Y.Y. taught at Tennessee State University for 55 years. In this episode, we hear from people who worked with Y.Y. and how she is remembered. The reason historically Black colleges and universities have so many successful Black scientists is because of their place in the future of science. We take a look at Y.Y.'s accomplishments and what it meant to be the first.
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It was the first of many.
Yvonne Clark doesn't see herself as a pioneer. Being the first person to do something is tiring. The rest of these people are nowhere to be found.
Carol Lewis is the name of the person.
I'mKatie Hafner. The women of science are lost.
We've talked about Yvonne Young Clark this season.
This season was called "The First Lady of Engineering" because of YY Clark's many firsts.
Being the first is complicated to some of her peers. We will look at some of the reasons why.
The work that defined YY's life was her work as a teacher.
We will hear from the people who carry on the legacy of that work at HBCUs, as well as the people who support Black students as they pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
She was a mentor to hundreds of students at Tennessee State University. We have to talk about the picture.
Ah, yes, Carol Strait Lewis. A picture.
Early on in our research we latched on to one photo in particular. It is dark and light. It happened in the 60s. There are rows of students in the front of the classroom.
All male...
All males were facing her.
Just in charge of the situation.
She could turn around and write on the board.
Everyone has their book open, says Mary Schmidt Campbell. People look like they are.
S. Kevin Harvey was grasping every word.
They're there. They are with her. She's got them.
When I first saw the picture, I loved it. She has her fist on a textbook as she emphasizes a point. It shows a lot about who she was as a teacher.
CAROL SUTTON LEWIS: That's correct. The photo is from a whole spread of photos taken on campus.
I think we go this way, that's what Milton Clark thinks. We will be there...
CAROL SUTTON LEWIS is at Tennessee State University. The old engineering building is where we are going.
Tennessee State is one of the HBCUs. The Civil Rights Act happened in 1964. HBCUs gave a means to an education at a time when most institutions did not.
Nashville has many historically black colleges and universities. YY's parents met at Meharry Medical College, where Bill was a professor. There is Tennessee State, where YY was a teacher.
Gonna get my bearings...
The campus is large. There are different types of buildings today, ranging from brick dormitories to large concrete laboratories. The old engineering building is located towards the center of the campus.
It's true, according to Milton Clark. This is the final one.
We walk up the stairs. There is a grand staircase and columns in front of the entrance. The computer science department is housed in the same place as the other departments. There is a stone engraved with the word "engineering".
There is a picture of a mother in the magazine. She's going off of those steps.
The person in the photo is wearing sunglasses. She looks like she's in complete control.
She was a force to be reckoned with, even though she was probably four 11 years old.
Dr. Charles Flack is a former student and mentor of Carol Shelton Lewis. He remembers seeing her on campus.
How are you doing today? Are you doing well? What are your studies doing? It is going well, Professor Clark, I say.
YY would usually tell him that she was still a full tenured professor.
Charles said he was calling him out of respect.
She commanded respect from her students by saying, "Actually, I'm not as important as you think I am."
Everyone had to take this one. Ms. Clark taught the class.
The network engineer is a former student of the school. She was able to meet all the engineering students in the class.
CAROL SUTTON LEWIS: YY was the freshman and junior advisor and the faculty advisor
She kept an eye on you after YY knew you.
Baker would be asked what he was doing this summer. I'm not sure. She wants to interview at the career placement center.
After graduation, she wasn't sure if she was going to stay at home or get a job. She received a call soon after. It was early in the morning.
She wants you to come up here. You just came on up, I have an interview for you.
The job was related to working with nuclear power. She said that she had some self-doubt.
I'm fine with that. I have never heard of nuclear power. You do, she said. You did a summer internship. You know it's a small scale.
It's just to say that YY had faith in her students and that it was well placed. She saw to it that her students got practical experience when they developed engineering skills.
She instilled confidence in us and that's a big deal. That is just who she was.
