February 24, 2020 | strande
Katherine Johnson was a talented mathematician in a field dominated by white men.
After graduating high school at the age of 15 in the midst of the Great Depression, she earned a full scholarship to West Virginia State Institute's math department. Johnson briefly taught high school and then in 1940 was one of the first Black graduate students chosen to integrate West Virginia University.
In 1953 she began work as a research mathematician for what would become NASA. Katherine Johnson shattered barriers for all women, but particularly for Black women, earning the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015.
To celebrate the inspirational life of Katherine Johnson, check out the resources below or explore NASA's website. Learn about her and other amazing barrier-breaking mathematicians and scientists.
This is Johnson's autobiography, but there are many books to introduce readers to her life in the Children's Biography collection.
A groundbreaking compendium honoring the amazing true stories of fifty inspirational women who helped fuel some of the greatest achievements in space exploration from the nineteenth century to today.
Tells the story of the African American women who worked as mathematicians at NASA and proved invaluable to the American effort during the space race.
The phenomenal true story of the black female mathematicians at NASA at the leading edge of the feminist and civil rights movement.
Also available in a Young Readers format and Picture Book.
Letting 18 prominent black women scientists talk for themselves, Sisters in Science becomes an oral history stretching across decades and disciplines and desires.
A look at Black History framed by those who made it. BLACK HISTORY MONTH IN ITS OWN WORDS presents quotes of dozens of black luminaries with portraits & illustrations by Ronald Wimberly. Featuring the memorable words and depictions of Angela Davis,Jean-Michael Basquiat, Kanye West, Zadie Smith, Ice Cube, Dave Chappelle, JamesBaldwin, Spike Lee and more.
