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Khaki McCool

Dr. Clark

ENGW 1111

October 30, 2022

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In 1953 Katherine Johnson had just started working in the all-black computing wing at

NACA’s Langley laboratory in Virginia not knowing her world was about to turn upside down

(Shetterly). When an engineer came to the computers’ office in need of help, Johnson was the

first person her boss could think to offer up. At the request of the engineers, Katherine left her

group of computers in their office and headed for the Maneuver Loads Branch of the flight

research division. She immediately saw the contrast between the world she had known and the

one she was being thrown into. She went from a bleak segregated sector full of familiar faces to

an intimidating, all be it nicer, branch where she undoubtedly stuck out like a sore thumb (Wild).

This was the scene Katherine Johnson was met with when the engineer swung open the double

doors of the flight research center. Thankfully, Katherine had a knack for not letting fear or

intimidation faze her, giving her the ability to walk in and go right to work with the calculations

that needed reviewing. To everyone in the department’s surprise, it was not long until she had

found an error and was presenting it to the engineers. Her keen eye and incomparable analytical

skills made her valuable to this team, which is what led to the decision that she would remain a

permanent member of the team of engineers outside of the colored office (Fox). She would be

the only black woman in an office of white men, incentivizing her to focus on the only thing that

mattered, her work. Little did she know, it was not going to be that easy. She would be pushed to
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her limits and forced to question whether her love for her job was enough, or if the criticism

would force her to give up.

Katherine Johnson works on projection calculations at her desk in the Langley Research Facility.
Photo: Donaldson Collection/Getty Images

Life in America following the second world war was marked by confrontation and civil

unrest both at home and overseas. On the home front there was an economic boom and

prosperity was present across the nation. Despite the economic improvements tensions at home

continued to rise as the Civil Rights Movement continued confronting segregation. At this time

steps were being taken to improve the quality of life of African Americans nationwide by

combating segregation. While tensions at home continued to brew, overseas communism was on

the rise and the US began taking steps to halt the expansion of these ideals. In doing so this led to

both the nuclear arms race as well as the space race between the United States and the

communist Soviet Union. The space race was just another playing field for the United States and

Soviet Union to try and prove their superiority. While the space race may have started out as just
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a classic power struggle between two superpowers it led to some of the greatest scientific

achievements in history.

During this time, it was customary for women to tend to the home and fill the role of a

stereotypical housewife (Gilder Lehrman). Conformity to ridged gender roles as well as societal

expectations was very common at this time, but not for all women. African American women

were not expected and, in most cases, not able to take on the role that had become so normalized

for women at the time. The successes of the civil rights movement were the first steps towards a

better quality of life for African Americans, but equality was still a distant dream (Onion).

African Americans at this time were for the most part not financially stable enough to only have

one source of income therefore rather than playing into the ideal of post war domesticity black

women were expected to work. Working was easier said than done, black women were expected

to work futile jobs with very little pay, and they were subjected to some of the harshest cases of

workplace harassment (Onion).

Unlike majority of social activists at the time Katherine did not set out with the intention

of being the person to desegregate this institution all she wanted to do was her job. Ever since

her college professor Dr. William W. Schiefflin Claytor told her that she would “make a great

research mathematician,” there were no other career paths for Katherine (Hodges). Knowing that

being a research mathematician was all that she ever wanted to do she took every opportunity she

was given to the next level no matter what stage of her career she was in. When Katherine first

applied for a computer position at NACA she was told that their yearly quota had been met

obviously she did not give up as she reapplied the following year and landed the position (Deiss).

Katherines’ goals however “were not to just do the work” so she did what no woman had done
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before rather than just keeping her head down and crunching the numbers like everyone else she

asked “why” and more importantly “why not” (Deiss).

By asking the questions that everyone else was too afraid to ask Katherine Johnson

undoubtedly to set herself apart from the rest (Deiss). When Katherine inquired if women

attended the briefings and meetings that the engineers frequented, she given an answer along the

lines of obviously not. Beyond unsatisfied with this answer Katherine pressed on asking if there

were any laws against women attending these important gatherings and being that laws against

women attending did not exist, she took it upon herself to just start showing up (Deiss).