Carol Lawson told us that students would come to YY with problems in their other courses.
Professor Clark, Carol Lawrence. The other teacher is going to make me angry. Are you able to assist?
Carol told me that her mom wasn't crazy about it.
They're being mean to you. What can we do? No honey, no sugar, no sweet in that.
Students were always asked the same questions when they came to her.
What did you do or not do? Carol Lawrence asked.
The students were given a problem to solve.
Carol Lawrence asked what the assignment was. He asked if you did A, B and C. I did all three of them. There is a problem for us.
She wanted everyone to get an A.
The doctor is a former student of YY's. She told the students they had an A and made them repeat it.
Freshman year, you go into class. Wow! I got an A and haven't done a thing. It's all downhill if you don't do the work.
He wanted to be a lawyer.
Engineering is the career of the future according to YY Clark.
It took a single conversation with YY to change majors. Many students gave YY advice that was heavy. Students were able to go to her office to get an honest perspective.
It was small, no windows, and only cinder blocks when I was there. It was difficult to imagine that this was where magic happened. She had papers and books in it.
She worked in the evening to help students with their machines. She was reachable.
YY left campus late at night and came back the next morning, according to her coworkers.
As a child, she'd take me up to TSU. I was there every day.
Carol says she didn't understand what her mom did when she was a child.
She ran the department and I knew she had a lot of papers, said Carol Lawrence. I knew what I was talking about. A large number of students. At that time, I shared this woman with them.
When she was a child, Carol didn't want to share her mother. Carol would set up in the back of a classroom, or sit with a secretary, and the campus became an extension of her home.
When I needed my mom to be there, she was there. The times that matter are those.
The son of YY is 12 years older than his sister. Bill was the one who took care of the cooking in the house. The accounts were done by YS. Ms Griggs was Carol's nanny. YY was able to stay on campus because of this support. Sharing YY with her students didn't bother him.
He says his mom was a big fan of the school.
To say that she was loyal is an understatement.
YY had a bigger sense of mission that was worth the late nights. She was the first female in her department. She worked to make sure that she wasn't the last.
The most women engineers I have ever been around were at Tennessee State.
It's Charles again.
Charles Finkelstein believes that is related to professor YY Clark. I didn't see many women engineers when I was in the industry.
TSU had few female engineers until YY came along.
Yvonne was the only woman until I arrived.
Lilia Ann Abron was a colleague at Tennessee State.
She always had her own style.
Lilia and YY were neighbors. Lilia's house might need fixing.
She had a tape measure, a slide rule, and a tool box. She could fix things.
Lilia is a chemical engineer who is the founder and CEO of PEER Consultants.
Women of color face a lot of challenges in science. Researchers began to see that when YY and Lilia started working together.
Lilia was invited to a conference focused on the experiences of minorities in the sciences. Researchers compiled their findings in a landmark paper called the Double Bind after they exchanged ideas and memories. Even though there were programs to support women and minorities, they found that it wasn't always enough.
There were programs for African American men. White women were the recipients of programs that were designed to advance them. There were African American and minority women in this situation. They are going to do something. There wasn't anything for either of them.
She was the only black woman when she joined the Society of Women Engineers.
The only woman in the mechanical engineering program was YY.
You have to think about YY's firsts. YY came from anambitious and supportive Black family. She was interested in what was happening.
She was the first to be affected by sexism andracism. The Double Bind made it difficult for black women to enter the field.
Most of the people were firsts.
Lilia says that being the first, especially in academia, wasn't much of a cause for celebration.
It was something we had to do in order to survive. Education was all the way out for us. You got educated because you were trying to move up and make life better for your friends and family. We didn't pay attention to who was first. We were pushing each other to be the best.
Lilia's academic achievements weren't about glory. For YY...
There was no choice but for her to go to college. Black families didn't think that way. The woman had to do her job. Both husband and wife had to work to make ends meet.
