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Breakthrough: Katherine Johnson's Calculated Climb to Greatness At Breakthrough: Katherine Johnson’s Calculated Climb to Greatness at NASA Melody Harwood Senior Division Historical Paper Paper Length: 2498 1 “Even though you (Katherine Johnson) grew up in the height of segregation, you did not have time to think about your place in history and you never had a feeling of inferiority. Instead you considered yourself, as you described it, ‘as good as anybody, but no better.’” - Charles Bolden, NASA Administrator1 Since the origins of democracy in the United States, black people have struggled for equality. The Thirteenth Amendment gave their freedom from slavery, but this step forward came with new methods of systematic oppression. The tension and division which resulted from the implementation of these methods, like the Black Codes and segregation,2 remained prominent for decades. Women experienced similar conditions, openly discriminated against throughout history and unable to vote until 1920. In the segregated and tumultuous 1960s, people began to rise up in opposition to gender and racial inequality. It was at this time that Katherine Johnson entered a white, male dominated workplace and broke barriers where not only women, but black women, had never been as she calculated trajectories for NASA’s most important missions. With a skillset and intelligence unparalleled by her peers, Johnson became the first woman to author a technical report and participate in briefings at NASA’s Langley Flight Research Division. As her mathematical prowess propelled her to a prominent role in space exploration, she demonstrated that black women were equally capable of achievement in scientific fields. Johnson made it possible for her black and female successors to receive credit for their work, while opening doors 1 McDonald, Samuel. “Computer Facility Named After ‘Human Computer’ Katherine Johnson.” NASA. NASA, May 4, 2016. http://www.nasa.gov/feature/langley/computational-facility-named-in-tribute-to-nasa-langley-math-master- katherine-johnson. 2 Laws in Relation to Freedmen, Laws in Relation to Freedmen § (1866). https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage. 2 at Langley Research Center to women. Her story represents the ability to overcome racial and gender barriers with excellence and determination. Katherine Johnson was born in 1918 in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.3 Her passion for education was evident from a young age; even before starting school she recalled “watching her older siblings go to school and wishing so much that she could go with them.”4 Driven by a motivated family, she moved expeditiously through school, skipping grades from second to fifth.5 By age 10, she was ready for high school. Unfortunately, black students were not allowed to attend the local high school.6 Her father, determined to give her the educational opportunity she longed for, moved their family to Institute, West Virginia, where she attended an integrated high school. She graduated at age 14.7 Through academic achievement, Johnson demonstrated a drive to pursue her goals, despite the social barriers that could have denied her an educational opportunity. Johnson went on to graduate at age 18 from West Virginia State College, the black state college, with bachelor’s degrees in Mathematics and French,8 3 Smith, Yvette. “Katherine Johnson: The Girl Who Loved to Count.” NASA. NASA, November 20, 2015. http:// www.nasa.gov/feature/katherine-johnson-the-girl-who-loved-to-count. 4 Wild, Flint. “Katherine Johnson: A Lifetime of STEM.” NASA. NASA, November 16, 2015. http://www.nasa.gov/ audience/foreducators/a-lifetime-of-stem.html. 5 Loff, Sarah. “Katherine Johnson Biography.” NASA. NASA, November 22, 2016. http://www.nasa.gov/content/ katherine-johnson-biography. 6 Smith, Yvette. “Katherine Johnson: The Girl Who Loved to Count.” NASA. NASA, November 20, 2015. http:// www.nasa.gov/feature/katherine-johnson-the-girl-who-loved-to-count. 7 Ibid. 8Loff, Sarah. “Katherine Johnson Biography.” NASA. NASA, November 22, 2016. http://www.nasa.gov/content/ katherine-johnson-biography. 3 encouraged to pursue mathematics by her professor, William Claytor (Appendix I), who recognized her excellence in the subject.9 Johnson continued to excel academically after she graduated. In 1939, she was specifically chosen by the president of the white state college, West Virginia State University, along with two black male principals, to be one of the first three students integrated into their university for graduate school.10 Being part of this group, and being the first black woman at WVS, was a monumental achievement and spoke to her skills which not only transcended the barrier of her race but also her gender. However, Johnson went on to break far more significant barriers as her career progressed, which initially began as a math teacher at black public schools in Virginia, teaching elementary students, high school music, and French classes.11 Despite the slow progression of black people into the professional, technical workforce and their integration into white