What Do These "Hidden Figures" Mean To Me?
by Khailah White, Junior, iPreparatory Academy with guest Wayne White, Father of Khailah
by Khailah White, Junior, iPreparatory Academy with guest Wayne White, Father of Khailah
NASA Trail Blazers
NASA has dedicated a section of their website to their amazing and intelligent African American women employees. From the tribute page on the NASA Website, “From Hidden to Modern Figures”, NASA tells the story of the biographies of these women, and the awards that were earned by them. The official “Hidden Figures” website, “hiddenfigures.com”, gives information about the African American trailblazers shown in the film, history about NACA and NASA, and the African American women who were called “human computers.”
Dozens of African American women worked as human computers, calculating the math and science for different NACA (Before NASA the program was called NACA, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) projects between the 1940s and 1960s. These women produced complex mathematical data by hand which were crucial to analyze the flight characteristics of a flight aircraft.
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In the movie, Katherine Johnson (played by Taraji P. Henson), was an American mathematician and African American trailblazer; her calculations of orbital mechanics were crucial to complete the first American space orbit. Mary Jackson (played by Janelle Monae), an African American mathematician and aerospace engineer, was known for being the first African American female engineer to work at NASA. Dorothy Vaughan (played by Octavia Spencer) was a computer programmer and NASA’s first black manager. These women, who were invisible to the public before, were crucial in helping NASA keep pace with the Soviet Union (The Soviets were the first to travel in space and the United States was second) and win the race to the Moon. The movie “Hidden Figures” tells their story.
What This Movie Meant to My Father, [written by Wayne White]
I thought that the movie ‘Hidden Figures’ was very inspiring and informative, especially coming from a HBCU, [a Florida A&M University] graduate. I took pride in seeing this whole historical moment play out at a black college Hampton Institute (now Hampton University). It is also the burial home of my father (Khailah’s paternal grandfather). It was one of those movies that I actively encouraged Khailah to see. I wanted her to see strong black trailblazing women, and I heavily encouraged my daughter to watch the movie.
What Hidden Figures Means to Me
Hidden Figures is an exceptional movie that gives on the seemingly “unimportant“ people of the time, when in actuality, these outstanding women were crucial to win the space race to the Moon. I loved this movie so much that I watched it again the following day.
According to the Barnes and Nobles website, “barnesandnobles.com”, a description is given about the book “Hidden Figures,” which was published by Margot Lee Shetterly and gave credit to these outstanding women. Shetterly started working on her book in 2010 and it was published in 2016. This book was a NY Times #1 Bestseller and won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work.
What I learned from this movie is that the setting is at the time of the Jim Crow Era where many educated black women were hired by NASA and put into segregated facilities; used as human computers, they were not able to share workspaces or even bathrooms with their white counterparts. However, they were essential workers needed to calculate the math for orbital flights.
I thought that the movie ‘Hidden Figures’ was very inspiring and informative, especially coming from a HBCU, [a Florida A&M University] graduate. I took pride in seeing this whole historical moment play out at a black college Hampton Institute (now Hampton University). It is also the burial home of my father (Khailah’s paternal grandfather). It was one of those movies that I actively encouraged Khailah to see. I wanted her to see strong black trailblazing women, and I heavily encouraged my daughter to watch the movie.
What Hidden Figures Means to Me
Hidden Figures is an exceptional movie that gives on the seemingly “unimportant“ people of the time, when in actuality, these outstanding women were crucial to win the space race to the Moon. I loved this movie so much that I watched it again the following day.
According to the Barnes and Nobles website, “barnesandnobles.com”, a description is given about the book “Hidden Figures,” which was published by Margot Lee Shetterly and gave credit to these outstanding women. Shetterly started working on her book in 2010 and it was published in 2016. This book was a NY Times #1 Bestseller and won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work.
What I learned from this movie is that the setting is at the time of the Jim Crow Era where many educated black women were hired by NASA and put into segregated facilities; used as human computers, they were not able to share workspaces or even bathrooms with their white counterparts. However, they were essential workers needed to calculate the math for orbital flights.
