Column: Uncovering one of NASA's late hidden figures

Katherine Johnson, human computer, brilliant mathematician and “hidden figure” of NASA died Feb. 24, but her legacy remains as open and bright as the stars. 

Johnson was one of the few African Americans hired for computing in the early 50’s, and if it weren’t for her and her fellow peers impeccable math skills, the moon landing would likely not have been a success story. 

Johnson’s story, among many other marginalized workers at NASA, endured the white-washing and patriarchal retelling of history until recently. 

Born Aug. 26, 1918 in West Virginia, Johnson excelled in her early academic career and graduated high school at 14 to enroll at West Virginia State, a historically black college.

She graduated summa cum laude at 18 with degrees in mathematics and French. At the university, Johnson took every math course available.

Later, Johnson became the first African American woman to attend the graduate program at West Virginia University. Along with her and three other African American male peers, they were the first to integrate the graduate school following the Supreme Court ruling Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada.

Working at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), which was later adapted into the program NASA, as functionally a computer, Johnson analyzed data relating to aircraft, soon to incorporate the trajectory plans for the moon launch and landing in 1969.

At NACA, Johnson experienced segregation as well as gender discrimination.

“We needed to be assertive as women in those days – assertive and aggressive – and the degree to which we had to be that way depended on where you were. I had to be. In the early days of NASA women were not allowed to put their names on the reports – no woman in my division had had her name on a report,” Johnson described in an interview.

She continued, describing the opposition of her supervisor “… he was not a fan of women – [he] kept pushing him [Ted] to finish the report we were working on. Finally, Ted told him, ‘Katherine should finish the report, she's done most of the work anyway.’ So Ted left Pearson with no choice; I finished the report and my name went on it, and that was the first time a woman in our division had her name on something.”

Though computers made an emergence later in the space program, Johnson was often asked to check the computer calculations for accuracy due to her faultless math skills. John Glenn, the first American to orbit the earth, was among those who relied on Johnson not only for accuracy, but for peace of mind before missions.

Katherine Johnson’s feats, as well as Mary Jackson and Dorothy Vaughan’s, inspired the book and film adaption “Hidden Figures.” These works are dedicated to uncovering the accomplishments of the African American women who were essential to the achievements of early space endeavors.

Johnson received the Presidential Medal of Honor, the highest honor a civilian can receive.

Former President Barack Obama, who awarded Johnson, said "In her 33 years at NASA, Katherine was a pioneer who broke the barriers of race and gender, showing generations of young people that everyone can excel in math and science, and reach for the stars.”

A research facility at NASA was named in her honor in 2017, the same year she attended and was given a standing ovation at the Academy Awards.

When reflecting on women’s history, Katherine Johnson is a remarkable figure, one of inspiration and unimaginable intellect. She toppled the discriminatory beliefs of her era and continuously defied stereotypes of the Jim Crow era.

Younger generations, regardless of their interest in STEM, can be thankful for a woman whose presence will be felt past her 101 years of life. Johnson represents the power of women and the continued excellence of black history.