Most people have never heard of Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson or Dorothy Vaughan. Yet, they are some of the most important people in American history – they were the brains behind John Glenn’s mission to space! Even Americans didn’t know about them up until recently after the film “Hidden Figures” was released in 2016. For decades, this trio of incredible African-American women remained in the shadows until this movie brought them to light.
Johnson, Jackson, and Vaughan can all be described as scientists, mathematicians, and engineers. They made the Friendship 7 mission in 1962 possible. That launch that put John Glenn into space was also the first time an American orbited the Earth. These women were members of a group of “human computers” charged with calculating flight paths and other aeronautical measurements necessary for NASA to win the space race.
The reason nobody heard about them and their historical achievement is because of Jim Crow laws. These women faced a myriad of struggles as they navigated civil rights and gender inequality issues while performing groundbreaking science. Due to the laws at the time, these scientists were segregated from white scientists and were even referred to as “colored computers.” Being minorities, most of the “colored computers” went unnoticed.
Vaughan worked as a mathematics teacher for 14 years before working for NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics), which later became NASA. She was assigned as acting head of the West Area Computers, becoming the first black supervisor at NACA. Vaughan later moved into electronic computing, learning and teaching the FORTRAN programming language to her coworkers to prepare for the transition to electronic computers. During her career, she was also raising 6 children, one of them also worked at NASA.
Jackson had to fight through the courts to even join courses that would allow her to even be admitted to the NASA program. She went on to become the first black woman to work for NASA. After 34 years she earned the most senior engineering title available. After realizing that she couldn’t earn further promotions she accepted a demotion to become a manager of both the Federal Women’s Program, in the NASA Office of Equal Opportunity Programs, and of the Affirmative Action Program. In this role, she worked to influence the hire and promotion of women in NASA’s science, engineering and mathematics careers.
Monáe, who plays Jackson, told the Observer:
“These women were told that their dreams were not valid because of their gender and the colour of their skin. But these were two things they could not change – and would not want to – because [Jackson] was a proud black woman.”
Pharrell Williams, one of the film’s executive producers who also wrote several songs for the film, told the Directors Guild of America:
“Up until recently, a woman’s contribution to history has often been dismissed, discounted and often at times even erased from public acknowledgment.”
Now with equal rights, the unnoticed are beginning to be revealed. Back In 2015, Johnson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor, by then-President Obama. She was the only one of the three women who was still alive.
Johnson worked at NACA/NASA from 1958 until her retirement in 1986. She worked on various missions including the 1961 space flight of Alan Shephard, the first American in space. She also calculated trajectories for missions such as the 1961 Mercury mission and the Apollo 11 flight to the moon and later worked on plans for a mission to Mars. Her calculations included taking into account the gravitational pulls of celestial bodies. She is currently 100 years old and will publish her autobiography this September.
In 2019, NASA renamed one of its facilities in West Virginia after Johnson. The Independent Verification and Validation Facility in Fairmont, West Virginia – where the main duties performed are making sure software programs operate – will now be known as the Katherine Johnson Independent Verification and Validation Facility.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, said:
“I am thrilled we are honoring Katherine Johnson in this way as she is a true American icon who overcame incredible obstacles and inspired so many. It’s a fitting tribute to name the facility that carries on her legacy of mission-critical computations in her honor.”
