ACROSS THE CURRICULUM HIDDEN HEROES: The Black Women of NASA

Based on the Book Hidden Human Computers: The Black Women of NASA by Sue Bradford Edwards and Duchess Harris, JD, PHD Published by ADBO Publishing, Minneapolis, MN

Play written by Sha Cage Directed by Signe Harriday

Below are ideas inspired by the play as a jumping off point for cross-curriculum and interdisciplinary study in your classroom. From research, writing, discussion or analysis the play can be used to reach any number of educational goals. Below are a few suggestions for curriculum incorporating HIDDEN HEROES: The Black Women of NASA into your classroom studies. Please also refer to ADDITIONAL RESOURCES throughout the guide for links to more research, curriculum ideas and lesson plans. ABOUT THE PLAY Stages Theatre Company’s production of Hidden Heroes: The Black Women of NASA is based on the history book Hidden Human Computers: The Black Women of NASA by Sue Bradford Edwards and Duchess Harris. The dramatization was written by Sha Cage and is directed by Signe Harriday. It was developed through reading, research and interviews with Duchess Harris’s mother, Miriam Harris, whose mother Miriam Mann was one of the original human computers starting in 1943.

As an historical interpretation that spans many decades and the lives and accomplishments of many people, the play does take dramatic license in terms of time, space and specific biographical facts. For example, the students did not all attend the same school or did not attend at the same time even though in the context of the play they do. As a history that is not often told, containing biographies and events that are often incomplete or unknown, the playwright and director have used many tactics of dramatic interpretation to fill in the lives of these women as young girls. It has a non-linear structure and the stories are not told in a chronological timeline.

The focus of the dramatization is to show the women who eventually worked as human computers for NASA as young girls who embraced the study of math and science. It shows how they persevered, despite both racial and gender discrimination, to learn and expand on their intellectual talents. They were smart, curious, and strong young girls who were supported by their family and teachers to accomplish great things. The play highlights certain educational programs that were designed to further educate African-Americans girls, programs that offered a better future and without these programs these young women would never have been able to accomplish what they did. It also highlights the support they had from their families, often causing hardships that allowed them to continue their educations. It is in highlighting this truthful aspect of their collective biographies that creates this inspiring story about the power of dreams. It also highlights the power of communities to support the achievements of those dreams. It shows that the seemingly impossible is possible with hard work, determination and the support of those around us.

BEFORE THE PLAY

HISTORICAL CONNECTIONS & RESEARCH

THE HISTORY Before seeing the play, use the resources listed in this guide to introduce your students to some of the historical background on the human computers that worked at NACA/NASA starting in 1943. Become familiar with some of the educational barriers experienced by African American girls and the discrimination and racial hatred legalized through throughout the south. Learn more about how the work done by the human computers at NACA/NASA continued to influence the space program even after computers took over the work they performed. Learn more also about the work these women continued to do as their careers progressed at NASA up even through the present day.

RESOURCES FOR INTRODUCING THE HIDDEN HUMAN COMPUTERS:

• READ the book HIDDEN HUMAN COMPUTERS: The Black Women of NASA by Sue Bradford Edwards and Duchess Harris. • READ the BIOGRAPHIES in this guide to learn more about the lives and accomplishments of the Black Women of NASA that are characters in the play. • STUDY the TIMELINE in this guide for a quick glance at some of the people and events that lead to the hiring of African American women as human computers at NACA/NASA • STUDY the GLOSSARY of terms that will help follow the action of the play as well as the historical racial and gender discrimination that is covered in the play. • USE THE LINKS in this guide to find out more about the Black Women of NASA, JIM CROW LAWS, and EDUCATION BARRIERS. BIOGRAPHIES OF THE HIDDEN HEROES

