Part of the 3rd Grade East She Persisted Series

Early Years 

Mae Jemison was born on October 17,1956. She has a sister and a brother. She wanted to be a scientist, but her teachers tried to discourage her because only boys could be scientists at that time. 

Life as an Adult

She was a lot of things before she was an astronaut. She started a camp for people and kids who wanted to be scientists all around the world. Mae Jemison went to Stanford in California and majored in chemical engineering. She graduated from high school when she was just 16 years old. 

Accomplishments

People said she could not be a scientist or an astronaut, but became both. She was named Gamma Sigma Gamma woman of the year in 1990.  She got Ebony Black Achievement Award in 1992. 

Conclusion

She was the first African American woman to travel into space. She said to the teachers that said, “You cannot be a scientist,” that she can and she is. 

“Sciences provide an understanding of universal experience. Arts are a universal understanding of a personal experience…They are both a part of us and a manifestation of the same thing.”

-Mae Jemison