Top Secret Rosies

Women who transform

Top Secret Rosies

They are Betty Holberton, Jean Jennings Bartik, Frances Spence, Ruth Teitelbaum, Marilyn Meltzer, and Kathleen Antonelli. They were responsible for the programming of the ENIAC, the first fully digital computer. Their work was excluded from official accounts.
Top Secret Rosies

The role of the Top Secret Rosies, hired in 1942 by the United States Army, was very important during World War II. The programming of the ENIAC (the acronym in English for Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) allowed for calculating ballistic tables more quickly and achieving greater accuracy with each shot.

The ENIAC, which began operating in 1945, was built in secret. Its significant impact, which helped end the war sooner, made its creators famous. However, the group of women who programmed it, performing indispensable work for its operation, optimization, and maintenance, was silenced. To the extent that some claimed the women appearing in photos with the ENIAC were models.

Beyond the contributions ENIAC made to World War II, the Top Secret Rosies laid the foundations of programming through software applications and programming classes.

Source consulted:

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