When salary equality for women and Black Americans was worse than it is today, education meant a higher income.
Yvonne wasn't going to have to work if she got married. That is not how we were raised.
In 1970, YY took a leave of absence from TSU to get another degree because she wanted to get a higher degree. YY was the first woman to get a master's degree in engineering management from a university.
She got her second first while she was there. She worked at the same plant that she applied to when she first moved to Nashville as she researched her thesis. They said they had no use for her. She was the first female engineer there.
YY's motivation to break through boundaries was based in practicality. She had to become the first lady of engineering.
She wasn't just the first, she was the only one. She wouldn't have liked it for a long time. It was hard for other black women to become engineers because of the Double Bind. It is important to remember the oppressive systems that made her exception.
Yvonne Clark was a department head.
That's YY, that's Carol Strait Lewis. She was able to increase the number of women in the mechanical engineering program.
Yvonne Clark was as opposed to none when she arrived. I did everything I could to get it done.
When Charles was a student, his engineering class always included women.
They found professor Clark to be attractive. Many went to work for NASA and IBM.
It was YY who helped make these connections in many cases.
My mother had a unique understanding of how the system works. I mean the way that industry uses credentials to make sure people get into certain programs.
If they were locked out of industry because of racism or sexism, recruiting students into engineering wouldn't mean a lot.
Her professional engineering license was one of the important credentials. An engineer can earn it. The teacher encouraged her students to do the same.
It created a level playing field that no one can take away from you. During her 55 years as a teacher, mom tried to get as many students as she could.
YY used her summers to stay up to date with the latest developments. She worked on a project at Oak Ridge National Laboratory for 20 years.
She was always trying to find a different path for others to follow. She wanted the others to be respected because of the path she took. She did it with style and grace, even though she had to bear a lot. That is the best thing about her. I would like to talk to her like this.
After teaching for over 50 years at Tennessee State University, YY retired in 2011. She was active in many organizations, including the Society of Women Engineers and the Deltas. She would get flowers on her birthday.
YY became unwell in December of last year.
She got sick after Christmas, according to Carol Lawrence.
Carol told me about a difficult time in her life.
She was in the hospital on New Year's Eve.
There was fluid in her lungs and they did a biopsy. She had a serious illness.
They were like you know what. That is not going to be great. She isn't going to do well for a long time.
Carol knew YY didn't have a lot of time left.
We were going to do a party for her on April 13th. It's January and we don't have time so let's do it now. I called a few of her students. I will have a party in a week. I'm aware. I'm aware. If you can get it to arrive. All of them showed up. All of them came from the same place.
The former students of YY were happy to hear what she meant to them.
She did more for the students than any other faculty member. We felt it.
Charles Flack spoke at YY's funeral.
Charles Finkelstein is an electrical engineer. She thought of Flack when she thought of me. She decided to just call me. Let me know that she was interested. In a lot of schools that is not the case.
How historically Black colleges and universities came to be, and why they're so successful at producing science, technology, engineering and math graduates are some of the topics coming up.
It's not possible to separate HBCUs and their formation without discussing racial segregation and legalized apartheid in the US.
A break.
Many historically Black colleges and universities came about after the abolition of slavery.
The former president of Spelman College is Carolina Steele Lewis. There was a time when Spelman was founded.
There was no school for black women. The women came to read and write at the beginning. Slavery denied those skills.
HBCUs became centers of Black education and culture, according to Carol Shelton Lewis. For many black students, they were places where they could pursue professional degrees.
Our women were interested in becoming doctors and lawyers by the 1930s. There was a concerted effort to focus on science after the civil rights movement.
HBCUs make up 3% of colleges and universities in the US, but 25% of all BlackSTEM graduates come from them.
Black women who complete PhDs in science, technology, engineering, and math are produced by Spelman.
The college is very proud of it. They wanted to be the leading producers of black women scientists. The college has developed a number of practices that are upheld by the statistics.