ANNIE EASLEY Annie J. Easley was one of the first African-American women in the field of rocket science and computer engineering. Easley was born April 23, 1933 to Bud McCrory and Willie Sims in Birmingham, Alabama. In the days before the , educational and career opportunities for African- American children were very limited. However, Easley’s mother encouraged and motivated her to work hard and pursue her dreams. She encouraged her to get a good education and from the fifth grade through high school, she attended a parochial school and was valedictorian of her graduating class. After high school she went to , Louisiana, to attend Xavier University, then an African-American Roman Catholic University, where she majored in pharmacy for about two years. Easley began her career as a Mathematician and Computer Engineer at the NACA Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory (which became NASA Lewis Research Center, 1958–1999, and subsequently the John H. ) in , Ohio. She began in the computer services division, performing complex mathematical calculations for the engineers. One of the earliest projects she worked on was running simulations for a planned nuclear reactor. During the late 1960s and 1970s, Easley worked on nuclear-powered rocket systems. She continued her education while working for NASA and in 1977 she obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from Cleveland State University. When human computers were replaced by machines, Easley learned computer programming. She developed computer code for analyzing alternative energy technologies for electric vehicles, and some of her work led to battery development for hybrid cars. She also helped develop software for Centaur, a booster rocket that launched spacecraft such as Cassini. While at NASA, Easley also took on the role of equal employment opportunity counselor, helping address discrimination complaints regarding race, gender, and age. Easley died in 2011 at the age of 78. --(Taken in part from www.physicatoday.org)

MARY JACKSON Mary Winston Jackson was born on April 9, 1921, in Hampton, Virginia, the daughter of Ella and Frank Winston. She attended Hampton’s all- black schools and graduated with high honors from George P. Phenix Training School in 1937. Five years later, she earned dual bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and physical science from Hampton Institute. She excelled academically in a time of racial segregation. Her math and science skills earned her a position as a "human computer" for NACA, and she later became NASA's first black female engineer. Along with serving a vital role in the development of the space program, she helped other women and minorities advance their careers. Jackson died in February 2005 at the age of 83. After college, Mary Jackson took on a series of jobs, including teacher, bookkeeper and receptionist. Then in 1951, she found employment at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA, the predecessor agency to NASA) in Langley, Virginia. She worked at the West Computers section as a research mathematician—known at the time as a "human computer." In 1953, she moved to the Compressibility Research Division of NACA and along with taking several courses, she joined a special training program and was promoted to aerospace engineer, making her NASA's first black female engineer. Jackson analyzed data from wind tunnel experiments and real-world aircraft flight experiments at the Theoretical Aerodynamics Branch of the Subsonic-Transonic Aerodynamics Division at Langley. Her focus was understanding air flow, which included thrust and drag forces. A few years later, Jackson worked with the flight engineers at NASA. While at NACA and NASA, Jackson authored or co-authored twelve technical papers for the agencies. By 1978, Jackson changed positions to be a human resources administrator. She served as both the Federal Women’s Program Manager in the Office of Equal Opportunity Programs and as the Affirmative Action Program Manager. From then until her retirement in 1985, she helped other women and minorities advance their careers, advising them to study and take extra courses to increase their chances for promotion. During her career, Mary Jackson served on many organizations’ boards and committees, including the Girl Scouts of America, and was honored by numerous charitable organizations for her leadership and service. She died at age 83 on February 11, 2005, at Riverside Convalescent Home in Hampton, Virginia. --(Taken in part from biography.com) MIRIAM DANIEL MANN It was 1943 when Miriam Daniel Mann learned about job opportunities at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, or NACA, NASA’s predecessor. Mann, who had earned a chemistry degree with a minor in mathematics from Alabama’s Talladega College, was perfect for the human computer position, which was among the most demanding jobs for women of her era. Mann, who was born in 1907, was hired by NACA, which at the time was operating 24 hours a day. Employees worked shifts from 7am– 3pm, 3pm–11pm, or 11pm–7am. The arrangement made for a “very different household” in an era “when it was the norm for women to stay at home,” said Mann’s daughter, Miriam Mann Harris, in a 2011 oral history interview. Harris’s earliest recollections revolve around her mother’s career. “My early memories are of my mother talking about doing math problems all day. Back then, all of the math was done with a #2 pencil and the aid of a slide rule. I remember the talk of plotting graphs, logs, doing equations and all sorts of foreign-sounding terms.” Mann worked at NASA until poor health forced her to retire in 1966. She was among the African-American human computers who worked on John Glenn’s mission. It wasn’t just math and computing Mann performed, however. Her daughter recalls her mother’s quiet acts of resistance against the segregation that existed inside NASA, including removing the “Colored” sign from a table in the back of the cafeteria and accepting her white female boss’s invitation to visit her apartment. Such an invitation, crossing lines of both professional rank and race, was quite unusual for the times,” Harris observed. Though Mann would die two years before Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, she was aware that her work—both the computing and civil rights actions— made significant contributions to NASA’s advances between the 1940s and 1960s. Miriam Daniel Mann, pictured seated on the couch, in a family photograph.

