''Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Who Helped Win the Space Race'' is a 2016 nonfiction book written by
Margot Lee Shetterly
Margot Lee Shetterly (born June 30, 1969) is an American nonfiction writer who has also worked in investment banking and media startups. Her first book, '' Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Who Helped Win ...
.
Shetterly started working on the book in 2010. The book takes place from the 1930s through the 1960s, depicting the particular barriers for Black women in science during this time, thereby providing a lesser-known history of NASA. The biographical text follows the lives of
Katherine Johnson
Katherine Johnson (née Coleman; August 26, 1918 – February 24, 2020) was an American mathematician whose calculations of orbital mechanics as a NASA employee were critical to the success of the first and subsequent U.S. crewed spaceflights. ...
,
Dorothy Vaughan
Dorothy Jean Johnson Vaughan (September 20, 1910 – November 10, 2008) was an American mathematician and human computer who worked for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), and NASA, at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Vir ...
, and
Mary Jackson, three mathematicians who worked as
computers
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These programs ...
(then a job description) at
NACA
The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was a United States federal agency founded on March 3, 1915, to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. On October 1, 1958, the agency was dissolved and its assets ...
and
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
, during the
space race
The Space Race was a 20th-century competition between two Cold War rivals, the United States and the Soviet Union, to achieve superior spaceflight capability. It had its origins in the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race between the tw ...
. They overcame discrimination there, as women and as African Americans. Also featured is
Christine Darden
Christine Darden (born September 10, 1942, as Christine Mann) is an American mathematician, data analyst, and aeronautical engineer who devoted much of her 40-year career in aerodynamics at NASA to researching supersonic flight and sonic booms. ...
, who was the first African-American woman to be promoted into the
Senior Executive Service for her work in researching
supersonic flight and
sonic boom
A sonic boom is a sound associated with shock waves created when an object travels through the air faster than the speed of sound. Sonic booms generate enormous amounts of sound energy, sounding similar to an explosion or a thunderclap to t ...
s.
The book reached number one on
''The New York Times'' Non-Fiction Best Sellers list and got the
Anisfield-Wolf Book Award The Anisfield-Wolf Book Award is an American literary award dedicated to honoring written works that make important contributions to the understanding of racism and the appreciation of the rich diversity of human culture. Established in 1935 by Clev ...
for Nonfiction in 2017. The book was adapted as a
film by the same name, released in 2016, that was nominated for three Oscars.
It received numerous other awards.
Topic
''Hidden Figures'' explores the biographies of three
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
women
A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or Adolescence, adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female hum ...
who worked as
computers
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These programs ...
to solve problems for
engineers
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the ...
and others at
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
. For the first years of their careers, the workplace
was segregated and women were kept in the background as
human computer
The term "computer", in use from the early 17th century (the first known written reference dates from 1613), meant "one who computes": a person performing mathematical calculations, before electronic computers became commercially available. Ala ...
s.
Author Margot Lee Shetterly's father was a research scientist at NASA who worked with many of the book's main characters.
Shetterly explains how these women overcame discrimination and racial segregation to become vital parts of mathematics, scientific, and engineering history. One of them, Katherine Johnson, calculated rocket trajectories for the Mercury and Apollo missions.
Johnson successfully "took matters into her own hands"
by being assertive with her supervisor. When her mathematical abilities were recognized, Johnson was allowed into what had previously been all-male meetings at
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
.
Film
The book was adapted as a
film of the same name, written by
Theodore Melfi
Theodore Melfi is an American filmmaker. His second film, ''St. Vincent'' starring Bill Murray, was released in 2014. In 2016, Melfi co-wrote, directed, and produced ''Hidden Figures'' with Allison Schroeder, for which he received Oscar nominati ...
and
Allison Schroeder
Allison Schroeder is an American screenwriter. She co-wrote the film ''Hidden Figures'' with Theodore Melfi, earning a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Early and personal life
Schroeder graduated from Melbourne High ...
, and directed by Melfi.
It was released on December 25, 2016 to positive reviews from critics,
and received a nomination for
Best Picture
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
at the
89th Academy Awards.
It received numerous other nominations and awards.
Taraji P. Henson starred as mathematician
Katherine Johnson
Katherine Johnson (née Coleman; August 26, 1918 – February 24, 2020) was an American mathematician whose calculations of orbital mechanics as a NASA employee were critical to the success of the first and subsequent U.S. crewed spaceflights. ...
,
Octavia Spencer
Octavia Lenora Spencer (born May 25, 1970) is an American actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, two Critics' Choice Awards and three Screen Actors ...
played
Dorothy Vaughan
Dorothy Jean Johnson Vaughan (September 20, 1910 – November 10, 2008) was an American mathematician and human computer who worked for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), and NASA, at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Vir ...
, an African-American mathematician who worked for NASA in 1949, and
Janelle Monáe
Janelle Monáe Robinson (; born December 1, 1985) is an American singer, rapper and actress. She is signed to Atlantic Records, as well as to her own imprint, the Wondaland Arts Society. Monáe has received eight Grammy Award nominations. Monà ...
played
Mary Jackson, the first female African-American engineer to work for NASA. The movie made $231.3 million USD. The budget of the film was $25 million USD.
While the film is based on the book, author Margot Lee Shetterly agrees that there are differences between the two, and she finds that to be understandable.
For better or for worse, there is history, there is the book and then there's the movie. Timelines had to be conflated and here were
Here is an adverb that means "in, on, or at this place". It may also refer to:
Software
* Here Technologies, a mapping company
* Here WeGo (formerly Here Maps), a mobile app and map website by Here
Television
* Here TV (formerly "here!"), a TV ...
composite characters, and for most people ho have seen the moviehave already taken that as the literal fact. You might get the indication in the movie that these were the only people doing those jobs, when in reality we know they worked in teams, and those teams had other teams. There were sections, branches, divisions, and they all went up to a director. There were so many people required to make this happen. It would be great for people to understand that there were so many more people. Even though Katherine Johnson, in this role, was a hero, there were so many others that were required to do other kinds of tests and checks to make lenn'smission come to fruition. But I understand you can't make a movie with 300 characters. It is simply not possible.
Other adaptations
In 2016 a Young Reader's Edition was released for readers ages 8–12.
A ''
Hidden Figures
''Hidden Figures'' is a 2016 American biographical drama film directed by Theodore Melfi and written by Melfi and Allison Schroeder. It is loosely based on the 2016 non-fiction Hidden Figures (book), book of the same name by Margot Lee Shetterl ...
'' picture book was released in January 2018. The book was co-written by
Margot Lee Shetterly
Margot Lee Shetterly (born June 30, 1969) is an American nonfiction writer who has also worked in investment banking and media startups. Her first book, '' Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Who Helped Win ...
for children from four to eight years of age.
See also
*
West Area Computers
The West Computers (West Area Computing Unit, West Area Computers) were the African American, female mathematicians who worked as human computers at the Langley Research Center of NACA (predecessor of NASA) from 1943 through 1958. These women wer ...
*
Kathaleen Land
References
External links
Presentation by Shetterly on ''Hidden Figures'' at the Hampton History Museum, September 8, 2016 C-SPAN
Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...
Discussion with Shetterly on ''Hidden Figures'' at the National Book Festival, September 2, 2017 C-SPAN
Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...
{{Authority control
2016 non-fiction books
American non-fiction books
Books about African-American history
Books about the Cold War
Books about women
Non-fiction books adapted into films
NASA mass media
Women in mathematics
Biographies and autobiographies of mathematicians
Literature by African-American women
William Morrow and Company books