![]() ![]() 'As we went through math, it was just another subject that they expected us to do well because she said, 'If you expect nothing, you get nothing.' ![]() Recognition: Johnson had been a relatively unsung hero of America's Space Race until 2015, when President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom Hyklick told the Today show that it could be 'challenging' having a mathematician mother and a father who was a science major, saying they never heard 'math is hard.' After Goble died in 1956, she married James A. She returned to teaching when her three daughters grew older. Johnson became one of three black students picked to integrate West Virginia's graduate schools in 1939. However, she left after the first session to start a family with her first husband, James Goble. 'I was not going to allow his pastor’s backward views to change my opinion of the lovely couple.' In another instance, she recalled how a white friend told her his pastor wouldn't allow black guests at his wedding. 'Well, tell them I'm coming!' she replied, according to ScienceNews. Her mother warned her about the racism she would face in the state, saying: 'Remember you're going to Virginia.' But she wasn't deterred. She took a teaching position at an all-black elementary school in Virginia after graduation. While she was one of the school's top students, there were few job opportunities for her. Schieffelin Claytor - who both encouraged her and prepared her to become a research mathematician.Ĭlaytor, the third black person in the country to receive a doctorate in math, created the course 'Analytic Geometry of Space' to help enrich Johnson's studies.Ĭontributions: In 1969, she calculated the precise trajectories that allowed the Apollo 11 mission to land on the moon before Neil Armstrong's historic moonwalk In her memoir, Johnson paid homage to her mentor - African American math professor W. She studied math at West Virginia State College and graduated with highest honors in 1937, according to NASA. He also could look at a tree and instinctively know how many logs he could get from it.' 'He could add, subtract, and do complicated math problems in his head. 'Daddy’s mind was quick with numbers,' she explained. While he only had a 6th-grade education, she recalled his talent for numbers and calculations. Johnson said she inherited her math skills from her father, Josh Coleman, who was a generation removed from slavery. 'I loved counting everything I saw, and I always pushed myself to go higher and higher.' 'The thing I loved about math, more than any other subject, was that there was a definite right or wrong answer,' she wrote, according to the Washington Post. She excelled in her studies, including math. Published: 15:03 BST, 3 June 2021 | Updated: 15:56 BST, 3 June 2021įamily affair: Johnson's memoir was co-written by Joylette Hylick and Katherine Moore, two of her three daughtersĮach September, her father drove Johnson and her siblings to Institute, West Virginia, so they could attend high school on the campus of the historically black West Virginia State College. Johnson died in February 2020 at age 101.President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015, and her story inspired the 2016 Oscar-nominated film Hidden Figures.Johnson was one of the unsung heroes of the Space Race as her contributions came at a time when NASA was fraught with sexism and racism.In 1969, she calculated the precise trajectories that allowed the Apollo 11 mission to land on the moon before Neil Armstrong's historic moonwalk.Her trajectory analysis was used to carry the first American into space in 1961.Johnson is remembered as a trailblazer who helped America dominate aeronautics, space research, and computer technology in NASA's early years.In the book, she recounted how she went from a child prodigy in West Virginia to a NASA employee, detailing the struggles and fears she faced as a black woman.Johnson's posthumous memoir, 'My Remarkable Journey,' was co-written by Joylette Hylick and Katherine Moore, two of her three daughters.The real story behind Hidden Figures: NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson - whose career inspired the award-winning movie - lays bare her struggles with racism and sexism in eye-opening posthumous memoir
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