Katherine knew very well that no white man was going to walk up to her and present her with all

the opportunities she ever wanted on a shiny silver platter. Katherine Johnson was a realist she

knew that if she wanted to do something she had to make herself heard and make her own

opportunities. After getting pulled up to work with flight research division she saw her

opportunity she was given an inch and she took a mile. Katherine turned herself into an

invaluable member of the team not only because of her calculating abilities but more so because

she was constantly asking more questions (Deiss). Katherine said that the men on her team “got

used to [her] asking questions and being the only woman there” because by turning herself into

such an asset her colleagues cared less about what made her different and more about what made

her a valuable tool (Deiss).

Now that Katherine had done and had finally become a real member of the team, she

could start making real changes and doing what she loved most. Math was undoubtedly

Katherines true love, and it was what ultimately sustained her through everything she was put

through. Katherine said that she loved every day she spent at Langley and “never did [she] get up

and say [she didn’t] want to go to work" she took advantage of every single opportunity she
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could at Langley (Hodges). Her undying love for math and her inquisitive nature allowed her to

continue breaking down barriers. Following the 1957 launch of Sputnik by the Soviet Union,

Katherines real achievements kicked off both as a mathematician and as a social activist

(Shetterly). Katherine became a part of the team responsible for the calculations for Alan

Shepard’s trip to outer space, and this was just the beginning. When it came time for John

Glenn’s orbital mission Katherine Johnson a black woman who just a few years prior would not

even be allowed in the room was called up to check the calculations that the electronic computers

had produced (Hodges) . John Glenn even said, “If she says they’re good, then I’m ready to go”

(Shetterly). Katherine Johnson against all odds had managed to secure her position at the

forefront of space exploration. In doing this Katherine effectively paved the way for future

women who dreamt of pursuing careers in STEM.

Katherine Johnson said that she “was never aggressive” she was not a whirlwind on a

mission to combat segregation within NASA because that was never her goal (Deiss). Albeit that

she did not set out with the intention of paving the way for women in STEM she could make

numerous advancements for women just by pursuing what she was passionate about, and not

letting others get in the way. The example set by Katherine Johnson has inspired women

worldwide to follow their dreams and not be intimidated by the field of science and mathematics.

Now there exist organizations who set out to encourage women of color to pursue STEM

(Witter). It is no longer shocking for women to be present in the sciences and more women are

recognized for their achievements in STEM every day. Figures like Katherine Johnson were

pivotal in pushing the boundaries of who is included in the history of stem and the results of her

perseverance are still felt in the field to this day.

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Bibliography

“The 1950s.” Edited by Amanda Onion et al., History.com, A&E Television Networks, 17 June
2010, https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/1950s. 

Deiss, Heather S. “Katherine Johnson: A Lifetime of Stem.” Edited by Flint Wild, NASA, NASA,
16 Nov. 2015, https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/a-lifetime-of-stem.html. 

Dunbar, Brian. “She Was a Computer When Computers Wore Skirts.” NASA, NASA, 2 May
2016, https://www.nasa.gov/centers/langley/news/researchernews/rn_kjohnson.html. 

Fox, Margalit. “Katherine Johnson Dies at 101; Mathematician Broke Barriers at NASA.” The
New York Times, The New York Times, 24 Feb. 2020,
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/24/science/katherine-johnson-dead.html. 

“The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History Advanced Placement United States History
Study Guide.” The Fifties | AP US History Study Guide from The Gilder Lehrman Institute
of American History, 10 Apr. 2012,
https://ap.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/fifties/essays/fifties. 

Shetterly, Margot L. “Katherine Johnson Biography.” Edited by Sarah Loff, NASA, NASA, 22

Nov. 2016, https://www.nasa.gov/content/katherine-johnson-biography. 

Smith, Yvette. “Katherine Johnson: The Girl Who Loved to Count.” NASA, NASA, 20 Nov.
2015, https://www.nasa.gov/feature/katherine-johnson-the-girl-who-loved-to-count. 

Witter, Brad. “Katherine Johnson and 9 Other Black Female Pioneers in

Science.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 19 Jan. 2021,
https://www.biography.com/news/katherine-johnson-black-female-science-technology-
engineering-mathematics.