They were little known to the public for decades but gained overdue recognition when the book “Hidden Figures” was published and the 2016 Oscar-nominated movie hit the screens. “He knew I had done (the calculations) before for him and they trusted my work,” Johnson told the Washington Post in 2017. She grew up in West Virginia at a time when educational opportunities for blacks were limited because of segregation. Johnson’s math skills got her into West Virginia State College at age 15. Johnson went to work for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, a forerunner of NASA, in Hampton in 1953 with dozens of other black women.

Source: Taipei Times February 29, 2020 16:07 UTC