Voting Rights Act, 240
Woolworth’s lunch counter, 201
See also NAACP
civil service
advocate Ruth Bates Harris, xiii
loyalty forms of Truman, 102
merit system reforms, 32–33
Negro applicants, 6–7
oath of office, 1, 37, 274
photos on applications, 6–7, 33, 94
post office job bulletins, 15
Claytor, William Waldron Schieffelin, 24, 73–74
Cohen, Doris
author at NACA, xvii, 85, 290
R. T. Jones partner, 85, 88, 290
Cold War
“Communist” epithet, 66, 101, 102, 103, 170
Cuba, 207, 222
education and, 142, 158
Korean War, 99, 104
Negro treatment and, 103–104, 105
Rosenberg spies, 101
Soviet atomic capability, 98, 152, 301. See also Soviet Union
Sputnik. See Sputniks
US guided missiles, 162
Coleman, Joshua and Joylette, 23, 70–71, 76, 77, 134–135, 245
Coleman, Katherine. See Johnson, Katherine Coleman Goble
Collier Trophy, 99, 110, 111
Colored Computers cafeteria sign, 43–45, 48
cafeteria segregation, 130, 146–147, 169–170
Colored Girls bathroom sign, 8, 43, 44
bathrooms segregated, xv, 48
East Side assignment, 108–109
opting out, 129, 146–147, 179
Soviet influence, 169–170
“colored” use in book, ix
Coltrane, Lucille (scientist), 179–180
Colvin, Claudette, 168
“come-heres” as newcomers, 7
compensation. See salaries
“compressed-air” research, 56, 58
computers (electronic)
Analysis and Computation Division, 204–206, 218–219, 241
Apollo 13 crisis, 248–249
astronaut resistance, 215–217
Bell electronic calculator, 137–138
computational fluid dynamics, 254, 262
“fly-by-wire” Mercury missions, 216
human computers versus, xvii, 138–139, 211, 216–217, 219–223, 225
IBM. See IBM computers
Katherine Johnson versus, xvii, 211, 216–217, 219–223, 225
men in computing, 205
Project Mercury, 205–206, 207
computers (human)
astronauts and, 188–189, 216–217
Colored Computers and Hampton, 47–48
Colored Computers cafeteria sign, 43–45, 48, 130
computers are electronic, 205
defending her numbers, 114–115
Dryden High-Speed Flight Research Center, 84–86
East Computing disbanded, 86, 87, 88, 165, 166, 167, 205
East Computing section, 39, 40, 84, 107–108, 172
electronic computers versus, xvii, 138–139, 211, 216–217, 219–223, 225
expertise over generalists, 165–166
first female computing pool, xvi, 4–5
Flight Research Division assignments, 57, 58–59
Head Girls, 91–92
Human Computer Project, 267, 268
incorporated into divisions, 165
Jewish with Negro friend, 102
Katherine Johnson celebrity, 225, 232, 249–250
Katherine Johnson vs. electronic, xvii, 211, 216–217, 219–223, 225
“math aides” of NASA, 190, 210
mathematicians versus, 143, 229–230. See also mathematicians
men as, 205
Mustangs and Tuskegee airmen, 52
supervisor duties, 89
Virginia Tucker as head computer, 5, 40, 86
West Area segregation, 7, 37, 43–45, 48, 104–105
West Computing boom, 105, 107
West Computing dissolved, 171–173, 204, 218–219
West Computing downsize, 165–167
West Computing section, 39–40, 48–49, 81, 87, 88, 102, 250, 264
“woe unto thee,” 58–59
women as, xvi–xvii, 4–5, 59, 81–82, 83–84, 115, 166, 180
working outside Langley, 289
Cooke, Arminta (West Computer), 171, 204
Cooper, Gordon, 228
Copeland Park (Newport News, VA), 29, 62, 64, 67
Cox, Elbert Frank, 13
Cronkite, Walter, 111, 239–240
Crosby, Bing, 71
Cuba, 207, 222
Curtiss Wright computer pool, 82, 289
Czarnecki, Kazimierz “Kaz,” 109–110, 142–143, 197, 254–255
Darden, Christine (data analyst)
as data analyst, 231–232, 260–261
doctorate in mechanical engineering, 262–263
Hampton Institute, 202–203, 225
Katherine Johnson on, 250
sonic boom research, 261–262
Darling, Frank, 38
Darling processing plant, 38, 93
Darling Stadium, 225
“data analysts” for mathematicians, 259
Davis, Benjamin O., 51
Davis, John W., 72, 74–75
defense industry desegregation, 6, 15–16, 32
Delta Sigma Theta sorority, 40, 105
Dembling, Paul, 170
Derring, Eldridge, 90, 91
desegregation
Brown v. Board of Education, 135, 140–141, 153–154, 157, 304
defense industry, 6, 15–16, 32
Dorothy Vaughan textbook, xvii
“Four Freedoms,” 31
Girl Scouts, 198, 256
graduate school programs, 24–25, 75
Holiday Inn bar, 146
Langley Air Force Base, 168
Little Rock, 150
military, 104
Senator Byrd versus, 141, 168–169, 170, 184–185
universities, 24, 25, 75, 152, 157
Virginia schools, 203, 304, 306
See also segregation
Double V, 35–36
Dryden High-Speed Flight Research Center (CA), 84, 163
Du Bois, W. E. B.
