Elsie MacGill
| Elsie MacGill | |
|---|---|
 U of T graduation photo |
|
| Born | 27 March 1905 Vancouver |
| Died | 4 November 1980 Cambridge, Massachusetts |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Education | Masters Degree in electrical engineering, Doctorate at MIT in Cambridge |
| Occupation | Aeronautical engineer, Designer Human rights activist Author |
| Title | "Queen of the Hurricanes" |
| Spouse | E.J. (Bill) Soulsby |
| Children | (two stepchildren) |
| Parents | James Henry MacGill, and Helen Gregory MacGill |
Elizabeth Muriel Gregory "Elsie" MacGill (27 March 1905 – 4 November 1980), made famous as the Queen of the Hurricanes, was the world's first female aircraft designer. She worked as an aeronautical engineer during the Second World War and did much to make Canada a powerhouse of airplane construction during her years at Canada Car and Foundry (CC&F) in Fort William, Ontario. After her work at CC&F she ran a successful consulting business, and became famous again in 1967-1970 as a commissioner on the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada, published in 1970.
Early life and education
Elsie was born in Vancouver on 27 March 1905, daughter of James Henry MacGill, a prominent Vancouver lawyer, and Helen Gregory MacGill, British Columbia's first woman judge.[1] Her mother was an advocate of women's suffrage and influenced Elsie's decision to study engineering. MacGill graduated from the University of Toronto in 1927; she was the first Canadian woman to earn a degree in electrical engineering.
After graduation she took a job with American Austin Car Company in the US, and when they started to move into aircraft manufacturing she enrolled at the University of Michigan in aeronautical engineering. In 1929, she was the first woman in North America to graduate with a masters degree in aeronautical engineering.
Just before graduating she was struck by polio.[1] She was told that she would probably spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair, but refused to accept that possibility and forced herself to learn to walk with two strong metal canes. To help pay her bills, she wrote magazine articles about planes and flying[2] while beginning doctoral studies at MIT in Cambridge.[1]
Engineering career
In 1934, she started work at Fairchild Aircraft's operations in
Later that year she was hired as Chief Aeronautical Engineer at Canada Car and Foundry (CC&F), becoming the first woman in the world to hold such a position.[3] At CC&F she designed and tested a new training aircraft, the Maple Leaf Trainer II.[4]
The Maple Leaf was designed and first built in CC&F's Ft. William (now Thunder Bay) factories, where she had moved. Although the Maple Leaf II did not enter service with any Commonwealth forces, a number were sold to Mexico where its high-altitude performance was important given the many airfields from which it had to operate. Her role in the company soon changed when the factory was selected to build the Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF). The factory quickly expanded from about 500 workers to 4,500 by war's end, half of them women.[4] For much of the war MacGill's primary task was to streamline operations in the production line as the factories rapidly expanded. MacGill was also responsible for designing solutions to allow the aircraft to operate during the winter, introducing de-icing controls and a system for fitting skis for landing on snow.[4]
By the time the production line shut down in 1943, CC&F had produced over 1,400 Hurricanes.[5] In 1940 she wrote a paper on the experience, Factors affecting mass production of aeroplanes. Her role in this successful production run made her famous, even to the point of a comic book being published in the United States about her, using her then-famous nickname, "Queen of the Hurricanes".[4] Numerous popular stories in the media were published on her as well, reflecting the public's fascination with this female engineer.
After Hurricane production ended, CC&F looked for new work and ended up with a contract from the US Navy to build SB2C Helldivers. This production did not go nearly as smoothly, and a continual stream of minor changes from Curtiss-Wright (in turn demanded by the US Navy) meant that full-scale production took a long time to get started. In the midst of this project MacGill and the works manager, E.J. (Bill) Soulsby, were fired. At the time it was not clear why this had happened, and it was rumored Soulsby had been curt with a group of Navy brass that had visited a week earlier. It was later revealed the two were having an affair, and were fired for this reason.[6]
MacGill and Soulsby were married in 1943[4] and moved to Toronto where they set up an aeronautical consulting business. In 1946, she was the first woman to serve as Technical Advisor for ICAO, where she helped to draft International Air Worthiness regulations for the design and production of commercial aircraft. In 1947 she was Chairman of the Stress Analysis Committee of this part of the United Nations, the first woman to chair a committee in the UN.
Women's rights
MacGill published a biography of her mother in 1955 entitled My Mother the Judge: A Biography of Judge Helen Gregory MacGill. Her mother and grandmother's work in the suffrage movement inspired her to spend an increasing amount of time dealing with women's rights during the 1960s.[3] In 1967 she was named to the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada and co-authored the report published in 1970.[7] She also filed a "Separate Statement" describing those of her opinions that differed from the majority on the Commission. For example, she wanted abortion removed from the entirety of the Criminal Code.[3]
She was also a member of the Ontario Status of Women Committee, an affiliate of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women. For this work she was given the Order of Canada in 1971.[8]
Quotes
Upon entering the engineering profession:
| “ | My presence in the University of Toronto's engineering classes in 1923 certainly
turned a few heads. Although I never learned to fly myself, I accompanied the pilots on all test flights – even the dangerous first flight – of any aircraft I worked on. |
” |
|
— Elsie MacGill, 1940, [9]
|
MacGill once said:
| “ | I have received many engineering awards, but I hope I will also be remembered as an advocate for the rights of women and children. | ” |
|
— Elsie MacGill, [10]
|
In passing
Elsie MacGill died on 4 November 1980 in Cambridge, Massachusetts after a short illness.[11] In noting her passing, Shirley Allen, a Canadian member of the Ninety-Nines organization of women aviators described her: "She had a brilliant mind and was recognized as an outstanding Canadian woman. Neither gender nor disability prevented her from using her talents to serve her community and country." [12]
Awards
MacGill's paper, Factors Affecting the Mass Production of Aeroplanes, won the Gzowski Medal from the Engineering Institute of Canada in 1941.[13] In March 1953 the American Society of Women Engineers made her an honorary member and named her "Woman Engineer of the Year," the first time that the Award had gone out of the United States.[13] She was awarded the Centennial Medal by the Canadian government in 1967, the Ninety-Nines awarded her the Amelia Earhart Medal in 1975, and in 1979 the Ontario Association of Professional Engineers presented her with their gold medal. In 1983 she was inducted into Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame, and in 1992 she was a founding inductee in the Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame in Ottawa.
 The Maple Leaf II was designed by Elsie MacGill |
 CC&F Hawker Hurricane X on a test flight over Fort William, Ontario |
See also
References
- MacGill, E.M.G. "Factors affecting mass production of aeroplanes". (19 September 1940). Flight, v 38, n 1656, p. 228-231.
- MacGill, E.M.G. My Mother the Judge: A Biography of Judge Helen Gregory MacGill. Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1955; reprinted in 1981 by Toronto: PMA Books, ISBN 0-88778-210-8.
- Saxberg, Kelly. Rosies of the North. Montreal: National Film Board of Canada, 1999. A documentary about the Canadian Car and Foundry Company during the Second World War when Elsie MacGill was its chief engineer. [1] IMDB.
External links
- Short profile of MacGill from Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame
- Elsie MacGill - Queen of the Hurricanes from the CBC
- "Queen of the Hurricanes" from the Canada Science and Technology Museum.
- Biography of MacGill and bibliography, from Library and Archives Canada
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