--(Taken in part from www.biography.com.) Katherine G. Johnson was born Katherine Coleman on August 26, 1918, in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. A bright child with a gift for numbers, she breezed through her classes and completed the eighth grade by age 10. Her town didn’t offer classes for after that point, so her father, Joshua, drove the family 120 miles to Institute, West Virginia, where they lived while she attended high school. Johnson enrolled at West Virginia State College (now West Virginia State University) in Institute, West Virginia, where she was encouraged by the faculty. One particularly engaged professor was Dr. William W. Schieffelin Claytor, the third African American to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics, who was determined to prepare Johnson to become a research mathematician. At age 18, she graduated summa cum laude with degrees in mathematics and French. The following year, Johnson became one of three students to desegregate West Virginia University's graduate school in Morgantown. However, she found the environment less welcoming than it had been in Institute, and never completed her program there. Beginning in the late 1930s, Johnson taught math and French at schools in Virginia and West Virginia. In 1952, she learned that the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was hiring African-American women to serve as "computers;" people who performed and checked calculations for technological developments. Johnson applied, and was accepted for a position at in Hampton, Virginia. Johnson not only proved adept at her calculations, but displayed a curiosity and assertiveness that caught the attention of her superiors. After only two weeks, she was transferred from the African-American computing pool to Langley's flight research division, where she earned additional responsibilities. In 1958, after NACA was reformulated into the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Johnson was among the people charged with determining how to get a human into space and back. She was responsible for plotting the path for Alan Shepard’s historic 1961 journey to space and John Glenn’s 1962 successful orbit of earth. KATHERINE JOHNSON (continued) While the work of electronic computers took on increased importance at NASA, Johnson remained highly valuable for her unwavering accuracy. She performed calculations for Apollo 11’s historic trip to the moon in 1969. Then, in 1970, when Apollo 13 experienced a malfunction in space, her contributions to contingency procedures helped ensure its safe return. Johnson continued to serve as a key asset for NASA, helping to develop its Space Shuttle program and Earth Resources Satellite, until her retirement in 1986. Johnson has been honored with an array of awards for her groundbreaking work, including the 1967 NASA Lunar Orbiter Spacecraft and Operations team award and the National Technical Association’s Mathematician of the Year in 1997 and several honorary degrees. In 2015, President Barack Obama presented Johnson with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2017, 99-year- old Johnson was honored by NASA, with the dedication of a new research building — the Katherine G. Johnson Computational Research Facility. Johnson, when asked to give her advice to NASA employees who will follow in her footsteps and work in the new building, she simply said: “Like what you do and then you will do your best.” --(Taken in part from biography.com) CHRISTINE DARDEN Aerospace engineer and mathematician Christine M. Darden was born on September 10, 1942 in Monroe, North Carolina. Darden was the youngest of five children born to Noah Horace Sr., an insurance agent, and Desma Chaney Mann, an elementary school teacher. Darden attended Winchester Avenue High School and then transferred to Allen High School, a Methodist boarding school (formerly the Allen School for Negro Girls), in Asheville, North Carolina. She graduated from Allen High School in 1958 as the class valedictorian and received a scholarship to attend Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute. In 1962, Darden received her B.S. degree in mathematics education and her teaching certification from Hampton Institute. She went on to earn her M.S. degree in applied mathematics from Virginia State College in 1967, and her D.Sc. degree in mechanical engineering with a specialty in fluid mechanics from George Washington University in 1983.

