Farewell to a great American and a person who was vital to our (as in the World, not just America) success at landing on the Moon. Without Katherine’s brilliance and mathematical skills, I have a feeling there could’ve been delays.
Like most ignorant (as in, nobody told me) people, I may have heard of Mrs. Johnson in passing but got a good dose about her until the film Hidden Figures. How much was accurate didn’t matter, the gist of the racism was true enough and heartbreaking for me. Here’s a person with incredible skills and wants to contribute to a super difficult goal…and all these assholes dismiss her because she’s a woman and black, double whammy. You’d think fear of the Soviets would trump our stupid, petty bigotry. I actually cried at the end of the movie. Mrs. Johnson and her fellow mathematicians and scientists endured too much. I know I would’ve quit given such treatment, probably go teach.
Thank you for everything Katherine! Being a big geek for the space program, you’ve given me a lot I can never repay you for. May you gain your proper place in History too.