Clyde Foster facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Clyde Foster
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| Born | November 21, 1931 Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
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| Died | March 6, 2017 (aged 85) |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Alabama A&M University |
| Occupation | Scientist, civic leader |
| Employer | NASA |
Clyde Foster (November 21, 1931 – March 6, 2017) was an American scientist and mathematician. He worked for the NASA space agency. From 1975 to 1986, he led the Equal Employment Opportunity office at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
Mr. Foster is known for creating training programs. These programs helped many African Americans get jobs and promotions at NASA. This was important because, at the time, Alabama had segregation. This meant Black people were often denied these chances. To help, he also started a Computer Science program at his old college, Alabama A&M University. This was a historically Black university. He even led this program for a while. In 1981, he won the Philip A. Hart Award. This award was for his work in improving cities and workplaces.
Foster was also a community leader. He helped bring back Triana, Alabama, a small town with mostly African-American families. He helped the town get its official charter again. He also fought against pollution in Triana. For twenty years, he served as the town's mayor.
Life Story
Clyde Foster was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on November 21, 1931. He was the sixth of twelve children. He went to A. H. Parker High School. Living in segregated Birmingham made him want to leave. Segregation meant that Black and white people were kept separate in many public places.
Because of this, he went to Alabama A&M University. This was a historically Black university in northern Alabama. He earned his degree in Math and Chemistry in 1954. After serving two years in the United States Army, he taught science in Dallas County, Alabama, from 1956 to 1957.
Foster then became a mathematician for the Army Ballistic Missile Agency. This group worked on rocket calculations at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. In 1958, this agency became part of NASA. In 1960, he moved to NASA's new Marshall Space Flight Center. He worked there as a mathematician and instructor.
Around this time, Foster thought about leaving NASA. But then President John F. Kennedy announced that NASA would send people to the Moon. This big goal made Foster decide to stay. Foster also worked to recruit Black workers for Marshall.
A big problem was training. NASA, as a federal agency, did not segregate. But it was in a segregated state. This meant Black employees could not attend training programs. These programs were held in public places that only allowed white people.
Soon after joining NASA, Foster was asked to train a white colleague. This colleague would then become his boss. This was during the Civil Rights Movement, which fought for equal rights in Alabama. Foster complained and refused the task. He demanded that NASA start a training program for Black workers.
NASA agreed and began a program with Alabama A&M University. Foster felt that continuing segregation in this way was less important than getting the training. In the late 1960s, he convinced Wernher von Braun to help him. Von Braun was the head of the Marshall Center. He supported Foster in starting a Computer Science program at Alabama A&M.
The university was not very interested at first. They focused on nursing, education, and farming. But Foster kept pushing. In 1968, he became the director of the Computer Science Department at Alabama A&M. He created the program's first college degree. NASA even paid his salary for two years.
In 1972, Foster joined the Equal Opportunity Office at Marshall. He became the office's director in 1975. His job was to make sure everyone had fair chances at NASA. He retired in 1986. Through his work and training programs, he helped hundreds of African Americans get jobs at NASA.
Clyde Foster passed away on March 6, 2017.
Community Work
Clyde Foster was also the mayor of Triana, Alabama. This was a small town near Huntsville with less than a hundred African-American families. The town had struggled after a railroad was moved away from it. Foster learned about Triana after meeting his future wife, Dorothy, in college. She lived there, and he moved there after starting work at NASA.
Eight years after moving, he found out that Triana's town charter had never been officially ended. Alabama law allowed such towns to be revived. He convinced a judge to bring the town back. The judge then named Foster mayor and appointed a city council. An article in Ebony magazine praised Foster for reviving the town. He hoped Triana would grow with the development happening around NASA. He was mayor for twenty years, from 1964 to September 1984.
He also served on Alabama's Commission on Higher Education. Governor George C. Wallace appointed him in 1974.
In 1972, Foster co-founded Triana Industries with his friends Alonzo Toney and George Malone. This company made electronics. Foster was the president, and they had 28 employees.
In 1981, Foster received the Philip A. Hart Award. This award recognized his "significant contribution toward improving urban and working environments." He was also part of lawsuits in the 1980s against Olin Corporation. These lawsuits were about DDT pollution in Triana.