Darden taught mathematics from 1962-65. After completing her M.S. degree, she became a data analyst for NASA at its Langley Research Center. In 1973, she was promoted to the position of aerospace engineer; and, in 1989, became the technical leader of NASA’s Sonic Boom Group of the Vehicle Integration Branch of the High-Speed Research Program. In 1994, Darden became the deputy program manager of NASA’s High-Speed Research Program and in 1999, she was appointed as the director in the Program Management Office of the Aerospace Performing Center at Langley Research Center where she was responsible for Langley research in air traffic management and other aeronautics programs. In addition, Darden served as technical consultant on numerous government and private projects, and she is the author of more than fifty publications in the field of high lift wing design in supersonic flow, flap design, sonic boom prediction, and sonic boom minimization.

Darden received the Dr. A. T. Weathers Technical Achievement Award from the National Technical Association in 1985. She was awarded the Senior Executive Career Development Fellowship from Simmons College in 1994. NASA recognized Darden with the Certificate of Outstanding Performance ten times between 1973 and 2003. Not only has Darden received the NASA medals for equal opportunity and for achievement in leading the sonic boom program, she is also the recipient of the 1987 Candace Award for Science and Technology from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, and the 1988 Black Engineer of the Year Award from the publishers of U.S. Black Engineer & Technology magazine.

--(Taken in part from www.historymakers.org) FURTHER RESOURCES ON THE BIOGRAPHIES OF THE HIDDEN HEROES Below are links to more informational resources on the Hidden Heroes, including video interviews, quotes and archival footage. VIDEO RESOURCES • https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/christine-darden - several video interviews with Christine Darden, including about her earlier schooling. • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_unr-679G5k – video biography on Mary Jackson. • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrs6CL4ym4s – video biography on Annie Easley • Videos on Katherine Johnson: 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rT8-gbkqCE 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdr9QBRcPEk 3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=14&v=smTcsodv EqM 4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g3AvxrVTic 5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgW2kpNQ7BY

BIOGRAPHICAL QUOTES & INFORMATION • https://www.nasa.gov/centers/langley/news/researchernews/rn_CDarden.html • https://massivesci.com/articles/annie-easley-facts-stem-mathematician--scientist- discrimination/ - extensive biography on Annie Easley • https://www.biography.com/news/hidden-figures-movie-real-women - biographies of several “human computers” • https://epocheducation.com/miriam-daniel-mann/ • https://crgis.ndc.nasa.gov/crgis/images/d/d3/MannBio.pdf - more biographical information on Miriam Mann • https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2016/09/19/how-world- war-ii-opened-the-door-for-one-of-the-first-black-women-at- nasa/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.bdf539cabab4 – More information on human computers • https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-39003904 • https://kevin.mcclear.net/2017/03/04/pictures-on-the-wall-miriam-daniel-mann/ • https://www.twincities.com/2017/02/17/hidden-figures-human-computers/ - Twin Cities article about the Hidden Human Computers TIMELINE 1700’s • The first human computers worked in astronomy in Europe.

Mid-1800’s • The United States forms a computing group to crate the Nautical Almanac for navigation.

1914-18 • During World War I, computers work for the military computing trajectories and other data. Many of these computers are white women.

1915 • President Woodrow Wilson establishes the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA)

1917 • Construction begins on NACA’s Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, or Langley.

1941 • President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs Executive Order 8802, desegregating the defense industry.

1943 • Langley creates the first pool of African American women computers, including Miriam D. Mann.

1951 • NACA hires Mary Jackson as a mathematician, and she works in the wind tunnels.

1953 • Katherine Johnson, a mathematician, becomes a computer at NACA.

1955 • Annie Easley begins working in the Computer Service Division at NACA’s Lewis Research center. 1957 • The Soviet Union sends Sputnik into space on October 4, launching the space race with the United States.

1958 • NACA becomes the National Air and Space Administration (NASA) in October.

1960’s • Easley writes the computer code for the Centaur rocket.

1962 • American astronaut John Glenn refuses to go on his mission to orbit Earth until Johnson confirms calculations made by an electronic computer.

1967 • Physicist Christine Darden becomes a computer at NASA.

1970’s • Darden develops computer code that has been used in sonic boom minimization work ever since.

1979 • After starting her career as a mathematician at Langley and becoming an aerospace engineer, Jackson becomes an affirmative action manager.

1987 • On June 4, Mae C. Jemison becomes the first black woman to train as an astronaut.

1992 • On September 12, Jemison becomes the first African –American woman in space.

