years Later, Miss Indian America Pageant Winners Reuniteg.” NPR Code Switch. 7/12/2013. https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/07/12/201537264/Years-Later-Miss-Indian-America-Pageant-Winners-Reunite  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.