Virtual History Talk - The Accomplishment of the ENIAC and the Women Computing Pioneers
National Museum of the United States Army 1775 Liberty Dr, Fort Belvoir, Virginia 22060
University of Pennsylvania Archives
Two programmers operate the ENIAC's main control panel.
Discover how a talented group of female mathematicians laid the groundwork for the field of computer programming.
Winning World War II required an all-out effort. Thousands of women on the home front answered their country’s call to join the military, industry, and the civil service. In 1943, the U.S. Army recruited seven women mathematicians to set up and operate the Army’s newest top-secret weapon: the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC). These unsung heroes wired the electrical connections that enabled the world’s first electronic, digital computer to complete 300 calculations per second. In doing so, they built a framework for the field of computer programming.
Examine how female “computers” solved complex problems, contributing to Army innovations during World War II.