2015 • On February 6, Charles F. Bolden Jr, NASA administrator, publishes NASA’s police on equal employment opportunity, which stresses fairness and equity.

2016 • NASA dedicates the Katherine G. Johan Computational Research Facility on May 5.

--Taken from Hidden Human Computers by Sue Bradford Edwards and Duchess Harris, JD, PHD GLOSSARY AERONAUTICS The science of airplanes and flight.

CELESTIAL Of or relating to the sky and visible heavenly bodies.

COMPUTATION The process of calculating something; doing math.

COMPUTER Something or someone that performs calculations and handles data.

DISCRIMINATION Unfair treatment of other people, usually because of race, age, or gender.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY Policies and practices in employment that do not discriminate against people on the basic of traits such as sex, race or religion.

GRAVIATIONAL PULL And invisible force something, such as a planet, has that draw other objects toward it.

PERIHELION The point in a comet’s or planet’s orbit when it is closest to the sun.

SEGREGATION The practice of separating groups of people based on race, gender, ethnicity, or other factors.

--Taken from Hidden Human Computers by Sue Bradford Edwards and Duchess Harris, JD, PHD JIM CROW LAWS Most of the play takes place in the South during Jim Crow. It is a fact in the lives of all the characters in the play and something that is talked about and the effects of these laws on their lives is an important aspect of barriers they overcame. Below are resources to help your students understand what these laws were and how they affected the lives of African Americans during this time.

• http://www.historyforkids.net/jim-crow-laws.html - kid-friendly history of Jim Crow Laws • https://www.ducksters.com/history/civil_rights/jim_crow_laws.p hp - kid-friendly history of Jim Crow Laws • https://www.history.com/topics/early-20th-century-us/jim-crow- laws - A more comprehensive history from the History channel. It is written in an understandable and less-dense text. • http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/remembering /children.html - contains oral histories and quotes of African- Americans who were children during Jim Crow remembering what it was like as children. VIDEO RESOURCES ON THE HISTORY OF JIM CROW PROVIDED BY KHAN ACADEMY • https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/the- gilded-age/south-after-civil-war/v/jim-crow-part-1 - This nine part series starts here and links to the rest of the series is on the website. OTHER VIDEO RESOURCES ON JIM CROW • https://www.facinghistory.org/resource- library/video/understanding-jim-crow-setting-setting (8 minutes, fairly academic) • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChWXyeUTKg8 (5 minutes, contains some violent images and narrative, although historically accurate.) • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2Iwa9LeuFM – A straight-forward and succinct history answering a student question, “What was Jim Crow?” (4 minutes) YouTube history movie recorded by college students for classroom use. Verified and historically accurate. (Runs about 30 minutes) • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzL2Brhg9aQ (PART 1) • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7Hn-n9v5SU (PART 2) AFRICAN- AMERICAN

EDUCATION

Barriers to education for black Americans is present throughout the history of the United States, both in practice and embedded in law. Chapter Three in Hidden Human Computers: The Black Women of NASA provides a history of black education in the United States from pre-Civil War slavery through to present day. In addition, the links below provide further history and background that is useful in the context of the play.

ARTICLES, TIMELINES & INFORMATION on the history of black education in America: • https://americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/2- battleground/quest-for-education-1.html • https://www.virginiahistory.org/collections-and- resources/virginia-history-explorer/civil-rights- movement-virginia/beginnings-black • https://www.infoplease.com/us/higher- education/milestones-african-american-education • https://www.blackpressusa.com/the-critical-role- of-education-in-the-history-of-african-americans- part-l/

VIDEO RESOURCES ON THE HISTORY OF BLACK EDUCATION in the UNITED STATES: • https://vimeo.com/193199372 - 5 minute video on the history of African American education. • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfoioqHoB9o – 5 minute video detailing some of the history of the inequalities of African-American education. WHAT’S IN A SONG Within the play the song “Follow the Drinking Gourd” is used as a guide for the characters and for us as audience members. The “drinking gourd” of the song refers to the Big Dipper in the star constellations. According to American folklore the song was a "musical" map which led fugitive slaves north to freedom. It was written as an African American spiritual. The song is used in the play as a connection to African-American folklore and history as well as a reference to the stars and space that the human computers helped humankind explore. Below are some resources to help students become familiar with the song and its history.

