Katherine Johnson, born in White Sulphur Springs in 1918, became one of NASA’s Hidden Figures – the Black women who performed the mathematical calculations that launched America into space.
Johnson and her NASA colleagues were the subject of a book and a film. President Barack Obama awarded her a Medal of Freedom in 2015.
Johnson died in 2020 at age 101. Now Congress has honored the space pioneers by awarding them its Gold Medal. Johnson’s daughters, Joylette Hylick and Katherine Moore accepted on her behalf.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said the Hidden Figures made the Gemini and Apollo missions successful, including the moon landing in 1969.
“The women we honor today made it possible for earthlings to lift beyond the bounds of Earth. And for generations of trailblazers to follow.”
U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, who helped get the legislation honoring Johnson through Congress, noted the difficulties Johnson faced as a Black woman at a time when few jobs in the space program went to either.
“And as a West Virginian, Katherine used her toughness and grit to surpass societal barriers and turn her dreams into a reality. Her legacy will be remembered every time we look at the moon and remember how her work and their work took us there for the first time.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York reminded the audience that the Hidden Figures attended HBCUs – historically black colleges and universities. In Johnson’s case, that was West Virginia State College, now West Virginia State University.
“They went on to build legendary careers. And helped to shape the exceptionalism of American aeronautics.”
A professor Johnson had at WVSU encouraged her to pursue a career in research mathematics. And with his help, she eventually landed at a predecessor to NASA.
Johnson worked at NASA for 33 years, retiring in 1986, during the height of the shuttle program.