Have you seen a film called Hidden Figures? Many people in this generation for years never knew that there were black women working for NASA. The movie Hidden Figures based on a book called Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race written by Margot Lee Shetterly. Ms. Shetterly’s book uncovered an unknown fact about sci-tech history, this unknown fact what’s not that NASA kept it a secret of the black women who have contributed to it, but they made the typical representation of all engineer, mathematician or technology as a white male to become embedded in our minds. Ms. Shetterly went in depth on her book to shine a spotlight on a diverse spectrum of people in the history of scientists, mathematicians, and engineers’ stars of NASA’s space race day which included 15 women plus-three more who carried a torch to present day.

Like I mention our society have embedded in our minds that white male has represented in engineer, mathematician, or technology, but not once mentions the beautiful black women who contributed to NASA’s advances. The African-American women in the space racer were very valuable as these white males. The total of 18 women are:
Kathleen Land – was a mathematician and computer at NASA’s Langley facility. Ms. Land was Shetterly’s first interview for Hidden Figures and introduced her to other human computers.
Katherine Johnson – a physicist, space scientist, and mathematician, also was integral to early crewed space flight. NASA names a building at the Langley Research Center after Johnson and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014.
Dorothy Vaughan – had a legacy that was left for all another mathematician who followed her. In 1949, she was the first African-American to become an acting supervisor of West Area Computers which lasted for about 28 years.
Mary Jackson – she was one of many other African American women in a small group who worked as an aeronautical engineer at NASA. She would report to Ms. Vaughan who was the group’s supervisor. After a few years went by Ms. Jackson has taken engineering classes and eventually became NASA’s first black female engineer in 1958.
Eunice Smith – was a mathematician that was beside Ms. Johnson and a colleague of hers at the NACA West Area Computers facility. There Ms. Smith has plenty of projects that drove the US’s first forays into space. She also was one of all nine women that remained in the pool for desegregation.
Dorothy Hoover – she was one of few black women who was working prior and during the space race and received recognition for her hard work. Before she joined working with NASA, she was a teaching fellow at the University of Michigan in the 1950s and was promoted to be an aeronautical research scientist.
Annie Easley – spent almost 34 years with NASA introducing the space race arose, with her excellent math skills. She was what was called back then a human computer. Ms. Easley became a great programmer and helped create a code battery technology that made rockets and standard vehicles. She was also a great speaker promoting STEAM careers to other minorities.
Evelyn Boyd Granville – was the second African- American women to receive a Ph.D. in mathematics. When she joined IBM as a computer programmer in 1956, she has created a computer software for NASA’s Project Vanguard and Project Mercury space programmers. By 1989, Ms. Granville was the first African-American female mathematician that was awarded an honorary doctorate.
Melba Roy Mouton – joined NASA in 1959 with a master’s degree in mathematics. Ms. Mouton is now one of NASA’s most celebrated scientists. In the 1960s Ms. Mouton was the assistant chief of research programmers at one of NASA’s divisions and was a supervisor of a team programmers.
Miriam Daniel Mann – was a chemist and mathematician, who completed 20 years of service with NASA after successfully sending John Glenn into space.
Sue Wilder – for about 35 years she was a data analyst with NASA, and also part of the human-computer group in the early days of the space race.
Leslie Hunter – she was a later addition to the “calculating machine symphony” during the 1904’s in the West Area computing office.
Ophelia Taylor – she began her career as an at home economics teacher. She then wanted more education and went for a course for women in engineering at Hampton Institute, where she became one the very first African-American women to be employed by NASA as engineering mathematics.
Kathryn Peddrew – Ms. Peddrew spent much of her career working at NASA, as she got the job straight after graduation. She was then reassigned to the segregate computing division where she then was a part of the team of human computers. Ms. Peddrew has once said “growing up made me realize that being black and female was a barrier to success”. Which is extremely true till this day!
Christine Darden – Joined NASA in 1967 as a data analyst and computer programmer. Six years when by and she was promoted to become an aerospace engineering. Since her career was so successful for about 40 years, NASA awarded Ms. Darden the Certificate of Outstanding Performance 10 times between 1973 and 2003.
Mae Jemison – Dr. Jemsion became the first African-American women to travel into space and orbited Earth in Endeavour in 1992. She gave a background in engineering and medical research. She has been selected for an astronaut programmer she would then orbit Earth dozens of time for an eight-day mission that US and Japan joined on a scientific experiment.
Aprille Ericsson-Jackson – Dr. Ericsson-Jackson became one of the first African-American women to receive a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering-aerospace from Howard University. Let alone she also was the first African-American women to be awarded a Ph.D. in engineering from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center which is where she works currently as an aerospace engineer.
Tiera Guinn – She is making a great mark in history today being the youngest in rocket structural design and analysis engineer working on the space launching system for NASA. As she of many other African-American women were inspired by Hidden Figures she says we must look forward to our dreams and we cannot let anybody get in the way if it!

Every single one of these women played a hugely important role at NASA, it is really upsetting how we have it embedded that the white male was empowered of the tech industry. It has made it hard for other women that want to join tech to do it or want to do it. Without these black women and this book/film Hidden Figures being released many other women would not be encouraged to become an engineer, mathematician or technologist.