schools, the general attitude towards blacks entering white- dominated workspaces remained discriminatory and openly hostile at this time. An editor of the Louisville Courier Journal, Mark Etheridge, stated in June 1942 that “There is no power in the world--not even in all the mechanized armies of the earth, Allied and Axis--which would now force … people to the abandonment of the principle of social segregation.”12 Employers were shameless in their discrimination, even against white minorities like Jewish people and Irish 9 Joylette Hylick, telephone interview with author, February 22, 2020 10 Joylette Hylick, telephone interview with author, February 22, 2020 11Porter-Nichols, Stephanie. “Council Honors One-Time Marion Teacher Katherine Johnson of 'Hidden Figures'.” SWVa Today, May 7, 2019. https://www.swvatoday.com/smyth_county/news/article_35c83f32-df64-11e6-a8e6-bfcf3ba856af.html. 12Tindall, George Brown., and Wendell Holmes. Stephenson. The Emergence of the New South: 1913-1945. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State Univ. Press, 1991. 4 women. Being a black woman in the field of mathematics was almost unheard of, as there were only about one hundred total women (of any race) in professional mathematics jobs in the U.S. in the 1930s.13 Despite these challenges, an unexpected force, World War II, brought some of the first black women into the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics as the war caused a higher demand for workers to replace those who became involved in war efforts.14 This spurred the early beginnings of the Civil Rights Movement as black women moved from domestic servitude to roles traditionally performed by white men. James G. Thompson wrote for the Pittsburgh Courier that the war represented a “VV for a double victory. The first V for victory over our enemies from without, the second V for victory over our enemies from within--those who perpetrate these ugly prejudices.”15 When Johnson left her teaching job to begin working for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics West Computing Area in 1953, its staff already included some black women. NACA represented a step towards inclusion within engineering and mathematical jobs, forced to “creak open the ‘No Girls Allowed’ door” by its need for talented workers.16 Even so, most workers found it difficult to gain recognition and feel equal to their white, male counterparts who received more credit and pay for the same ideas and calculations. 13 Shetterly, Margot Lee. Hidden Figures. Rock Island, Il: Rock Island Public Library, 2018. 14 Honey, Maureen. “African American Women in World War II.” African American Women in World War II | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, January 1, 1970. https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-now/essays/african-american-women-world -war-ii. 15 Harris, Michael. “How WWII Affected America's Minorities.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, June 13, 2000. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-jun-13-cl-40272-story.html. 16 Helaine Becker, e-mail interview with author, February 18, 2020. 5 Similar to the influx of black female workers during World War II, rising tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union brought a more diverse group of workers into space exploration as the demand grew for “access to scientists and professionals.”17 These “tended to be people of color, or women, both of whom were excluded from these workforces,” prior to the Cold War.18 Sputnik was launched in October 1957, becoming the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth. The Sputnik event evoked a feeling of urgency and fright among American spaceflight engineers, generating “a breadth of interest rarely paralleled.”19 NASA was determined to catch up to the Soviet Union and get not only a satellite into orbit, which they did achieve in early 1958 with the Explorer 1 satellite, but also a man.20 Both the U.S. and the Soviet Union felt this new pressure. In 1958, resulting from the Sputnik launch, the National Aeronautics and Space Act21 was passed, transferring NACA into NASA. Johnson’s position performing calculations and analysis on crashed flights at NACA became a position at NASA’s predominantly white Langley Research Center. Subsequently, NASA formed Project Mercury, with the goal of sending men into space and into orbit. Johnson was quickly assigned to work for Project Mercury as a computer - a job which involved performing manual computations. (Appendix II) The Space Task Group, formed to 17 Audra Wolfe, phone interview with author, March 5, 2020. 18 Audra Wolfe, phone interview with author, March 5, 2020. 19 “Impact of US and Soviet Space Programs on World Opinion.” NASA. NASA, July 7, 1959. https://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/july59.html. 20 “Space Race Timeline.” Royal Museums Greenwich | UNESCO World Heritage Site In London. Accessed 2019. https://www.rmg.co.uk/discover/explore/space-race-timeline. 21Suckow, Elizabeth. “NACA Overview.” NASA. NASA, April 23, 2009. https://history.nasa.gov/naca/ overview.html.
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