Katherine Johnson - the Most famous African American Mathematician

Katherine Johnson was a famous mathematician. Her work was critical to the success of many space operations. She even achieved many awards because of her amazing work. But what did she do to achieve these awards? Why was her work so important?

Katherine Johnson was born on August 26, 1918, in White Sulphur Springs West Virginia. Her father's name was Joshua Coleman, and her mothers was Joylette Coleman. Her father worked as a handyman at the Greenbrier Hotel, while her mother was a teacher. She grew up with two older brothers, Horace and Charles, and an elder sister, Margaret. As Katherine began to get older, her family began to tell that she was ahead of her age. She had an intense curiosity, and a brilliance with numbers. One of Katherines quotes is, “ I counted everything. I counted the steps to the road, the steps up to church, the number of dishes and silverware I washed……… anything that could be counted, I did.” Katherine wasn’t just good with numbers, but she was fascinated by them. 

By the age of ten, she had already skipped several grades, and was attending a high school on the campus of West Virginia State College. Her father drove her to Institute West Virginia so she could continue her education. Back then, all black schools stopped teaching after grade eight, but Katherine kept going. She graduated high school by the age of fourteen. Then she enrolled into West Virginia State University, and graduated with the highest honors at age eighteen. She earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics and French. When West Virginia began to quietly integrate its graduate schools, Katherine and two other African American men were selected to enroll in a graduate program at West Virginia University, where she chose to study math. Katherine found a mentor there named W.W. Schieffelin Claytor. He was the third African AMerican to earn a PhD in mathematics.

After Katherine Johnson completed the graduate program, she went on to teach at a black public school in Virginia. She then married James Gobble, and decided to start a family. She had three daughters named Constance, Katherine, and Joylette Goble. After teaching a being a stay at home mom, she began working for NASA’s predecessor, the NACA. Katherine and her family decided to move to Newport News, so she could continue working there. She then began working at Langley Research Center’s Guidance and Navigation Department by 1953. The NACA began hiring some women for precise measurements as well as calculations on wind tunnels in 1935. There, women had the job title as, “computer”. They began hiring African American women during World War 2. They were very impressed with their work, so they let them keep working after the war ended. After her first few weeks there, her temporary position became permanent. For the next four years she analyzed data for flight tests, and investigate a plane crash caused by wind turbulence. Sadly, as she was finishing up that work, her husband passed away due to a brain tumor in 1956. Even though it was very hard for Katherine and her three girls, Katherine continued working.

At NASA, there was a segregated system. When Katherine was promoted because of her outstanding math skills, she soon found that even at there, they segregated bathrooms and dining halls. Because of this, Katherine had to walk a quarter mile a few times a day just to go to the bathroom. She got promoted to the NASA’s Spacecraft Group on the east campus. She then started calculating the trajectory for Alan Shepard, the first American man in space. After this, she began calculating trajectories for John Glenn. John Glenn requested for Katherine specifically to double check the calculations made by a new electronic computers before his flight.. Friendship 7 is the mission where John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth. Because of segregation, many times she didn’t receive credit for her work. But finally, she became the first woman in her division, the Space Task Group, to have received credit as an author of a research project. During her career, she authored and co authored 26 different reports. Katherine Johnson played an important role in many programs, including the Mercury Program, Freedom 7, Friendship 7, Apollo 11, and the Space Shuttle Program. Her calculations were critical to the success of the Apollo Moon Landing Program, and the start of the Space Shuttle Program, as well as the country's first steps into space. She retired from NASA in 1986. She achieved many awards, including NASA Lunar Orbiter SPacecraft and Operations Team award in 1967, honorary doctaries, and the nations highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, given to her by President Barack Obama on Tuesday, November 24, 2015. NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia named their newest building after her. It was named The Katherine G. Johnson Computational Research Facility. It was dedicated September 22, 2015.

Katherine Johnson will go down in history. Because of her amazing mind and determination, she achieved many things that not many in our world today have ever done. She not only achieved the Presidential Award of Freedom, but she put NASA ahead of its time. She helped change women’s rights, and helped them to find a voice. Katherine Johnson will go down in history, because of the amazing things she did for women, and for our country.