When Y.Y. started college at HowardU as a mechanical engineering student, she quickly encountered the difficulty of entering industry as one of the few Black women in her field. 🎧 LostWomenofSci Season 3, Episode 2 is out now.
When Y.Y. started college at Howard University as a mechanical engineering student, there were three things she swore she’d never do: marry a tall man, become a teacher and work for the government. But love and life had other plans. Y.Y. quickly encountered the difficulty of entering industry as one of the few Black women in her field, but found employment at RCA-Victor and Frankford Arsenal. She later moved back to the South, where Brown v.
MILTON CLARK: And in mom's case with her life and those challenges she, she had, she had to roll pitch and yaw to get through some of those challenges. CAROL SUTTON LEWIS: I talked to Y.Y.’s former student, Dr. S. Keith Hargrove, who, like Y.Y., majored in mechanical engineering. He defines engineering in general as:
CAROL SUTTON LEWIS: For Y.Y., this was a perfect fit. She’d been fixing appliances since she was a little girl – the broken toaster, the family’s furnace. And at Howard, as a mechanical engineering student, she got to work in the manufacturing lab.KATIE HAFNER: A sanding assignment?CAROL SUTTON LEWIS: That’s Y.Y. from a StoryCorps interview she did in 2007. Her decision to pursue mechanical engineering meant she could expect to work with heavy machinery.
CAROL SUTTON LEWIS: Okay, I really do too… the mechanical engineer running a pep rally. She actually became the captain of the cheerleading squad. Her nickname on the team was “Little Colonel” … because she was a bit of a drill sergeant. CAROL SUTTON LEWIS: Y.Y. liked having structure. Whether it was choreographing a routine on the football field or designing a machine according to the laws of physics, she liked knowing what the rules were.
And number three: Never work for the government. In Y.Y.’s words: "Government projects just seemed like they were more trouble than they were worth to me.” CAROL SUTTON LEWIS: Ok so, no tall man, no teaching, no government work…We’re about to see Y.Y. become a bit of a renegade. She’s going to break all her own rules. MILTON CLARK: Mom and dad had fun together.MILTON CLARK: They both loved big band. They both were huge Basie fans, Count Basie fans.
CAROL SUTTON LEWIS: He came over and offered her some punch. And the first thing she noticed? How tall he was. Six foot four to her five foot three. Ok wait a minute, though, five foot three, that’s not that short, but I guess when you stand next to someone who’s six foot four, it seems pretty short.
Milton thinks part of what shaped how Bill and Y.Y. related was Bill’s upbringing. On the one hand, Bill’s father did not approve of Y.Y.. CAROL SUTTON LEWIS: Y.Y. continued to visit Bill as often as she could. But when school was in session, she was studying – a lot. KATIE HAFNER: She knew she was the only woman in her class, but ever? This was news to Y.Y., and she was proud of it. You would think that the university would celebrate, too.
CAROL SUTTON LEWIS: So we went digging to find out what we could about Y.Y.’s graduation. There’s no doubt that she graduated: we’ve seen her diploma. Plus, there are several photos of her in the 1951 Howard University yearbook, and she’s listed in that year’s senior class directory.
KATIE HAFNER Starting in 1951, Y.Y. set off on her job hunt. Here she is talking about her interview for an engineering job with a US Navy recruiter: CAROL SUTTON LEWIS: Y.Y. didn’t get that job either. But she always seems so undaunted by the rejection. She followed a simple but powerful philosophy:MILTON CLARK: And so not being able to get the job that she was going for, she put on them, not on her, you know, they're missing out on my talent. They're the ones who've decided they don't want me. FineYVONNE CLARK: I got a job with Frankford Arsenal Gauge Lab and I was headed for Philadelphia.
CAROL SUTTON LEWIS: In this case, it was quite literally a different way of looking. Y.Y. took the plans for the cannon and blew them up to four times their original size. KATIE HAFNER: So in an interview later, Y.Y. said that many of the male engineers she worked with resisted working at the drawing board. She said they were afraid of being seen as mere draftsmen – and that would be too degrading. But Y.Y. understood how important it was to take a step back and see clearly before forging ahead.KATIE HAFNER: You know, let me just pause for a second and say, the very idea, the very concept of a troubleshooter sort of implies that you think differently.
MILTON CLARK: Dad was the one who suggested that she go by her initials. Rather than it being Yvonne, make it Y. CAROL SUTTON LEWIS: RCA published a newsletter about Y.Y. in 1954 that her daughter Carol showed me. The headline is "Lady Mechanical Engineer," and the copy reads "the attractive girl… MILTON CLARK: I haven't been in the house since it's been sold. But I was in there for so long, I could tell you where the, every knot in the hardwood floor is.
YVONNE CLARK: You’re going to pick the two, therefore you are satisfied. When I choose one of your two, we are satisfied.Y.Y. married Bill in December of 1955. It was a big celebration in her hometown, Louisville. News photographers covered the event. YVONNE CLARK: Since I was still in industry, I went by the Ford glass plant.
KATIE HAFNER: We found the yearbook from Y.Y.’s first year teaching. On page 82, there’s a photograph of the engineering department. It’s a grainy scan, but we could just make out Y.Y., the only woman, standing in the first row. KATIE HAFNER: Y.Y.’s first year of teaching was a busy one, and on top of that, she experienced a personal first: later that year her son, Milton, who you’ve been hearing, was born.
KATIE HAFNER: That’s Y.Y. again. In 2001, when she was in her early 70s, she and a few other SWE members got together to reminisce about their careers. YVONNE CLARK: In 58, was it 58, or 57…KATIE HAFNER: SWE held its national conference at a hotel in Houston. Y.Y. remembers arriving and walking up to the front desk…
CAROL SUTTON LEWIS: And not only that: SWE’s president threatened to sue the hotel and tell every newspaper about the incident. CAROL SUTTON LEWIS: SWE and Y.Y. worked out a deal with the hotel: Y.Y. would be able to attend the conference, and would be refunded the cost of her room. But she would stay with her aunt and uncle.
CAROL SUTTON LEWIS: But Y.Y. had a different take on that experience. As she told her colleagues from SWE in 2001… KATIE HAFNER: After the 1957 conference, the SWE executive committee made a statement that SWE wouldn’t hold conventions in the Southern United States until the Civil Rights Act was passed.CAROL SUTTON LEWIS: In 1997, SWE finally returned to Houston. This time, Y.Y. received a plaque, a key to the city, and an apology for her treatment in 1957. And she was honored as SWE’s Distinguished Engineering Educator.
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