on black treatment, 103
death, 228–229
first Harvard doctorate to black, 13
The Souls of Black Folk, 33, 109
on teaching opportunities, 73–74
Dwight, Ed, 241
Dylan, Bob, 228
Earhart, Amelia, 53
Easley, Annie (scientist), 217–218
Eisenhower, Dwight D.
Introduction to Outer Space, 175, 305
military-industrial complex, 207
National Defense Education Act, 158
peaceful space launch, 162
secret bunker, 151
“small ball in the air,” 152
electronic computers. See computers (electronic)
Engineering, Science, and War Management Training (ESMWT) programs, 46, 142, 283
engineers
black engineers, xiv, 113–114, 145–147, 230
“compressed-air” research, 56, 58
expertise over generalists, 165–166
Federal Women’s Program Manager, 256–257
“fresh-air” research, 57, 58, 122, 127, 298
Mary Winston Jackson, 143–145. See also Jackson, Mary Winston
men uniquely gifted, 257
National Technical Association, 197
“no-air” research, 58, 83, 112
resource on Langley aeronautical, 298
women as, 16, 144, 158, 197–198, 255, 257, 302
women scientists, xvi, 179–180, 257, 305
Enos the chimpanzee, 222
Epps, Eric, 63, 118, 120, 252
Etheridge, Mark, 33
Evans, James C., 73
F for fighter planes, 57
Faget, Maxime, 180, 188
Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC), 6, 33
significance to blacks, 15–16, 32, 66
/>
Fair Employment Practices Within the Federal Establishment (1948), 104
Faubus, Orval, 150
FEPC. See Fair Employment Practices Committee
Ferguson, Robert, 252
Fetterman, David, 262
Fitchett, Blanche Sponsler, 91. See also Sponsler, Blanche
Flight Research Division
Aerospace Mechanics Division from, 182
computer assignments, 57, 58–59, 107, 122
“fresh-air” engineers, 57, 58, 122, 127, 298
high-speed to spaceflight, 163–164
Space Task Group, 183–184. See also Space Task Group
Forbes, Malcolm, 71
FORTRAN language, 206, 254, 261, 262
Foxx, Charles, xiii
Freedom 7, 208–209
“fresh-air” research, 57, 58, 122, 127, 298
Friendship 7, 223–224
Fries, Sylvia, 257
Gable, Clark, 53
Gagarin, Yuri, 208, 209
Gas Dynamics Laboratory, 100–101
Gaye, Marvin, 251
Gehrig, Lou, 71
George, Albert, 262
Gilruth, Robert, 184, 189, 316
“girls” use in book, ix. See also women
Glenn, John, 188, 214–217, 223–225, 250
Glenn, Madelon, 16
Goble, James Francis “Jimmy”
as chemistry teacher, 25, 69, 119
death, 133, 135–136
homeowner, 131, 132
marriage to Katherine, 74, 76
move to Hampton, 117–118, 120
Goble, Katherine. See Johnson, Katherine Coleman Goble
Goddard Space Flight Center (MD)
capsule position, 221–222
CO3E software program, 207
IBM 7090 pair, 206, 207, 215, 218
women scientists, 218, 255
Golemba, Beverly, xvii, 263
Gough, Melvin, 127, 316
Graham, Julia, 113
Greenbrier resort (“Old White”; WV)
bellman Howard Vaughan, 14, 23, 71, 77
bellman Joshua Coleman, 23, 71, 77, 135
bunker below, 151–152
celebrity guests, 71, 72
serving-class divisions, 72
Greensboro Four, 201
Grissom, Virgil “Gus,” 211, 233
Gup, Ted, 152
Hairston, Ernie, 227
Haise, Fred, 248
Ham the chimpanzee, 208
Hamer, Harold “Al,” 122, 176, 177, 234, 246, 248, 249