These practices are being studied because they have been very successful at HBCUs.
Cheryl TALLEY: I'm Cheryl Talley. I am a professor of psychology. I do research in the field of education.
The research director for the HBCU is Dr.Cheryl Talley. The center was founded to find out what makes HBCUs so good at preparing Black students. Morehouse College, Spelman College and Virginia State collaborated on the project.
CHERYL TALLEY: I wanted to know what kind of academic interventions were in the same area.
The most successful interventions are those where incoming students are brought to campus before classes begin. Students could take a class or do research. Bridge programs are effective.
Is it the resources that you are giving? Is the relationship that has been formed? We hypothesised that it was the relationship. We created relationships with people who were close to us.
Freshman were mentors in Cheryl's study.
Those students are part of a group.
The freshmen received guidance and support from the older students.
CHERYL TALLEY: I believe that that is what happens with these students. They get very serious. This is working.
It's called the sisterhood at Spelman. It is another way of saying that you have a group of friends.
That's Dr. Mary Campbell again. One of the HBCUs that recognizes the importance of cohort is Spelman.
Science is a collaborative practice according to Mary Schmidt Campbell.
When you work in a group...
You're starting to understand how science works.
Mary tells us that the way science is taught is hands on.
Mary Schmidt Campbell always looks for an opportunity to put that into practice. It could be a research lab. It could be a co-publication with your professor. Many students come to the excitement of doing science there.
Science education is more than teaching science.
One of the things that happens at an HBCU is that faculty practice two curriculums, one of which is the science, technology, engineering, and math curriculum.
The second curriculum is important according to Cheryl.
We know that we are responsible for these young people. Our mission calls for us to teach.
The second curriculum, the emphasis on cohort and mentorship, and the mission are all things that grow out of the history of these schools.
When you discuss HBCUs...
There was a need to create a different set of institutions.
The need was created by exclusion and anti- Black racism. Historically Black Colleges and Universities have been havens for Black Americans since they were founded.
In the US, HBCUs turned out to be a gift from that horrible situation.
All students are welcome at HBCUs, says Kathy Hafner. Black students at an HBCU can expect to be taught by many Black teachers who understand the toll of racism.
Research shows that black students have better educational outcomes when they have black teachers. Black students scored better on their math scores when teachers were trained at HBCUs. It seems like when it comes to supporting Black students, it isn't just about the teacher, it's about their training.
It isn't clear what makes them better teachers to black students.
Cheryl and her research team are trying to find and share effective practices. It's not just at HBCUs.
The purpose of the HBCU undergraduate success research center is to figure out how to replicate and scale it.
Cheryl needs to understand what she's up against in the education system to be able to do that. Cheryl is looking at how inequalities persist.
Where you live can affect the amount of preparation you have to go through to get into college.
A student's zip code can tell a lot about their education. The history of segregation in this country means that the zip codes are often referred to as segregating school districts. More than a third of US students attend a school where at least 75% of the students are of a single race, according to a report by the US Government Accountability Office.
A report shows that predominantly white school districts get more funding than non white districts.
Many of the students starting college at an HBCU are from schools that are not well funded. That affects the way they prepare for college.
The lived experience for African-Americans is different in the US. When you talk about education, it's assumed that you graduated from high school and should be proficient. If your high school is under-resourced, it's very likely that you weren't prepared for the rigor of a science, technology, engineering and mathematics degree. You aren't prepared for the college experience.
Many students arrive at college unprepared, but extremely capable, which is why the approach at HBCUs is to recognize the difference between readiness and potential.
According to Cheryl, seven of the top eight institutions that graduate the highest number of Black undergrad students who go on to earn a science and engineering doctorate are HBCUs.
We're focused on making sure that close to a hundred percent of our students have some placement when they leave us.
Funding is still the biggest challenge for HBCUs. The UNCF found that HBCU endowments lag behind non- HBCU endowments.
