Hi, my name is Raye Jean Montague. I am a scientist from the modern era. I was an American naval engineer, born in Little Rock, Arkansas, on January 21, 1935. I was born to Rayford Jordan and Flossie Graves Jordan. In my early life, I was inspired to pursue naval engineering when I saw a German submarine that had been captured by America and put on tour across the country. I attended St. Bartholomew school before moving to Merrill high school in Pine Bluff, graduating in 1952. I  attended the Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical & Normal College — now known as the University of Arkansas in Pine Bluff because I wanted to study engineering. I graduated in 1956 with a bachelor of science in business. 

 

In 1956 I joined the U.S. Navy in Washington D.C. as a clerk typist. At work, I sat by a 1950s UNIVAC 1 computer. By watching,  listening and practicing after hours I taught myself how to use it. 

 

When I was interested to learn how to use the computer, I asked the operator if he would teach me. He declined, saying, “if I did then you would have my job!” When I had mostly figured out how the computer worked just by watching, I looked for a chance to try my hand at it. When I first tried the computer, my boss said, “Raye, I didn’t know that you knew how to work the computer.” “I don’t”, I replied, “but I know how to work it enough to do my job.” After that, he reluctantly said, “well you know more than any of the rest of us, so from now on, this is your job.”

 

In 1971, president Nixon ordered a new ship to be designed. Yet, instead of giving us two years to complete a rough draft, as had been the history of the Navy, he wanted it done in a mere 2 months. The admirals gave me one month to do it, but, through the use of computer-aided design, I was able to produce the draft in only 18 hours and 26 minutes. This was the first computer-generated rough draft in the history of the Navy. After this feat, my career took off and I became the U.S. Navy’s first female program manager of ships and held a civilian rank equivalent to that of a captain. 

 

I was married three times, in 1955, 1965 and 1973. While I was married to David H Montague I had one child, David R Montague. He’s a tenured professor of criminal justice at The University of Arkansas at Little Rock. David and I are very close. I’ve gotten him through a lot. We are very similar in our ideas, our mindset our determination and our smile. 

 

“My mom certainly made me believe I could do anything I wanted as long as I had the skill sets and the determination,” my son said. “I saw her having to fight and fight, and I had to deal with a lot of that myself.”

Sadly, I died because of congestive heart failure on October 10, 2018, I was eighty-three years old. But I died proudly. I created a computer designing program that helped people make new designs for ships. Through watching my interviews you can see that I was funny and kind and smart! I revolutionized a big part of the Navy. I think that I would ask myself; Did I do a good job on the first design?  Who was my biggest inspiration? Did I teach many other people?      

 

List of awards:

• Meritorious Civilian Service Award (US Navy, 1972)

• Society of Manufacturing Engineers Achievement Award (1978)
• National Computer Graphics Association Award for the Advancement of Computer Graphics (1988)
• Arkansas Women’s Hall of Fame (2018)

   

 

Paleo means “older or ancient, especially relating to the geological past.” The Paleo diet is eating foods that are wholesome and nutritious. The foods that the paleo diet is based on are the foods that we would have eaten during the Paleolithic era. Which dates from 2.5 million to 10,000 years ago. This diet typically consists of lean meats, fish, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. This diet limits the consumption of foods that became common in farming during the past 10,000 years. This diet was created in the 1970s by a gastroenterologist named Walter Voegtlin. Walter was the pioneer of this diet.

People who are on the paleo diet can enjoy weight loss, lowering blood pressure, and controlling blood sugar in the short term. But experts caution that in the long run, this diet may lead to nutrient deficiencies and other health risks.

1. How many people are on the Paleo diet versus in the 1970s?
2. How dangerous is the Paleo diet?
3. Can you die from the Paleo diet?

Last week we went on a journey through the Pathfinder campus. We were going on a snowshoeing adventure! We walked down the driveway and honked when the signs said to. Then we walked down the second driveway, the dirt one, and kept going. we ended up at the boathouse and we checked for the cat. Audrey and the other staff kids go after school and put food and water down there for him/her. He/ she usually eats the food. We were wondering if he/she uses the little comfy bed that they put out for him/her. The little makeshift bed is a cardboard box with a fleece blanket inside to keep him/her warm and cozy. They cut a hole in the front so that he/she can crawl inside when it’s cold.

That wasn’t what it looked like by the way.

We kept moving. We went out on the dock, and then the ice. The ice was quite thick so there were no problems until Lars cracked it a little… Then I stepped right where he had stepped a moment before. Luckily nothing happened, at least that could kill us. Later we were walking down the birch trail Audrey started yelling for us stragglers to “Hurry up! You NEED to see this!” So I started to walk a little bit faster. But when I got there I was amazed by what I was seeing! There was what seemed to be a murder scene. (Obviously not human). It looked like an animal had full-on attacked a bunny or something of that size. It was right in the middle of the trail, too! A little off of the trail there was more blood and fur. The whole scene smelled like urine too.

• Is it really a cat who is eating the food?
• Where does the animal go?
• How long will the staff kids still look for the animal and try to catch it?