The upcoming movie “Hidden Figures” tells the untold story of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and Katherine Johnson who transcended gender, race, and professional boundaries with their brilliance, solidifying their place in U.S history. The movie tells of the Unites States race against Russia to put a man in space, highlighting the service of these three African-American female mathematicians who were known as “human computers”. Their brains were behind one of the greatest accomplishments in U.S history. Using their calculations, NASA was able to catch up to the “Space Race”, and John Glen became the first American astronaut to make a complete orbit of the Earth. The film is based on Margot Lee Shutterly's book, “Hidden Figures”. Her father worked as a research scientist at NASA. In 2014, Shutterly sold the rights to her book, and now we have a film that stars Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monáe. Let’s take a closer look at the incredible women behind this story.
Dorothy Johnson Vaughan
Dorothy Johnson Vaughan was born on September 20, 1910 in Kansas City, MO. She obtained her B.A in Mathematics from Wilberforce University in 1929. Vaughan was a Math teacher at Robert Russa Moton High School before leaving 1943 to join the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory during the height of World War II. She worked as a mathematician for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), which is now known as NASA. In 1949, Dorothy Vaughan was promoted to lead the West Area Computing group, making her the NACA's first Black supervisor, and one of the NACA's few female supervisors
. Find more on her bio here.Mary Jackson
Mary Jackson was born April 9, 1921 in Hampton, Virginia. She earned her Bachelor's of Science degrees in Mathematics and Physical Science from Hampton Institute in 1942. She served as a Mathematician at (NACA), where she specialized in reducing data from wind tunnel experiments and from actual aircraft data on the many flight experiments NACA was involved with. Jackson was one of the first women to have her title changed from Mathematician to Engineer. After serving 30 years at NASA as an Engineer, Jackson decided to apply for an Administrative Professional position where she was sent to NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC for specialized training. It is stated that “She was effective in being a very successful Affirmative Action Program Manager and Federal Women’s Program Manager, initiating many changes and bringing to management’s attention the accomplishments of many minorities and women and was instrumental in the hiring of highly-qualified individuals.”
Katherine Johnson
Katherine Johnson was born August 26, 1918 in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. According to NASA, Johnson was a research mathematician who was simply fascinated by numbers from an early age. She graduated high school at age 14, and college at age 18. At West Virginia University, Johnson obtained her B.A in Mathematics. Johnson joined Langley Research Center in 1953, where her specialty was calculating the trajectories for space shots which determined the timing for launches, including the “Mercury mission” and “Apollo 11”, the mission to the moon. In 2015, Johnson was awarded the President’s Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.
Check out the trailer for "Hidden Figures" below:
