Katherine Johnson – trailblazing mathematician and Advocate against Discrimination at NASA

“I loved going to work every day.” And she did—for 33 years. As the first African-American woman at NASA, Katherine Johnson broke down racial and gender barriers in her era, constantly battling discrimination throughout her life. As a “human computer,” she played a crucial role in enabling the United States to successfully send the Apollo mission to the Moon. Despite her dedicated service to science, this humble yet brilliant woman was long overlooked. In 2015, President Barack Obama honored her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The Promised Land – not for everyone

The United States in the 1950s and 1960s was far from a promised land for everyone, especially for African Americans. They suffered widespread discrimination and exclusion in public places and services, such as trains and buses, due to segregationist laws—commonly known as Jim Crow laws, which had been introduced in 1876. Segregation between white and Black Americans was also enforced in some theaters and restaurants.

In 1960, Black students in Greensboro, North Carolina, staged a six-month sit-in protest at a segregated lunch counter, demanding to be served. The inequalities between white and Black Americans fueled the struggle to abolish racial discrimination in many aspects of life. Desegregation became one of President John F. Kennedy’s key concerns.

The civil rights movement’s persistent activism eventually led to legislative change. On July 2, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, which banned all forms of segregation in public places. However, while laws changed, societal attitudes were slower to follow. For a long time—and even today—racial inequality has remained a source of deep social conflict in America.

Jobs for blacks

Discrimination affected the most fundamental aspect of people’s lives—the ability to work and provide for themselves and their families. Some jobs were reserved exclusively for white workers and remained inaccessible to Black Americans. It was only with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that this practice was officially banned. The law prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, or gender. It also introduced affirmative action, requiring employers to implement policies that promoted fairer employment opportunities for African Americans.

Closely tied to access to jobs—particularly so-called “good” jobs—was the issue of education. Although the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education ruling in 1954 declared school segregation unconstitutional, access to higher education remained heavily restricted in segregationist states. Federal intervention was necessary to enforce desegregation. In September 1962, James Meredith became the first Black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), entering the campus under federal protection. Throughout his time at Ole Miss, he was constantly guarded by federal agents to ensure his safety.

Racism - what did it look like? — Racism

Prominent mathematician Katherine Johnson

This brief and necessarily selective overview of the socio-political system in the United States during the 1950s and 1960s is essential to fully appreciate Katherine Johnson’s remarkable achievements. In addition to being a brilliant mathematician and aerospace engineer, she also fought against racial and gender discrimination in segregationist America.

Katherine Johnson was born in 1918 in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. She was the youngest of four children born to Joylette and Joshua Coleman—her mother was a teacher, and her father was a farmer. From an early age, Katherine displayed exceptional mathematical abilities. Unfortunately, she grew up during a time of widespread racial segregation.

The only local school available to Black children ended at the sixth grade, making further education impossible in her hometown. Determined to ensure their children’s academic future, her parents moved 200 km to the Charleston area, where Katherine and her siblings could continue their education.

The dream of teaching

Katherine Johnson graduated from high school at the age of 14. In 1933, thanks to a scholarship awarded for her academic excellence, she enrolled at West Virginia State College. She graduated in 1937 and began working as a math and French teacher at an elementary school in Marion, West Virginia.

However, her teaching career did not unfold as she had imagined. At the time, most of West Virginia’s population was white, and as an African American, Katherine faced frequent harassment and racial slurs during her daily commute to work. Despite these challenges, her passion for teaching remained strong. It was in Marion that she met her first husband, Jimmy Goble. After becoming pregnant, she left her job to focus on raising her family.

In 1952, during a family gathering, her brother-in-law mentioned a government institution in Hampton, Virginia, that hired Black women as mathematicians. At the time, Katherine and Jimmy had modest incomes, and with their daughters growing up, they knew their earnings would not be enough to support their future needs. Encouraged by this opportunity, Katherine applied for the job—and was accepted.

Tragically, in 1956, her husband Jimmy passed away from a brain tumor. Four years later, she married James A. Johnson, with whom she shared a long life, eventually becoming a grandmother to six grandchildren and a great-grandmother to eleven great-grandchildren.

In 1953, Katherine Johnson began working at the Aeronautics Research Center of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). She jokingly referred to herself as a “skirt computer”—a reference to the women who performed complex mathematical calculations by hand. Her salary was three times higher than what she had earned as a teacher. Just six months after joining NACA, she was promoted and assigned to an engineering team.

During her first four years at NACA, she worked mainly on calculations related to aircraft black boxes. However, because of racial segregation laws, she and dozens of other Black mathematicians were isolated from their white colleagues. Black employees at NASA (previously NACA) faced systemic discrimination: they had separate restroomsand were excluded from informational meetings. Moreover, their contributions were deliberately erased—they were not even allowed to have their names listed on research reports.

