Mary Jackson was born and raised in Hampton, and studied math and physical science at Hampton Institute. After graduating in 1942, she taught high school in Maryland for a year but then returned home to care for her ailing father. Regulations barred her from teaching in the same school system where two of her sisters were already employed. She found work at the Hampton USO, which served as a social club for U.S. servicemen and their families during the war. There she met Levi Jackson. They married in 1944. When the USO closed after the war ended, she stayed home to care for their infant son, Levi, Jr. In her free time, she served as a Girl Scout troop leader.

By early 1951, word has gotten around in the Black community about jobs at Langley for talented women. Mary, ready to rejoin the workforce, applies for a clerical job with the army but also for a position at Langley. The Cold War is at its height, and Russian jets are attacking American bombers over Korea. Within the U.S. government, there are worries about spies passing secrets to the Soviet Union. The FBI has been investigating selected individuals at Langley. Matilda West, a distant relative of Dorothy’s who works at Langley and has social connections to the politically suspect Stability Research group, is fired. At the same time, President Truman has ordered the desegregation of the military and is pushing to eliminate discrimination in the civil service. It is in this environment that Mary, after working just three months for the army as a civilian clerk typist, accepts an offer to join West Computing.