TOP SECRET WWII WOMEN

NEW APP ON NEGLECTED TALE OF TOP SECRET WWII WOMEN ‘COMPUTERS’ NOW AVAILABLE
They were asked to serve, and math was their secret weapon.

The Computer Wore Heels bookapp
http://thecomputerworeheels.com/

In 1942, when computers were human and women were underestimated, a group of teenage girls used their math skills to help win a war and usher in the modern computer age. 2015 will mark the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII and their compelling story has finally been told. University professor and independent filmmaker LeAnn Erickson announces the release of The Computer Wore Heels, an interactive book app now available at the iTunes App Store. This app is based on the award winning documentary Top Secret Rosies: The Female Computers of WWII (RT 60 minutes, c. LeAnn Erickson 2010). The Computer Wore Heels shares the little known story of a group of female mathematicians, some as young as18, who did secret ballistics research for the US Army during WWII. A handful of these human ‘computers’ went on to serve as the programmers of ENIAC, the first multi-purpose electronic computer.

The documentary has been featured in national magazines and newspapers (http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/innovation/02/08/women.rosies.math/), has screened on public television, and is distributed by PBS. The film has enjoyed wide educational reach at the high school and college level, but what about those younger students, particularly girls? Computers, in all their various configurations, are the crayons of today’s young students and clearly a technology crucial to the future of society. Yet, despite this, many girls shy away from the areas of math, science and computer science, with a dramatic drop in interest starting in junior high. Elementary and middle school teachers will tell you that the time to attract girls to the study of math, science and computers is during their 4-8th grade years. Female role models are desperately needed. What might a 12-year-old girl think if she knew that girls as young as 17 were recruited to work as mathematicians for the US Army during WWII? Would she think differently about her studies if she knew that nearly 70 years ago six young women helped make computer technology a working reality as the programmers of ENIAC? The Computer Wore Heels shares this inspiring story with a new generation of
young people.

Producer/Director LeAnn Erickson
LeAnn Erickson is a Professor of film and video production at Temple University in the Department of Film and Media Arts (Philadelphia PA) and has been an independent video/filmmaker for over 25 years. Her work has appeared on public and cable television, in media and art galleries, and has won national and international recognition in video/film festivals. She has received regional and national production grants for her work including grants from the NEA, the Jerome Foundation, NAFSA Association of International Educators, the IEEE Foundation and the Leeway Foundation. She has just released The Computer Wore Heels, a bookApp that shares the Top Secret Rosies story with young adults.

The Computer Wore Heels, Now available for iPad at the App Store:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/computer-wore-heels-female/id901426550?mt=8
For more information about this story contact Producer/Director LeAnn Erickson at lerickson3@aol.com or 215-559-1012.