We interrupt this series for an important announcement!!
The NASA women who inspired ‘Hidden Figures’ will get Congressional gold medals[1]
For the past several months we have been relating the stories of remarkable black women in America. We told the stories of 18thand 19thcentury African-American women. We continued with the stories of more black women in the kingdom of God in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In spite of the limitations imposed on them by society these women followed their call to become evangelists, missionaries, journalists, business women, scientists, philanthropists, teachers, and activists.
Next, we recounted the story of Madame C. J. Walker – the Firstblack woman millionaire in America! There were other “Firsts” such as Ida B. Wells, the First woman to challenge the bigotry of the transportation system by boarding a train in the ‘white’ section in 1884.[2]
We want to continue with more “Firsts”. These will include – Bessie Coleman, early pilot, daredevil and stunt flyer; Mary McLeod Bethune, educator and leader; Mae Jemison – first female black astronaut; Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson – achievements in the space industry and instrumental in getting the first Americans in space and on the moon. Rosa Parks challenged the ‘Jim Crow’ laws in 1955 when she refused to give up her seat to a white person on a bus. These women were all very great women of courage and much to be admired.
This week though, we are going to interrupt the order listed above so that we may pause, reflect and honor the African-American women who worked at NASA during the 1960’s while America was working to put the first man on the moon.
Mathematician Katherine Goble Johnson, computer programmer Dorothy Vaughan, and engineers Mary Jackson and Christine Darden were awarded Congressional Gold Medals. These women are only a few of the many forgotten women, especially black women, who achieved amazing things in spite of the prejudice and road blocks thrown at them. All extremely brilliant women, they were the brains behind the launch of John Glenn into space in the 1960’s space race. The work of these “human computers” helped our country to put a man on the moon. Today, the street in front of the headquarters is named after them.
Here is a synopsis of the lives of the women who crossed racial and gender lines to contribute to the important work done at NASA:
Katherine Goble Johnson
Katherine was a math prodigy who graduated from West Virginia State College summa cum laude at only age 18. She married and had three children. Sadly, Mr. Goble died of a brain tumor. Later she remarried.
Katherine was an aerospace technologist. She verified the computer’s numbers for John Glenn’s orbit around the earth in 1962, calculated the historic Apollo 11 trip to the moon, and worked on the calculations that helped bring Apollo 13 safely back to earth after it malfunctioned in 1970.
Update– Katherine is 101 years young and living in Virginia.
Dorothy Johnson Vaughan
Dorothy received her training at Wilberforce University in Ohio in 1929. She married Howard Vaughan and they had six children. In 1943, Dorothy went to work at Langley as one of the African-American women who were hired due to President Roosevelt’s executive order forbidding racial, ethnic, or religious discrimination in the defense industry as he sought to fill the jobs needed for the war effort. Dorothy was one of the countless female human “computers” who did the math for the space industry.
Later when IBM introduced digital computers to replace the human computers, Dorothy was smart enough to figure a way to keep her job and the job of all of the other women. She taught herself and them the Fortran programming Language for the IBM 704 mainframe computers that NASA was installing. At the time, there were separate bathrooms and dining facilities for whites and blacks.
Update– Dorothy died in 2008. She was awarded her medal posthumously.
Christine Darden
Christine was a data analyst at NASA’s Langley Research Center before becoming an aerospace engineer. She is credited with over 50 articles on aeronautics design and “her work led to discoveries which ‘revolutionized aerodynamics design.’” (Elassar).
Update– Christine is now 77 years old. She is retired and living in Hampton. She frequently travels around the country as a speaker. In 2018 Christine received the Presidential Citizenship Award at Hampton University in recognition for her contribution and service.
Mary Jackson
Mary graduated from Hampton Institute with bachelor’s degrees in Mathematics and physical science. Frustrated and unhappy about the discrimination against in the work place, Mary almost resigned. However, her supervisor, Kazimierz Czarnecki encouraged her to train as an engineer. Mary had to fight racial prejudice, but she successfully finished the course and was promoted to aerospace engineer in 1958 at the age of 37. She wrote many papers, studies of data that helped to improve US planes. Mary achieved the most senior rank in the engineering department but took a demotion to become a human resources administrator until her retirement in 1985. She spent her time helping other women and minorities to advance their careers.
Update– Mary worked as an engineer for NASA and then became the Federal Women’s Program Manager where she strived to improve working conditions for black, female employees. She died in 2005. She received her medal posthumously.
In 2016 a movie was made to tell the story of the women. It focused on three of the women and was called “Hidden Figures”. It starred Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monae. It was finally time after 55 years that Katherine, Dorothy, and Mary are recognized for their achievements. Though things have changed a lot since the 1940’s and 50’s, there is still a struggle for full racial and gender equality. The stories of these women will go a long way to erase the idea that women, especially black women are inferior.
The movie is great, and I hope you will see it. My only disappoint was that the tremendous religious faith of these three wonderful women was not presented more. The women all just wanted to succeed and were willing to put up with the prejudice against them. In that era, blacks were often just happy to have a job. Their gratitude for what they had should put those of us who have never encountered their obstacles to shame. They are an inspiration!
These women were true pioneers and are an inspiration to everyone especially black women. Thanks to their unselfish and courageous efforts African-American women today can enter all fields of enterprise including mathematics, science, and technology.
[1]Alaa Elassar, CNN. “The NASA women who inspired ‘Hidden Figures’ will get Congressional gold medals”, November 9, 2019. https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/09/us/hidden-figures-congressional-medals-trnd/index.html
[2]See post – on September 26 on this website.
