Hidden Figures No Longer

Recently I watched the 2016 movie 'Hidden Figures' for the second time.

I read the book a few years ago, and later I watched the movie. I have a deep interest in space exploration, having spent 20 years working for NASA in California and in Texas. I am sad to say that until the book was published, I had never heard of Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson and Dorothy Vaughan.

How could this be? These brilliant women worked at the NASA Langley Research Center in Virginia, across the country from where I worked. Perhaps that is the reason I never heard about them, but without their brilliance and determination, the US most likely would not have achieved what it did, when it did, in space exploration. Known as human computers, they carried out complex mathematical calculations by hand, plotting launch and landing trajectories and working to solve a variety of problems facing the fledgling field of space exploration.

Despite the obstacles that stood in their way -- they were women in fields that until then were the sole dominion of men, and they were black in a still segregated country -- they pushed ahead, demanding the same opportunities available to white men. They met every challenge, every obstacle that tried to 'keep them in their places' in the 'colored' section.

Before John Glenn's flight -- the first orbital flight by an American -- he insisted that the orbital calculations of the new IBM computer be double-checked by Johnson, so confident was he in her calculations. Jackson had to get a court order to be able to take night classes at a previously all-white school. She became NASA's first female African-American  engineer. Vaughan taught herself the Fortran programming language and became NASA's first African-American supervisor, going on to teach programming to other women, both black and white

Higher mathematics has never been my strength. I got through college trigonometry, but that was a challenge and I ended my study of math at that point. I have always been amazed by the pinpoint accuracy of orbital calculations, upon which the very lives of space crews depend. I used to watch in awe as space shuttle commanders docked their spacecraft, traveling at 17,500 mph, to the space station traveling at the same speed, with incredible and unforgiving precision. And to think that a group of women, despite the odds against them, did launch and landing trajectory calculations by hand -- without high-speed machine computers -- boggles my mind. Throw in the constant sexism and racism of the times, as well as family pressures, and their accomplishments are even more amazing.

At long last these women received the recognition they so deserved. The Mattel toy company made a Katherine Johnson Barbie doll, complete with eyeglasses, to honor Johnson, who died earlier this year at age 101. These pioneering women were honored by President Donald Trump with Congressional Gold Medals. Johnson was presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama. A computational research facility at NASA's Langley Research Center, where the 'computers' had worked, was named after her.

Johnson was the last surviving original human computer portrayed in the movie. Her loss, as well as the passing of all of these brilliant, nothing's-going-to-stop-me women, is huge. I am glad they finally got the recognition they deserved, long overdue as it was.

I doubt if any of these women set out to become role models. And it's too bad their achievements and contributions as engineers and mathematicians were not recognized for so long. 

I hope the movie and the book upon which it is based inspire other girls to realize that they are just as good as, and sometimes better than, men in technical fields such as math and engineering. I hope no other girl hears the words "This class wasn't set up for women," and that no aspiring female of color ever is looked upon as less-than. Brilliance isn't determined by gender or race.

May their talents and successes be hidden no more.