Watch Top Secret Rosies: The Female Computers of WWII

Top Secret Rosies: The Female Computers of WWII is a 2010 documentary film directed by LeAnn Erickson. The movie is about the little-known story of a group of young women who worked as human computers for the US Army during World War II. The film explores the role these women played in the war effort and their contributions to the development of modern computing technology.

The film begins in the early 1940s, when the US was gearing up for war. Military officials realized that they needed a way to compute mathematically complex data quickly in order to aid in the war effort. The solution was to hire a group of skilled mathematicians to work as human computers. But this presented a new challenge - most of the mathematicians at that time were men, and many of them were being drafted into the military. The Army decided to turn to women for help.

The movie follows the story of a group of female mathematicians who were hired to work as computers for the Army. These women had to undergo rigorous testing and training before they could start work. They also had to keep their work a secret, as the Army was concerned that their calculations could be intercepted by the enemy.

The female computers worked at the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School of Engineering, where they used complex machines such as the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) to perform calculations. These women were responsible for programming these machines to perform complex calculations that were crucial to the war effort.

The movie highlights the personal stories of some of the women who worked as computers during the war. They include Jean Jennings Bartik, a young farm girl from Missouri who was one of the first women to be hired; Betty Holberton, a pioneering computer programmer who helped develop the first compilers; and Marlyn Meltzer, who worked on calculations for the Manhattan Project.

The film also explores the discrimination and sexism these women faced both during and after the war. Despite their significant contributions to the war effort, most of them were not credited for their work and were often overlooked in the male-dominated field of computing. The movie raises important questions about how we remember history and the role of women in STEM fields.

Overall, Top Secret Rosies: The Female Computers of WWII is a fascinating and inspiring documentary about a group of women who played a crucial role in the development of modern computing technology. It sheds light on a little-known aspect of World War II history and highlights the important contributions that women have made to science and technology.

Top Secret Rosies: The Female Computers of WWII is a 2010 documentary with a runtime of 56 minutes.