More than half of our students are eligible for the federal student loan program. The yearly family income is about $50,000.
Students still face financial barriers despite the fact that the tuition at an HBCU is lower than at a non-HBCU.
As I talk to potential funders, I told them not to forget scholarships. It's important to what we need.
The faculty of HBCUs are committed to their students and their mission.
There are some people who want a purpose driven life. I can become a catalyst for hundreds of other students and that is a powerful motivator.
I want to be a college professor, I was sitting in class and it hit me, like a bolt of lightening, that I want to be a college professor. I want to be like him.
It's Dr. S. Hargrove again.
At the University of Iowa, he earned his PhD, as well as his Master's of Science. He became the dean of engineering when he returned to TSU. He moved from being a student to a colleague.
I returned to TSU to serve in the leadership role of the college of engineering, the program that produced me, and it was very gratifying.
Going to an HBCU like Tennessee State was a turning point for the man.
Tennessee State allowed me to do things I had never done before. I don't think I could have gotten through differential equations and calculus without the help of my professors.
One of the historically Black universities has a provost namedKeith.
One of the things I have always said to these kids is that you don't have to be a genius in math to become an engineer. That is one of the most common myths out there.
The second curriculum Cheryl was telling us about was about work ethic and having a support system. He attributes his education at an HBCU to the importance of that.
He was a mentor to YS.
Just like your own family, you hold onto those memories. They live inside of you. You become a better person because of them. You become a better person because of them. I would like to believe that YY is proud of the career that I have chosen to be just like her.
CAROL SUTTON LEWIS: How do you think TSU should commemorate YY?
The college of engineering should be labeled for her. She is known as the first lady of engineering so her name would be appropriate.
The best teachers have a lasting impact on students. It's a kind of legacy.
There is a scholarship for students who want to study engineering in the name of YS.
She lives in a lot of students like myself. That's going to take a long time than a name and a title.
As teachers are often remembered, YY is remembered through the lives and actions of her students. YY's legacy is huge and living. She was the one who made it.
When I was a student at Howard, my professor told me to give back to the community when I got where I wanted to go.
It would be easy to think of YY's time as a teacher as a kind of footnote to her time at NASA, as if her contributions were limited to those few summers. She never became a teacher.
When I asked Carol which accomplishments her mom thought were the most significant, she said...
From her point of view, I think it would be the teaching.
YY changed her field. She did that by educating and inspiring the next generation. The accomplishments are not separate.
She made a huge impact on the opportunities for female engineers and Black female engineers.
Carol and her brother have done a great job of preserving their mom's story.
They've protected her legacy with love and admiration.
We rely on the work they did to share it with you. Most of the tape from YY came from a StoryCorps interview she did with Carol when she was 78. Carol gave her mother the last word in that interview.
Yvonne Clark said don't take no for an answer if you think you are qualified. You should keep your honor. It's important to respect other people. Don't give up, just keep going. It's all about that.
The results of the research.
This has been lost women of science. Thanks to everyone who helped make this happen, including our co- executive producer Amy Scharf, producer Ashraya Gupta, senior editor Nora Mathison, associate producer Sinduja Srinivasan, composer Elizabeth Younan, and the engineers at Studio DPodcast Production.
Much of the story comes from his book.
KATIE HAFNER: We are grateful to all of the people who have helped us. Thanks to the legal team at Perkins Coie. Young women are being helped by a leader in empowering them to pursue their passion in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
We would like to thank Tennessee State University, the National Air and Space Museum, the University of Louisville, and the University of Alabama inHuntsville for their assistance in our search.
The Lost Women of Science is funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.
PRX and Scientific American have collaborated on the distribution and publication of this show.
You can find more information at lostwomenofscience.org or follow us on social media. We're located at Lost Women ofSci. It is lost women of S C I.
I would like to thank you for listening.
Carol Lewis is the name of the person.
I'mKatie Hafner.
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