HISTORY & LEGEND OF “FOLLOW THE DRINKING GOURD” • http://www.followthedrinkinggourd.org/Collection_Story.htm • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Follow_the_Drinkin%27_Gourd • http://www.eduplace.com/kids/socsci/nyc/books/bke/sources/bkc_template.jsp?name=spiritua l&bk=bkc&state=ny • https://casanders.net/music-history/the-true-story-of-follow-the-drinking-gourd/

VIDEO RESOURCES TO THE LEGEND OF THE SONG • https://www.teachertube.com/video/follow-the-drinking-gourd- 217595?isFlash=1 • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRGSgiTc7Jk MEANING OF THE LYRICS • http://www.followthedrinkinggourd.org/What_The_Lyrics_Mean.htm - a guide to the historical meaning of the lyrics. VIDEO RESOURCES OF SONG • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pw6N_eTZP2U • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAcZ6leUbDA • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acUKwjJkcKM • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CI_XZCb9aO8 • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjBZEMkmwYA • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBOP8t2hlFQ Follow the Drinking Gourd has been recorded almost 200 times. This link provides a representative sampler demonstrating the different ways the song has been performed. • http://www.followthedrinkinggourd.org/Appendix_Recordings.htm#Fos ter_and_Larue

CHILDREN’S BOOKS BASED ON THE LEGEND • http://www.followthedrinkinggourd.org/Appendix_Childrens_Books.htm#Winter (A list of several children’s books based on the legend) • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40oXJCogrIg (a video of the children’s book, Follow the Drinking Gourd by Jeanette Winter) SEEING THE PLAY

EXPECTATIONS

BEFORE THE PLAY: Prep the students by going over the historical events that the play is based on. Give them some historical context to view the play. What actions or events might be seen on stage? What characters might the play include from the events? What might be omitted in order for the events to be presented in a dramatic production? Students may keep a journal of their expectations. AFTER THE PLAY: Revisit the expectations to see how many were realized and how much more the students understand the history and events portrayed in the play. Discuss the similarities and differences from what the students thought they would see on stage and what they saw in terms of plot, characters, and action. Were the characters as portrayed on the stage what you thought you would see from the historical knowledge you had on the event? How or why? How would you describe the main “message” of the play? How was it similar or different from what you originally thought?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS PRIOR TO SEEING THE SHOW:

HIDDEN HEROES is a play about the educational pursuits of black girls during the Jim Crow era. It is the stories of girls who through a love of math and science overcame barriers to become employed as human computers at NACA/NASA and then continue in careers in science, engineering and mathematics that help send astronauts into space. Prior to seeing the play and after reviewing the historical background of the plays discuss with your students some of the barriers these women faced. • What sorts of things were illegal for African Americans due to Jim Crow Laws? • What sorts of things were whites only allowed to do? • What challenges/barriers did African Americans face African Americans in terms of education, jobs, housing, etc? Have students think about these barriers in relation to their own lives and connect to the feelings and actions of the characters they will see in the play. • How does a person feel when they are not included? • What actions would you take if you wanted to overcome these barriers? • How can an unfair situation be changed?

AFTER THE PLAY

POST-SHOW DISCUSSION QUESTIONS • In what ways were the girls in the play similar to people you know today? In what ways were they different? • Who did you relate to most in the play? Why? • What emotions or memories did the production bring up for you? • Did this play remind you of any other book you’ve read? How about other events from history? What moment or aspect of the production specifically reminded you of the book or historic event? • What do you think was the playwright’s purpose in writing this piece? What did she want you to think about? What did she hope you would feel? Why do you think so? • Why do we create plays about events from the past? What role does art play in remembering the past and the people who helped make history?

WRITING PROMPTS

The girls in the play are aware throughout that they come from a long line of other black women who overcame barriers so they could obtain and education and achieve their dreams. There is a saying, “By standing on the shoulders of giants we can see further…” Using this as primer, talk with students about what this saying means. Then, using the prompts below have students write essays on the “shoulders they stand on…” 1) Whose shoulders do you stand on? 2) Who do you have the power to influence?

