BOZEMAN – The American Computers & Robotics Museum is offering a new summer exhibit: 200 years of Women in Computing.
Director of the Museum, George Keremedjive, started this museum with his wife in 1992 because he saw a lack of education on the history of technology, specifically computers. As the years have passed, the museum keeps growing and growing.
"We started with 300 square feet, really tiny and today we have thousands and thousands of square feet of displays,” said Keremedjive.
This year the couple wanted to continue to expand by adding an exhibit focused on only women in the computing field.
"First and foremost, there is no museum in world that has an exhibit on the role of women in computing. This is a first. It was in a sense a gamble because it is so unusual,” said Kermedjive.
It dates back more than 200 years and highlights iconic women in this field, including Ada Lovelace, Grace Hopper and Katherine Johnson. The movie "Hidden Figures" is based on Johnson’s life as a computer scientist. On display there is an original photo signed by Johnson along with the first printed computer program. Kermedjive hopes pieces like these will inspire young girls to dive into the STEM world.
"Men and women are just the same, just different genders and like if anyone wants to do anything they can and like I don’t think they should be held back,” said 8-year-old museum visitor Stella Allen.
The American Computers & Robotics Museum is a non-profit organization that runs solely on donations. It is free and open to the public seven days a week; summer hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. until the end of August.
