Media Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 22, 2016
Contact: Ryan Downey, 757/728-5328 [email protected] Seamus McGrann, 757/727-6841 [email protected]
HARPER COLLINS CONTACT: Kate Gales Schafer, Publicity Manager 212-207-7486 / Kate.Schafer@harpercollins.com
Hampton Author of ‘Hidden Figures’ Presents Free Lecture and Signs Copies of Her Book at Hampton History Museum September 8
HIDDEN FIGURES Soon to be a major motion picture from 20th Century Fox starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Kirsten Dunst, and Kevin Costner, with a soundtrack by Pharrell
“Inspiring and enlightening.”—Kirkus Reviews
Hampton, Virginia- Margot Lee Shetterly, Author of HIDDEN FIGURES: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who -More-
Hampton Author of ‘Hidden Figures’ Presents Free Lecture and Signs Copies of Her Book at Hampton History Museum September 8- Page 2
Helped Win the Space Race, will offer a special lecture and sign copies of her book at a free Hampton History Museum event on Thursday, September 8, 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Imagine the first scientists and engineers trying to send rockets—and eventually people— into space. With no electronic computers, they relied on an elite group of mathematicians capable of doing the most challenging calculations by hand, calculations that would launch men into space and forever expand our knowledge of the universe. This critical episode in history took place in Hampton at NASA/Langley.
Among these “human computers” were the black women whose genius for numbers made space exploration and travel possible. They’re finally introduced to America in Margot Lee Shetterly’s HIDDEN FIGURES: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race (William Morrow; 9/6/2016; ISBN 9780062363596).
It’s no surprise that this story was adapted for film even before the book was finished. It’s the inspiring yet largely unknown true story of the African-American female mathematicians at NASA whose work that helped fuel some of America’s greatest achievements in space. Ironically, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden were responsible for some of NASA’s greatest successes at a time when Jim Crow laws ensured NASA remained segregated.
HIDDEN FIGURES is a story that combines the rich intersection of the civil rights era, the Space Race, the Cold War, and the movement for gender equality. Margot Lee Shetterly is the perfect person to write it. A journalist and independent researcher, she is also the daughter of one of NASA’s first black engineers. Her insider’s knowledge, direct access to NASA executives and the women featured in the book lend it a depth and perspective that goes beyond mere research. -More-
Hampton Author of ‘Hidden Figures’ Presents Free Lecture and Signs Copies of Her Book at Hampton History Museum September 8- Page 3
HIDDEN FIGURES draws on extensive research, oral histories, personal recollections, interviews, and articles from the era to create an incredible picture of never-before-seen history.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: MARGOT LEE SHETTERLY is a writer who grew up in Hampton, Virginia, where she knew many of the women in Hidden Figures. She is an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow and the recipient of a Virginia Foundation of the Humanities grant for her research into the history of women in computing. She lives in Charlottesville, VA.
ABOUT 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 will be available in hardcover at the museum gift shop (9/6/2016) for $27.99 (Hampton History Museum members always enjoy a 10% discount).
HAMPTON HISTORY MUSEUM: The Hampton History Museum is located at 120 Old Hampton Lane in downtown Hampton. There is free parking in the garage across the street. For more information, dial 757/727-1610.
Partially bordered by the Hampton Roads harbor and Chesapeake Bay, Hampton, with the 344,000 sq. ft. Hampton Roads Convention Center and the award-winning Hampton Coliseum, is located in the center of Coastal Virginia and the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. Hampton is the site of America's first continuous English-speaking settlement, the site of the first arrival of Africans in English North America, and is home to such visitor attractions as the Virginia Air & Space Center, Fort Monroe National Monument, Hampton History Museum, harbor tours and cruises, Hampton University Museum, The American Theatre, among others.
###