Oceanside's Finest SHELBY JACOBS WORDS: ALICIA STONE PHOTO: ZACH CORDNER
When I first contacted Shelby Jacobs about writing this piece about him and his accomplishments, his answer was a quick, “Great. How about today?” and right away I was struck with his optimism and eagerness to tell his story. Shelby is used to these phone calls having spent the last few years being approached by various media outlets asking him to speak on his work in the space program, and about the discrimination he’s witnessed and personally faced as an African American in the aerospace industry. As it turns out, we have our very own “hidden figure” right here in Oceanside, and I had the pleasure of meeting him and his lovely wife Elizabeth in their home. We scheduled the meeting at noon— since his retirement, Shelby has adopted a philosophy of staying off the roads during peak traffic hours to make space for the working folks. It’s just a small example of his warm and generous personality. After he cracked some jokes and showed me some of his most beloved keepsakes, we sat down and I listened to his story. Shelby’s journey started in Dallas, Texas before moving as a child to Val Verde—a black community in the Santa Clarita area of Southern California. He was told in high school that as an African American he should “learn a trade,” but he remained determined to follow his dreams of something more. He earned a scholarship at UCLA, where he studied mechanical engineering, and was soon hired by Rockwell International as one of eight black engineers at a company that employed thousands. There, he spent the next 40 years working his way up to the executive level and his “mahogany row” position as Project Manager for NASA’s Space Shuttle Program. Shelby Jacobs’ most celebrated accomplishment began in 1965 when he was assigned to complete the design for a camera system that
could prove that rocket separations occurred correctly for the unmanned Apollo 6 space mission. In doing so, he became responsible for the footage from the April 4, 1968 launch, which was the first time the curvature of the Earth had been documented on film. Sadly, the successful mission happened on the same day Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. The tragedy hit home for Shelby, as a few years prior he had the honor to be in the presence of MLK and hear him speak in Georgia at a symposium on voter registration. Shelby would go on to work on all of the other Apollo missions as well as the Shuttle Program. After the 1986 Challenger disaster, he assisted the investigation by examining the footage and quickly ruling out his company’s equipment. Released in 2016, the movie Hidden Figures highlighted the previously unseen role black women played in the international space race, whose work
“Never demand respect, but always command respect” would lead to the successful moon landing of Apollo 11. The feature shed light on Shelby’s own contribution, and he began to grant interviews and speak out about his experience living through the civil rights movement and working in a predominantly white industry during segregation. In 2018, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the famous footage, the Columbia Memorial Space Center opened an exhibit honoring Shelby entitled Achieving the Impossible: The Life and Dreams of Shelby Jacobs. Shelby approached his choice of where he’d retire the same way he conducted his life’s
work—using practical science. He’d watched his colleagues retire only to realize they weren’t happy in the places they’d chosen, so he began with the weather and considered the entire Southern California coast, while narrowing his choices. He immediately dismissed Los Angeles, Orange County, and downtown San Diego, due to dense populations. He even factored in the amount of seismic activity in the area (he determined that is the quietest place on the fault line), and focused on North County. He settled on Jeffries Ranch here in Oceanside, and he’s very proud of his beautiful home he bought brand new in 1996, which he chose specifically based on the direction of the sun. He’s remained active in the Oceanside City Council and his church community and has traveled the country speaking as a role model to young students about the importance of staying in school and working to achieve their goals regardless of race or background. In 2019, California Congressman Mike Levin named him the first of his “Constituent of the Month” program, and spoke about his legacy on the House floor in Washington D.C. As I began to leave, he asked to show me one last thing. It’s a beautiful spread of food that his wife had prepared. Elizabeth explained that it’s part of her rich Mexican heritage to always offer guests something to eat. She said her mother had always managed to keep her family and neighborhood fed with her homemade beans and rice. Before we said goodbye, we giggled as he showed me his impressive “moonwalk,” and then he once again reiterated the trait he attributes to his success. He reminded me to “Never demand respect, but always command respect.” It’s an important lesson, and an empowering message that I was lucky enough to see in person—and one I won’t soon forget.
