Excerpt of Charting Statistics By  Mary Eleanor Spear

Mary Eleanor Spear’s work is one of large significance, yet often overlooked in the area of  data visualization, especially as a female pioneer within this category.  Spear authored Charting Statistics a book that guided early practitioners on effective charting methods long before data visualization gained the recognition it has now.  Spear began working as a draftsman for the Internal Revenue Service –  a  groundbreaking role for women in that time. This work included drafting economic data and translating numbers into visual forms. This ultimately leading to her major influence within the data set field. 

This image, a page pulled from Charting Statistics, that presents a 1940 graph about women in industry is particularly significant. As this data visualizer shows Spear's commitment to visualizing societal trends affecting women’s roles in the workforce.

Her lasting legacy reflects how 19th-century data visualization continues to shape the visual practice today.  These visualizations began to place data into an expanded part of society by making complex information accessible to a new audience. 

Additionally, Mary Elenor spears occupied a role traditionally reserved for men – this helping  pave the way for women to enter technical job fields.   Her work pushed the boundaries of women’s perceived roles, encouraging future generations of women to enter and reshape technical and analytical fields traditionally dominated by men.

Sources: 
https://blog.panoply.io/history-of-data-visualization
https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/34745
https://archive.org/details/ChartingStatistics_201801/page/n1/mode/2up