My dive into all things Katherine Johnson began because of Motor’s interest in space. I knew I had to learn more about the bright stars who make NASA run. Katherine bubbled up to the top of my list, and I cannot get enough. Here is a small introduction to the superstar Katherine Johnson.
If you have a recommendation for other reads about NASA change-makers, message me!
Littles
A Computer Called Katherine by Suzanne Slade is GORGEOUS! These illustrations are just beyond. The book itself is fact-filled but it still reads like a picture book (a difficult dance, I’m sure). So many astronauts and NASA employees relied on Katherine. These were people’s lives at stake and they had the superpower Katherine leading the charge. A couple of interesting facts:
- Finished eighth grade when she was 10 years old!
- Started college at 15 years old!
Counting the Stars by Lesa Cline-Ransome is also a great book to read for littles (or perhaps a tiny bit older – there are a lot of words per page). The illustrations feel very dreamy!
Counting on Katherine by Helaine Becker is phenom. And I mean PHENOM! I adore these illustrations with all my heart. Get this book and I guarantee it’ll be you – and your kiddo – wanting to read it over and over.
Middle Grade/Tween
Hidden Figures Young Reader’s Edition by Margot Lee Shetterly was phenomenal! This would be an excellent book for an elementary kiddo who is mature enough to read about Jim Crow laws or for kiddos older than that. Shetterly dives into segregation, housing, the space race against the Soviet Union, hiring practices, school integration, the wild intelligence of the Hidden Figures four and the incredible sacrifices made by the families supporting these dynamos. Fascinating!
Hidden Figures highlights Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Winston Jackson, Katherine Goble Johnson and Christine Darden leading up to and while working in a division called National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (later NASA).
‘Computers’ was used as the term for mathematicians who calculated the intensely long and difficult math problems to support the Langley engineers. Computers, as we know them today, weren’t introduced to Langley for years. West Computers was the group of black female computers (mathematicians) on the west side of campus; computers was the group of white female computers on the east (main) side of campus. Because, segregation.
The book shares so much good information. I mean, I tagged practically every fourth page. Beyond the immeasurable smarts these four gals had (which is mind boggling), I found the discrimination really interesting. The women faced sex discrimination from their male teammates because women ‘had a place.’ I get it. It’s part of history. But it’s still crazy to read about it. Also, the racial discrimination these four recalled wasn’t from their teammates (usually engineers) but from blue collar employees at work (mechanics, model makers, technicians) who threatened all black employees.
Interesting facts learned from the book:
- In 1940, 2% of all black women earned colleges degrees. 60% of those women became teachers.
At a time when just 10 percent of white women and not even a third of white men had earned college degrees, the West Computers had found jobs at the ‘single best and biggest aeronautical research complex in the world.’
Margot Lee Shetterly, 41
- Employees at Langley worked six days a week. Female computers interested in advancing themselves and/or learning about aerodynamics volunteered to take additional classes on top of their workload. This is like professional development multiplied! See below:
Two days a week after work, Dorothy Vaughan and the other new mathematicians filed into a makeshift classroom at the laboratory for an intensive class in the fundamental theory of aerodynamics…They also attended a weekly two-hour laboratory session for hands-on training in one of the wind tunnels, and they had an average of four hours of homework on top of their six-day workweek.
Margot Lee Shetterly, 51
Can you even imagine doing this serious brain work (no dialing it for a moment on this job) six days a week, hustling home to cook a real meal (because there wasn’t Chick Fil A drive-up like I abuse utilize) and finding the time to do homework and be a mama and be involved in the community, like so many of the Hidden Figures warriors? Amazing!
- Katherine Johnson helped make changes to air traffic regulations, requiring minimum distances between flight paths.
An incredible book, and only made me more curious to learn about these dynamos. And perhaps I should watch the movie Hidden Figures one of these days, huh? #booksalwaysfirst
Adult
Reaching for the Moon by Katherine Johnson. Wowzers. If you weren’t a Katherine Johnson fangirl before, you will be now. Her attitude. Her parents. Her work ethic. Her perseverance. Not to mention that she’s a total brain!
Family:
Joshua Coleman – dad, sixth grade education, total wiz at numbers
Joylette Lowe Coleman – mom
Horace – brother
Margaret – sister
Charlie – brother
Katherine – knew multiplication tables and how to spell by age 4
Just like the previous book, Reaching for the Moon shares so much insight into the racial segregation in the 40’s – 60’s. And you know what? It’s just as shocking and heartbreaking every chapter I read about it. I hope none of us get numb to hearing about what black people (and any minority) endured.
She shares about discrimination:
There was no way to explain segregation’s daily humiliations and inequality, so there wasn’t much discussion about the reasons. You just had to know the rules, know your place, and stay in it. Doing that increased the odds that you would be safe and unharmed.
Katherine Johnson, 19
Joshua Coleman repeated over and over throughout her childhood to his children “they’re no better than you, and you’re no better than anybody else.” Katherine remembered this and it helped steel herself during turbulent times. I think this motto is applicable today to everyone.
Joshua and Joylette (mom) did everything under the sun to provide a better future for their children. Everything. Nothing was beneath them. When the family moved to Institute, West Virginia, for the kids to get a better education, Joshua couldn’t find a job anywhere. He returned back home to continue with his previous job for eight years. Eight! Eight years of back and forth and people subletting rooms in the house and not seeing your children and wife and the mom corralling the kids solo. Talk about putting it all on the table for better opportunities!
Katherine shares her love of math in the most beautiful way:
By then, I’d really grown to love math – its simplicity, its elegance, how in a world rife with the dangers of racism and economic uncertainty, it provided clear-cut answers: Either you were right or you were wrong. The answer today was the same as it would be tomorrow.
Katherine Johnson, 69
Because very little opportunity existed for black women at that time, Katherine taught in different schools and different states as she and her first husband Jimmie Goble sought bigger oppotunties. She loved teaching for the joy and wonder of it (bless her). What felt so amazing learning about her many moves was just how committed she and her husband were to seeking the next wrung on the ladder of the American dream. It’s harrrrrd to move, especially away from family. And I cannot fathom what that felt like as a black family while living through daily discrimination. Yet, they kept their eye on the ball. After every hardship and bump in the road. That takes grit.
The book shares her entry and time at NACA (later NASA) and I am so in awe of her humbleness. She was an absolute gift to those engineers and her contributions are incredible. Yet, she says she was just doing her job. Ha!
Really surprising was the qualifications for the computers (female mathematicians) at NACA. Black computers had to have a degree (ideally in math) with a high GPA. NACA recruited black graduates with honors in math. White computers, however, didn’t need a degree at all. Most were engineers’ wives. Maddening.
I loved this book. The only drawback would be the length. I wish it was longer so I could learn more. 😊