Another true, and mostly unknown story (hence the title) – did I mention I like true stories? It’s one that “matters” right now. “Hidden Figures” (Oscar nominated for Best Picture and an A+ on CinemaScore) is a great companion piece to “The Right Stuff” – the very first film I posted.
Based on the book by Margot Lee Shetterly, it’s the story of three absolutely amazing black women who worked for NASA when segregation still existed. They were integral in putting the first American astronauts into space. They were “computers” before there were computers – mathematical and engineering geniuses.
It follows the struggles that Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson had in what was a mostly male and mostly white environment. It’s a beautiful film and Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae are just wonderful as the leads.
The women are now finally getting the recognition they deserve. In 2015 Katherine was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2016 NASA dedicated the Langley Research Centre’s Katherine G. Johnson Computational Building in her honour. Last year Dorothy Vaughan was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal posthumously. A portion of street in front of NASA Headquarters was recently renamed Hidden Figures Way. And just this week NASA announced that their headquarters in Washington will be named after Mary Jackson.
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