This movie is very inspirational to me because it focuses on three women breaking through the “glass ceiling” and prevailing in a racist and sexist environment. It was almost unbelievable to realize Katherine Johnson’s intellect and how she was the mathematician who calculated the trajectories for space flight! The movie also chronicles Katherine Johnson’s life telling how she started high school at 13 and college at 18, being exceptionally talented in mathematics.
Johnson, her coworkers, and the countless other women who were human computers not shown in the movie, were very smart, and inspire me to push my limits everyday! The movie and the book can be very inspirational to young African American girls because it can show them that no matter what obstacles and challenges stand in their way, they can always overcome it and do whatever they set their minds to. These inspirational works are timeless and will always be an inspiration.
Johnson, her coworkers, and the countless other women who were human computers not shown in the movie, were very smart, and inspire me to push my limits everyday! The movie and the book can be very inspirational to young African American girls because it can show them that no matter what obstacles and challenges stand in their way, they can always overcome it and do whatever they set their minds to. These inspirational works are timeless and will always be an inspiration.
This is a scene from the movie that showed how frustrating it was to be African American at this time. Katherine Johnson was being scolded by her superior for constantly disappearing throughout the work day. As the only black woman in the room, she has to use the restroom in a “colored bathroom.” She had an outburst of sudden frustration, exclaiming that there was no bathroom in the building, and she had to walk half a mile away in order to relieve herself. Seeing her frustration was an eye opening scene which displayed the discrimination African American people faced and how difficult it was for things as simple as going to the bathroom. Afterwards, there is a heartwarming scene that is displayed by her boss where he destroys one of the “white” bathroom signs so that the African American women, including Katherine Johnson, can use the bathroom in the same building.
Works Cited
“From Hidden to Modern Figures.” NASA, 12 June 2019, https://www.nasa.gov/modernfigures.
“Human Computers at NASA | Macalester College Research.” DigitalCommons@Macalester College, https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/amst_humancomp/.
Hutchman, Lorna. “Dorothy Vaughan: NASA's overlooked star.” Science Museum Blog, 20 September 2020, https://blog.sciencemuseum.org.uk/nasas-overlooked-star/.
Lee, Margot. “Katherine Johnson Biography.” NASA, 24 February 2020, https://www.nasa.gov/content/katherine-johnson-biography.
McNiff, Susan. “Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race|Paperback.” Barnes & Noble, https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hidden-figures-margot-lee-shetterly/1123655109.
“The NACA and NASA — Hidden Figures.” Hidden Figures, http://www.hiddenfigures.com/hidden-figures-naca-and-nasa.
Shetterly, Margot Lee. “Dorothy Vaughan Biography.” NASA, 3 August 2017, https://www.nasa.gov/content/dorothy-vaughan-biography.
Shetterly, Margot Lee. “Mary W. Jackson Biography.” NASA, 8 February 2021, https://www.nasa.gov/content/mary-w-jackson-biography.
“From Hidden to Modern Figures.” NASA, 12 June 2019, https://www.nasa.gov/modernfigures.
“Human Computers at NASA | Macalester College Research.” DigitalCommons@Macalester College, https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/amst_humancomp/.
Hutchman, Lorna. “Dorothy Vaughan: NASA's overlooked star.” Science Museum Blog, 20 September 2020, https://blog.sciencemuseum.org.uk/nasas-overlooked-star/.
Lee, Margot. “Katherine Johnson Biography.” NASA, 24 February 2020, https://www.nasa.gov/content/katherine-johnson-biography.
McNiff, Susan. “Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race|Paperback.” Barnes & Noble, https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hidden-figures-margot-lee-shetterly/1123655109.
“The NACA and NASA — Hidden Figures.” Hidden Figures, http://www.hiddenfigures.com/hidden-figures-naca-and-nasa.
Shetterly, Margot Lee. “Dorothy Vaughan Biography.” NASA, 3 August 2017, https://www.nasa.gov/content/dorothy-vaughan-biography.
Shetterly, Margot Lee. “Mary W. Jackson Biography.” NASA, 8 February 2021, https://www.nasa.gov/content/mary-w-jackson-biography.