Fight against discrimination

Katherine Johnson calculated spaceflight trajectories, a job that would gradually become obsolete with the arrival of electronic computers at NASA. It was not until 1958 that she joined the previously all-white NASA teams working on the first American spaceflight program. Throughout her life, this brilliant mathematician fought against discrimination—an effort recognized by the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), which honored her for helping to “eliminate racial and gender barriers.”

Ironically, her career was shaped not just by domestic politics, but by global events. In the late 1950s, during the Cold War, the Soviet Union had taken the lead in the space race. In 1957, they launched Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to orbit Earth. This was a major shock to the United States, which had aspired to be the undisputed leader in space exploration. In response, in 1958, the U.S. government merged several research organizations, including NACA, to create the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Katherine Johnson - NASA woman — Katherine Johnson

“I just did my job.”

Katherine Johnson’s mathematical brilliance and exceptional mastery of analytical geometry earned her a key role in the Mercury program. She co-authored a critical report on the program with engineer Ted Skopinski, marking the first time a woman had been credited as an author on an advanced research report at NASA.

At the time, she was still known as Katherine Goble, despite having already married James Johnson. Under the name Katherine G. Johnson, she signed the report that contributed to NASA’s growing dominance in the space race. She later played a crucial role in calculating the flight trajectory of Alan Shepard, the first American in space.

By 1962, NASA was preparing for astronaut John Glenn’s orbital mission. By then, electronic computers had taken over trajectory calculations, but Glenn was reluctant to entrust his life to machines. He specifically requested that Katherine Johnson personally verify the numbers.

“If she says they’re correct,” Glenn insisted, “then I’m ready for the mission.”

Despite her groundbreaking contributions, Katherine Johnson remained humble. “I just did my job. NASA had a problem, and I had a solution,” she told The Washington Post in an interview.

Hidden Figures

Katherine Johnson’s greatest contribution to space exploration was her trajectory calculations, which played a crucial role in the success of the Apollo 11 mission in 1969—the mission that allowed humans to land and walk on the Moon for the first time.

She dedicated thirty years of her life to NASA. She passed away at the age of 101. “She was an American heroine, a pioneer whose legacy will never be forgotten,” NASA Administrator James Bridenstine wrote on Twitter.

Ironically, for many years, few people knew of her achievements. She never sought the recognition she deserved. As an inspiring African-American woman, she built a remarkable career despite the historical context of segregation. She managed to break down racial and gender barriers—with her knowledge and talent. As many have pointed out, her brilliance had nothing to do with the color of her skin.

Katherine Johnson’s extraordinary story inspired the screenplay for the film “Hidden Figures”, an adaptation of Margot Lee Shetterly’s 2016 book of the same name. Director Theodore Melfi sought to bring Katherine Johnson’s legacy out of the shadows and into public consciousness. The film highlights the often-overlooked contributions of Black womento America’s space program.

Pharrell Williams, the musician who co-produced the film and composed its soundtrack, reflected on the historical injustice: “This was our reality—the sky remained the limit for the Black man.” Williams used music to illustrate the daily struggles Katherine faced: “She had to walk twenty-five minutes each day to leave the NASA building and reach the restrooms designated for Black employees. I mentally visualized that journey. I didn’t have any images,” he said.

Author Margot Lee Shetterly emphasized the broader issue of gender and racial discrimination: “They weren’t machines; they were visionaries, pioneers. But because they were women, their contributions were never recognized. The work of women—whether Black or white—has always been undervalued.”

“I loved going to work every day.”

Despite her undeniable contributions to the success of U.S. space missions, Katherine Johnson remained relatively unknown to the public until 2015, when President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom—one of the highest civilian honors in the United States.

History came full circle. An African-American president presented the nation’s highest honor to an African-American woman who had spent much of her life facing discrimination because of the color of her skin.

In 2019, the U.S. Congress further recognized her legacy by awarding her the Congressional Gold Medal.

Katherine Johnson - a woman at NASA — Katherine Johnson and Barack Obama

In 2017, NASA inaugurated a new computing center, the Katherine G. Johnson Computational Research Facility, in her honor.

A member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, a sorority that supported African-American women’s initiatives, Katherine Johnson was an activist for racial equality from an early age. She was one of those inspiring women who worked to change the world. As a trailblazing NASA mathematician, she also paved the way for young girls to pursue careers in science.

Katherine Johnson passed away at the age of 101 on February 24, 2020. Throughout her life, she broke down racial and gender barriers. Without her contributions, Americans might never have walked on the Moon in 1969.

After 33 years of service, Katherine Johnson retired in 1986. Reflecting on her career, she once said:

“I loved going to work every day.”

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