POST-SHOW ACTIVITIES LIKE IT OR NOT? WRITE A REVIEW OF THE PLAY In this exercise students will write a review to clearly express their personal opinion about Hidden Heroes: The Black Women of NASA Students will: • Understand that the purpose of a review is to help readers decide if they should go see a particular play or not; • Explore how to express personal opinion in an effective, informative and enjoyable way; • Learn to back up their opinion with facts and details while also not giving away the play’s whole story.

THEATRE REVIEW LINKS: • http://www.nytimes.com/pages/theater/reviews/ • http://www.howwastheshow.com/ (The reviews available on these links change daily. Please review the links and plays being reviewed for appropriateness for your students.) LESSON PLAN 1. Using the links above for reference, ask students to bring in theatre reviews or print out your own handpicked reviews found on these links. 2. Using the professional reviews as a jumping off point, discuss the purpose of a theatre review and the elements of an informative and well-written review. Remind students that a review is a type of persuasive writing that includes an opinion supported by facts and details. Have students analyze the professional reviews and find examples of these elements. 3. Define and review literary terms that are potentially useful such as plot, characters, setting, and theme. 4. Discuss elements students may want to examine while experiencing the play, such as credible acting, supporting musical composition, design elements and effective directing/staging. 5. After seeing the play, instruct students to write a three to five-paragraph review of Hidden Heroes: The Black Women of NASA. This may be done as an in-class assignment or assigned as homework. POSSIBLE EXTENSIONS 1. Publish the reviews in the school newspaper. 2. Diagram the elements reviewed by various students. FEELING AS PERSON: A POETRY EXERCISE

The play reveals a lot of the individual personalities and aspirations of the five main girls who grow up to become some of the Black Women of NASA—Annie Easley, Miriam Mann, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson and Christine Darden. These five girls are intelligent and find inspiration in their studies of math and science. They dream about the future and what they will grow up to become and how they will influence the world through their intelligence and love of math and science. The play is also woven throughout with poetic language and imagery. This heightened use of language and subject matter is an opportunity for students to explore personal feelings, dreams and aspirations through poetry. Have students choose one of these feelings that may have come up for them while watching the play or one they saw one of the five main characters express. Then, have students fill- in the blanks of the following sentences as if the feeling were a person.

1. I am______2. I dress in______3. I need ______4. I am related to_____ 5. I vacation____ 6. My job is____ 7. I desire______

After the students complete the sentences, have them use their answers to write a poem.

For example: I am loneliness. The dark of night is my cloak. I vacation in the arms of solitude. Sadness and depression are the cousins I would joyfully disinherit. I long for a welcoming smile.

LINKS TO LESSON PLANS ON “I AM” Poems: • http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/creating-classroom- community-crafting-391.html?tab=4#session8 • http://oakdome.com/k5/lesson-plans/word/i-am-poem.php MORE HIDDEN HEROES FROM THE PLAY: Whose people are you from? None other but those unnamed but pioneering women we look up to. Those well behind the Sojourner Truths and Harriet Tubmans. We are the descendants of those women. Don't try to look them up, they didn't often make any history books.

When the girls in the play discuss those who have inspired them, they talk about and give the names of those African American women who came before them and achieved success in obtaining higher education and careers that were initially blocked from their access. Below are the names and accomplishments of these women who are both mentioned in the play and are covered within the history book, HIDDEN HUMAN COMPUTERS.

This is an opportunity to research and report on more hidden heroes, much of whom, as the play points out, did not make the history books. That is not that they did not contribute considerably with their accomplishments.

LIST OF MORE HIDDEN HEROES • Euphemia Hayes – The first African-American woman to gain a PhD in mathematics • Barbara Williams – PhD scientist in Astronomy • Jane Bolin – First black Yale Law School graduate and first to join the NY Bar • Charlotte Ray – Black female lawyer in the 1800’s • Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander – PhD in Economics • Charlotte Augusta Borroughs – An abolitionist • Angie Turner King – Chemist, mathematician and teacher • Mary Ann Shadd Cary – First black publisher in North America • Sarah Mapps Douglas – Educator and abolitionist • Charlotte Forten – First northern African-American schoolteacher to go south to teach former slaves • Rebecca Lee Crumpler – First African-American woman physician in the United States • Alice Ball – Chemist who developed the treatment for leprosy