Character Analysis Of Hidden Figures

In the book Hidden Figures written by Margot Lee Shetterly, Katherine Johnson is one of the main characters. Known as a human computer working for NASA. Katherine is a very smart woman who graduated from college when she was 18 years old and when she was 10 years old she attended high school. She is one of the first African Americans to work for NASA. She would work on some of the hardest calculations and would still find ways to solve them. She was a very hard worker but did not get credit for what she did because she is African American, she made history.

Mary worked with the West Computers for 2 years and then she went to work with Kazimierz Kanreki. He was an engineer working on high speed wind tunnels. While she worked with him he offered her the idea to go back to school to study to become an engineer. For Mary to take classes she had to get permission. She had to obtain permission because Virginia school had not desegregated at the time. Mary got to take her classes and she became an engineer. She got to become NASA’s first African American women to have a degree in engineering in 1958.

Mary settled working in NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) in 1951. She worked and was the member of the west area computing unit, were at the time was called the “human computer”. She was supervised by Dorothy Vaughan who was also a comprising African American female mathematician. Both women provided data that was important for the early success of the space

The film Hidden Figures is based on a true story and adapted from the book ‘Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race’ by Margot Lee Shetterly. The movie is centered around a trio of African-American women who worked for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and played an essential role in sending John Glenn to space amidst a burgeoning Space Race between the United States of America and Russia. Based in Hampton, Virginia in the 1960’s, film depicts the deep racism and sexism prevalent in the United States at that time. The film provides a glimpse of the stark realities that black women faced at the time. From the segregated bathrooms and

In 1983 Sally Ride was the first female astronaut in American history, Sally Ride in space. Setting the base for all young girls and woman to have confidence in believing they could do anything men could even though labeled as “just girls”. Ride was one of the primary sources of woman empowerment in that time period. Sally ride was a extremely important woman in the 1980’s to the U.S, her becoming an astronaut has lead to gobs of realizations of what women can do now. Ride was the first woman to join NASA in the United States.

At JPL, racial setbacks were less prominent as women of different races and ethnicities cooperated. On the other hand, the Langley Research Center was segregated and the women in the West Area Computing Division were isolated from the rest of the research center. This separation is shown immediately when Katherine Johnson is the first colored women working with the Space Task Group. When Katherine enters the room, she is mistaken for a custodian and handed the trash can. Later, when she pours coffee for herself, all the white people in the department stare at her in disbelief. The following day, she finds a separate kettle for herself labeled “Colored”. In addition, when Mary Jackson is working with the engineers on the space capsule, one of the head engineers asks her if she would like to be an engineer if she was a white man. She responds that she wouldn’t have to wish, she’d already be one. Apart from the racial differences between the two pieces of literature, the struggle for women getting new positions during that time was depicted very differently. In Hidden Figures, both Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson underwent multiple barriers to be able to get their desired position; Dorothy as a supervisor and Mary as an engineer. Dorothy was promoted to supervisor by Ms. Mitchell at the very end and Mary had to go to court to see a judge to be able to

Even though being a women was hard enough in the 60’s but being a black woman was even hard or impossible to get a good paying job. She was working for NASA for a while but in 1973 NASA promoted Christine Darden to an aerospace engineer by her superior John V. Becker. Before she got promoted she was doing some stuff that her bosses didn't know about. She got caught and it

Hidden Figures is a 2016 film that recounts the story of three incredible black women in NASA history: Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson. The film largely sheds light on the experiences of these three women working as computers for NASA during 1960s segregated America. Public restrooms are separated between the whites and coloreds, the white male patriarchy dominates the field, and as always, racism is alive and well. During the film, the political unrest of the country is present and very much of conversation, and as these three women navigate their way throughout society with positions no one expects them to hold, they quite literally make history through their groundbreaking work, history

Katherine Johnson born Katherine Coleman was an African-American research mathematician and computer scientist for NACA, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics now known as NASA. She made phenomenal contributions by calculating trajectories, helping to send the first Americans into space.

One warm day in late May of 1951, young Sally Kristen Ride came into the world. However, a whole new world would soon be open to her. She would leave the warmth of her home and soar into space. Her supreme qualities of braveness and determination would let her pursue her dreams, accomplish her goals, and make history. Sally Ride would one day be looked upon generations of people, especially women, in so many more ways than one.

In 1953 she came back into the workforce. “Her name… in case you haven’t already guessed it… is Katherine Johnson: mother, wife, career woman”! (Below the feature on Katherine Johnson, another headline inquired: “Why No Negro Astronauts?”) The newspaper recounted the lady mathematician's background and accomplishments with pride, detailing the report that sent Glenn’s rocket cone whizzing through the sky. (P. 225) Chapter

Johnson studied geometry for space travel, she figured out how the spacecraft would orbit the earth and land on the moon. NASA used her math, and it actually worked, astronauts were sent to orbit the earth. Later, with her math, astronauts were sent to the moon and back. NASA could not have done it without the love for math of Katherine. She retired in 1986, after working for NASA for over more than thirty years. Since then she has been enjoying her life and encouraging students to follow their dreams. Even now, she loves to count!

For instance, Dorothy worked the 3:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. shift, taking care of her family by day and crunching numbers at night” (66). Dorothy’s diligence and dedication to her job as a computer led to her becoming the section head of West Computing. This eventually allowed Dorothy to become more involved in computer programming conducted for projects such as the Mercury project which sent the first American into orbit. Mary Jackson was also recognized for outstanding work when her “new boss was so impressed with her work that he suggested she enroll in Langley’s engineer training program” (116). If Mary decided not to challenge herself and participate in the engineer training program, she would not have ended up making ground-breaking discoveries for NASA’s flight research division. Katherine Johnson also contributed greatly to early space discoveries because she always arrived “at the office early, went home in the late afternoon to check on her girls, and sometimes came back to work in the evening, maintaining a schedule of fourteen- or sixteen-hour days” (193). Katherine’s commitment to keeping astronauts safe and making almost all the calculations for Friendship 7 and Apollo 11’s flight paths, made her a valuable asset to NASA’s team. Overall, hard work allowed all three of these women to

The article “‘Hidden Figures’ and the journey to celebrate NASA’s black female pioneers” published on PBS NEWSHOUR, on December 23, 2016, discuss the book and the movie Hidden Figures. The author starts his article by reminding his readers the stories of black killing in 2016, and how the movie Hidden Figures brings hope and unity to face the feeling of inequality. According to the article, Margot Lee Shetterly brings the idea of Hidden Figure while she is chatting with her father about his old job at Langley Research Center and their conversation goes onto women who works as mathematicians. After that Shetterly spent years researching historical documents and archival material on NACA and NASA, and she interviews Katherine Johnson and the

Dorothy, Mary, and Katherine were hidden figures from society, who were segregated by NASA. First of all, back in the 1950’s, it was normal for people to be segregated because of their race and it was typical for discriminatory laws and prejudicial practices to be put in place during the 1950's. These three women were segregated