The Hidden Figures

Hidden Figures is a film based on a remarkable true story about three colored women in the 1960s. The movie follows the lives of Dorothy Vaughn, Mary Jackson, and Kathrine Johnson. These women used their intellect at NASA to contribute to the launch of the first American into space. Hidden Figures also represents the contribution of these women to society. They helped put a man in space, yet they didn’t receive the proper appreciation during their time. Hidden Figures helps give those women gratitude for all that they did for NASA and the United States. Even though this film acknowledges their achievements, it recognizes the hardships the women faced while working for NASA as well as the hardships of all other African American women in the workplace. A few of the hardships they faced were sexism, discrimination, and ageism.

There was Mary and one other African American women working in the East Computers. The other lady was Dorothy Vaughan. Mary and Dorothy helped NASA by providing important information that was later used in the early days of the NASA space program.

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

In this primary document, Cotton Mather, a Puritan theologian, writes about his fears of losing the entire country to the devil and his minions as the Christian religion, in his mind, is being slowly eradicated from the entire country due to witchcraft. In 1693 Cotton Mather wrote a literary piece called The Wonders of the Invisible World a year after questionable events in defense of the persecutions of those accused and convicted in Salem for witchcraft.

However, it most often that the people in positions of authority are unwilling to give up their privilege. In Hidden Figures, the protagonists do the work, but those in the position of power get the title, recognition, and pay. As such, while Katherine

Adapted from the book by Margot Lee Shetterly and directed by Theodore Melfi, Hidden Figures is a film based on the true stories of three black women (Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, & Katherine Johnson) working for NASA in 1960’s. Dorothy Vaughan, played by Octavia Spencer in the film, was a programmer and Mary Jackson, played by Janelle Monae in the film, was an engineer. Dorothy passed away in 2008 and Mary in 2005. Katherine Johnson, a mathematician played by Taraji P. Henson, is now 98 years old and still resides with her husband Corporal Jim Johnson in Hampton, Virginia where the film is set. These women collectively played a pivotal role in sending the first American into space and eventually to the moon. A critical analysis of the film reveals the history and dynamics of racial domination institutionally and interpersonally as well as prejudices and challenges faced by women in particular.

Hidden Figures, an extraordinary film that shines light on women existence and their intelligence. The women, Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, Dorothy Vaughan used the power of their intelligence to decipher complex math calculations, computer language to build rockets that other could not see. Throughout the movie racial descrepancies were vividly clear, but these eager women had something to stand for. They dared not let the words of bitterness deter them of their worth.

In Cotton Mather’s The Wonders of the Invisible World, he explores the evidence presented at the Salem witch trial of Martha Carrier. Mather explains the spectral evidence presented at the trial as strange phenomena worked by the devil, when in reality it is simply the exploitation and fear that brewed underneath the surface colonial America.

Who is Annie Easley? Maybe she was one of the four African Americans to work for NASA out of 2,500 employees. Or maybe she was a human computer, a mathematician, or a math technician? Who was Annie Easley?

I could be considered a hidden figure because I am a multi-faceted individual. I have a passion for learning and recalling information. For example, I have been the team captain for my Black History Quiz Bowl team which competes for 6-8 hours, Jeopardy style against other schools. I initiate contact with my school advisers and study groups outside of school hours. Other academic talents include continuous A-Honor Roll, scoring 5/5 in every subject for the state End of Grade testing. I was selected as the highest academic achiever in the 4th grade, thereby receiving honors and recognition at the UNC and Duke Football game as “All Star Achiever.” My next hidden talent surfaced as I attended an amazing summer camp at Clemson University. I built

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

Despite this, they were not treated as well as they should be. An example to prove this is stated in the Ernest Green movie when Ernest Green who was African American got the opportunities to go to an all white school with better education to get a good job in the future but, when he got to the school he got the total opposite of a warm welcome. At the school there were now protests to try and stop the transfer of African American students from going into the school.(Laneuville) This proves how the white Americans still had a bad attitude towards African Americans but, they were starting to get better at respecting. Additionally, in Hidden Figures, there are women who worked for NASA. Nevertheless, because of the racism, they had their own little rundown building, and they didn’t get to work alongside the other people who work at NASA. To add to this, there was also more evolution of African American respect, when the director of the friendship 7 spaceship launch, Allan, took down the black and white bathroom signs and said, “we all pee the same color.”(Melfi) which was saying how it doesn’t matter what color we are, we are still made out of the same things, and have the same DNA. This proves how people in the 1950s-1960s were improving with treating African Americans with courtesy.

“Hidden Figures” is where three women are passed as just one race and they persevered against the peoples odds. These women became a big part of history and culture, like Mary Jackson was the first African American Engineer to graduate from an all white school. Women were facing as great amount of discrimination during the 1950s. “Hidden Figures” highlights the importance points that provides us with gender roles. “Hidden Figures” is a powerful example of issues within social justice.

Hidden Figures is a movie that focused on three women and the space race. Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson played a main role in helping NASA with the space race. All three of them worked to help for John Glenn’s flight to orbit the earth. The behind the scenes that lead up to Mercury-Atlas 6’s blast off was acknowledged in the movie Hidden Figures. 1961 is when all of the major change that lead to today’s history started to happen inside of NASA.

Hidden Figures, by Margot Lee Shetterly, tells the history of black women working in the space science industry as human computers amidst segregation laws. These women were responsible for the processing of complex mathematical problems, and their work made it possible for the United States to reach the