Hammond, Ann Vaughan, 263
Hampton (VA)
African feet ashore, 228, 311
Bay Shore Beach, 78, 93, 118
black neighborhood resource, 299
city official seal, 225
civil rights movement, 202–203
electricity rationing and wind tunnels, 56
Hampton High School Langley classes, 141–142, 144–145
John Glenn hero’s welcome, 224–225
Langley Lab and, 38, 53
prewar hamlet, 93–94
racial tensions, 31, 47–48, 142, 167–168
sounds of Langley, 3, 56
“Spacetown, USA,” xviii, 225, 273
Hampton Institute (VA)
black president, 97, 203
civil rights sit-in, 202
electronic computer training, 141
Engineering, Science, and War Management Training programs, 46, 142, 283
Engineering for Women, 16, 39, 95
“Hampton Idea,” 95
John Glenn hero’s welcome, 225
Marian Anderson performances, 68
Mary Peake “founding,” 16
Phenix High School, 94, 95, 142, 186
Rosa Parks as hostess, 202
Stability Analysis gatherings, 88
war effort participation, 45–46
Hampton Roads (VA)
anti-Semitism, 102
East End segregation, 29–30, 61–62
John Glenn hero’s welcome, 224–225
racial tensions, 31, 47–48
V-J Day, 64–65
war towns, 27–29, 64, 79–80
Hannah, Margery (East & West Computing)
authoring study with Katzoff, xvii, 88
Katherine Johnson on, 250
outer planet tour, 246, 314
West Area women as equals, 47
West Computing section head, xvii, 40, 49, 58, 81, 87, 250
wind tunnel air flows, 110
Harris, Ruth Bates, xiii
Head Girls, 91–92
Height, Dorothy, 228, 312
Hill, Oliver, 140
Hillside Inn (PA), 237–238, 313
Hinson, Shirley Hunt (math aide), 210
Holt, Harry, 38
Hoover, Dorothy (mathematician; scientist)
aeronautical research scientist, 112, 218
GS-13 achieved, 255
West Computer supervisor, 81
working for Robert T. Jones, xvii, 87–88, 112
House, Rufus, 90, 92
Housing Rights Act (1968), 241
Houston, Alice Jackson, 24
Houston, Charles Hamilton
Du Bois as guide, 229
graduate school admission policies, 24
military service, 32
teacher salaries, 70, 74–75
Howard University
female engineering graduates, 144
inaugural master’s in math, 13, 23, 24, 73, 74
Hughes, Howard, 53
Hughes, Langston, 251
Human Computer Project, 267, 268
Hunter, Lessie (West Computer), 40, 264
Huntington, Collis, 38
Huss, Carl, 122, 164, 176, 177, 189, 190, 210
IBM computers
604 and 650 for trajectories, 138
704 FORTRAN, 205–206
709 in Bermuda, 206
7090s at Goddard, 206, 215, 218, 221–222
CO3E software program, 207
Katherine Johnson versus, 220, 223
“Indian” use in book, ix, 45
integration. See desegregation
International Geophysical Year (1957–1958), 162, 175
international view of discrimination, 103–104, 150, 170
Introduction to Celestial Mechanics (Moulton; 1914), 176, 191
Introduction to Outer Space (President’s Advisory Committee on Science; 1958), 175, 305
J. S. Darling and Son, 38, 93
Jackson, Levi, Sr., 260
Jackson, Mahalia, 228, 229
Jackson, Mary Winston (West Computer; engineer)
Apollo capsule testing, 219
Apollo Team Achievement Award, 219
background, 94–98, 112–113, 186
Becker reusable launch vehicle, 163–164
black engineer recruitment, 230, 254
defending her numbers, xvii, 114–115
