Henson dorothy vaughan octavia spencer and mary jackson janelle monáe who worked as human computers in the all black west computing group of nasa s langley research lab in. Hidden figures based on the book by margot lee shetterly tells the story of three brilliant mathematicians katherine johnson taraji p. Nasa administrator charles bolden right poses for a photo with awardees of the langley west computing unit group achievement award at a reception to honor nasa s human computers on dec.
Don t read any more if you don t want any spoilers. What is amazing about hidden figures is it is only now some fifty years later we are hearing how america wouldn t have achieved the impossible if it wasn t for a defining group of wonderful women who began working in naca s segregated west area computing section 1949 1953. Some conservatives see the race mixing as a terrible thing.
When three black women manage to join cascade aerodynamics a group that studies rotating bodies it causes a scandal. Meanwhile it becomes harder for west area computers to migrate out of their computing pool. This happens literally in the film when the head of the space task group.
But hidden figures highlights nasa s relatively progressive attitude for the time driven in large part by necessity. Johnson 101 is the only woman still alive from the group depicted in hidden figures the movie shared the stories of how johnson vaughan and jackson made history as mathematicians at nasa. Henson as katherine.
Hidden figures is a 2016 american biographical drama film directed by theodore melfi and written by melfi and allison schroeder it is loosely based on the 2016 non fiction book of the same name by margot lee shetterly about black female mathematicians who worked at the national aeronautics and space administration nasa during the space race the film stars taraji p. The book and movie hidden figures celebrate the contributions of african american human computers who performed mathematical equations and calculations in the early days of the u s. Johnson vaughan and jackson all began their careers at the.
The story sheds light on the significant contributions of the three women katherine johnson dorothy vaughan and mary jackson but also the broader impact that women had behind the scenes at nasa. The breakout movie hidden figures tells the story of three african american women who worked as mathematicians at nasa. Some of the west computers engaged in small acts of protest against segregation at langley.
Mary jackson also worked in the west area computing unit and the work of all three women vaughan johnson and jackson is featured in the 2016 film hidden figures.
