John Glenn’s fan mail shows many girls dreamed of the stars – but sexism in the early space program thwarted their ambitions
- Written by Roshanna P. Sylvester, Associate Professor of Critical Media Practices and Digital Humanities, University of Colorado Boulder

Pioneering spacefarer John Herschel Glenn Jr. would have turned 100 on July 18, 2021.
When Glenn died in 2016, the famed astronaut was lauded as “the last genuine American hero.” NASA, the U.S. Marine Corps, Presid...