Evelyn Boyd Granville
Granville was born in Washington, D.C., May 1, 1924. Her father, William Boyd, worked as a custodian in their apartment building. Granville was raised by her mother, Julia Walker Boyd, and her mother's twin sister, Louise Walker, both of whom worked as examiners for the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing.Evelyn and her sister Doris, spent portions of their summers at the farm of a family friend in Linden, Virginia.
Evelyn Boyd grew up in Washington, D.C. and attended the segregated Dunbar High School (she was valedictorian) Evelyn maintained high academic standards. Several of its faculty held degrees from top colleges, and they encouraged the students to pursue ambitious goals. Evelyn mathematics teachers included Ulysses Basset, a Yale graduate, and Mary Cromwell, a University of Pennsylvania graduate; Cromwell's sister, who held a doctorate from Yale, taught in Dunbar's English department.…show more content… After her freshman year was finished she stayed in a cooperative house at Smith, sharing chores instead of paying the dormitory rent . she majored in mathematics and physics.She considered becoming an astronomer, but chose not to commit herself to living in the isolation of a major observatory, which was necessary for astronomers of that time. Though she had entered college intending to become a teacher, she began to consider industrial work in physics or mathematics. She graduated summa cum laude in 1945 and was elected to Phi Beta