East Computing assignment, 108–110
electronic computer programming, 254
engineer barrier breaking, 196–199, 200, 219, 255–257
engineering training, 143–145
epilogue, 251, 253–257
Federal Women’s Program Manager, 256–257
Girl Scout leader, 95, 97–98, 108, 109, 198, 256
Gloria Champine and, 257, 258–261
Hampton return, 93–94
Kazimierz Czarnecki hiring, 109–110, 142–143, 254–255
security clearance, 98
son’s soap box derby, 193–195, 199–200
Volunteer of the Year, 254
West Computing, 99, 101, 105, 107–108
Jackson, Wanda, 260
Jacobs, Eastman, 53, 82, 88, 101
Johns, Altona Trent, 20, 33–34
Johns, Barbara, 140–141
Johns, Vernon, 33–34, 140
Johnson, James A., 186–187, 188, 192
Johnson, Janice, 198
Johnson, Katherine Coleman Goble (West Computer; scientis
t)
Alpha Kappa Alpha conclave, 236–239
“America Is for Everybody” brochure, 227, 228
Apollo 13 crisis, 248–249
awards, 172, 249–250, 314
Azimuth Angle report, 191–192, 211, 220
background, 23–24, 70–72
celebrity, 225, 232, 249–250
Christine Darden welcomed, 231–232
colored bathrooms, 129
on Dorothy Vaughan, 173, 250
epilogue, 249–251
Eunice Smith friendship, 120, 186, 232
Flight Research Division, 122–124, 125–131
graduate studies and desegregation, 25, 75–76
homeowner, 132–133, 185–186
Jimmy Goble’s death, 133–134, 135–136, 186
John Glenn’s trajectory, xvii, 211, 216–217, 219–223, 225
on Margery Hannah, 250
marriage to Jim Johnson, 186, 192
marriage to Jimmy Goble, 74, 76
Mars shot, 246
mentor Claytor, 24, 73, 74
Moon shot, 234, 239, 244–246, 248, 249
NASA to Houston, 210
Piper vs. jet wake, 128
Presidential Medal of Freedom, 172, 250
spaceflight, 164–165, 176, 177–179
spaceflight editorial meetings, 179, 181–182
spaceflight trajectories, 190–191
Sputnik, 161, 162, 164
as teacher, 23–24, 69–70, 74, 119, 120
as Trekkie, 243–244
West Computer, 120–122, 172
Johnson, Kemble, 104–105
Johnson, Leonard “Kansas City,” 12, 276
Johnson, Lyndon, 162, 210, 227, 252
Johnson, Susie Peeler, 12
Jones, Robert “R. T.”
anti-prejudice jail time, 47, 82
Doris Cohen partner, 85, 88, 290
Dorothy Hoover employment, xvii, 87–88, 112
Langley to Ames lab, 112
as researcher, 53, 82–83, 84
Joyner, Kitty O’Brien (engineer), 144
Kantrowitz, Arthur, 47, 54, 88
Katzoff, Sam, xvii, 88, 110
Keating, Jean Clark (scientist), 179–180
Kennedy, John F., 207–208, 209, 227
Kennedy, Joseph and Rose, 71
Kennedy, Robert, 204
Kent, Elijah, xiii
King, Martin Luther, Jr.
bus boycott, 168, 202
March on Washington, 6, 228, 229
Poor People’s Campaign, 240
Trekkie, 243
Knox, Frank, 41–42
Korean War, 99, 104
Kraft, Chris, 164, 208
laminar flow airfoils, 55, 111
Land, Bonnie Kathaleen (mathematician), xi, xii, xv, 269
Landrum, Emma Jean (engineer), 197–198
Langley, Samuel, 55
Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory
accomplishments, 111
aircraft manufacturers and, 3–4, 111
airfield relationship, 2–3, 37–38
anti-Semitism, 102
black women computer numbers, xviii
bombing of Japan, 59
description of, xii, 37, 38–39, 99
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