Shelby Jacobs worked at North American Aviation (later, Rockwell) in southern California for 40 years, from 1956 to 1996. Born in Dallas in 1935, Jacobs’ family moved to the Los Angeles area for employment opportunities. Finally settling in Val Verde, a community in the Santa Clarita Valley that was known as “the Black Palm Springs,” Jacobs excelled in high school academics and athletics. After putting himself through a few years of college, Jacobs found work at Rocketdyne, the Space Division of North American Aviation. He worked as an engineer, but eventually moved into the Executive Program Office, also known as “Mahogany Row.” Jacobs’ transcript details the challenges and discrimination he faced and overcame while working in aerospace and living in southern California. Despite obstacles, he continually persevered and demonstrated excellence. During the Apollo Program, Jacobs designed the camera system that captured the iconic stage separation of Apollo 6. Years later, as the footage received wider attention and acclaim, Jacobs emerged as a “hidden figure,” whose accomplishments were finally being recognized by the larger public. His story details how he was motivated to succeed in aerospace not by a love of engineering, but by his commitment to breaking barriers and demonstrating success in spaces where Black people had been largely absent. This an edited transcript of an oral history interview of Shelby Jacobs conducted by Layne Karafantis. [Object file name], Aerospace Oral History Project, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
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