Blog #155 – Hidden Figures
This film is a stirring film about the intersection of math and history and how math conquers all (rejoice, my math teacher friends!). The story portrays the struggles of Dorothy Vaughn, NASA’s first African American supervisor; Katherine Johnson, the math expert on the John Glenn flight
and also instrumental in the moon landing; and Mary Jackson, NASA’s first female African American engineer. It is startling to see how Jim Crow racism was shoved in the face of these strong women, typified in Katherine’s struggle to maintain her dignity while sprinting across NASA’s campus to visit the only “colored” bathroom nearby. Furthermore, the women of the West Computing Room have to deal with the intersectionality of both racism and sexism since they are women of color. With Dorothy’s leadership, they are able to carve out a niche in the very male-dominated computing field.
In some ways, this is a film about progress: Civil Rights progress, gender progress, and also technology’s relentless march forward. This is shown by the real film clips of Civil Rights protests occurring in 1961 and 1962. We also see progress as women make strides into the male-dominated fields of computers and engineering. Almost all of the white male characters at NASA are figurative clones, wearing white shirts, dark pants, and thin dark ties. Occasionally, we might see a flash of color on Paul Stafford’s tie (Jim Parsons from The Big Bang Theory), but for the most part, all of the white men have the same uniform and haircuts. That’s why the women of color stand out, not just in their attire but because of their skin color. We see technology’s progress, however much it is double-sided, when Katherine temporarily loses her job as a “computer” in the Space Task Group when Dorothy finally gets the IBM Main frame computers online, a machine that can do 24,000 calculations a second. This machine makes the women of both the East (white) and West (Black) Computing Rooms obsolete. Only when the computer spits out different landing coordinates for John Glenn’s return to Earth right before launch does Al Harrison (Kevin Costner), NASA’s head of the Space Task Group, bring Katherine back in to confirm the computer’s numbers.
There was an outstanding moment near the end of the film when news of John Glenn’s orbit is released, and all Americans, regardless of skin color or gender, are united in their worries over the fate of Glenn (and by extension, America’s space program and maybe even its prominence in the Cold War). Scenes show black and white Americans standing in front of a store front watching the TV reports about the peril Glenn faced as his capsule threatened to burn up on re-entry (an aside: imagine this dramatic scene of a nation gripped by a similar incident today – how would Americans be tuning into the progress of such an incident? Certainly not standing on a street watching a TV). Another scene showed Americans parking their cars and listening to their radios, staring up at the sky, looking for a fleeting glimpse of Glenn’s capsule, even though it was going to splash down in the Bahamas. These scenes showed a united America, hoping and praying for the successful return of one of our golden boys, the Mercury 7 astronauts. These scenes are also a way of showing how little militancy there is to this story of racial advancement and integration. The most powerful scenes in the film are ones in which characters stand up for themselves or right the wrongs of our sordid past. This is not a criticism of this film. It doesn’t need to be angry about the past. In fact, this film emphasizes the women of the film and to dwell on America’s sad racial history isn’t what this film is about. It’s about transcending that history.
I think that one of the larger question that everyone should be asking themselves is how did this story not make it into the history books? It has great human drama, excitement, daring, perseverance, and a thrilling conclusion. The other question is how many other hidden and forgotten stories are out there, waiting to be told? If these ladies, who were such an extraordinary part of this story to send Americans into space, can be forgotten and shunted to the side for over 60 years, where are the rest of these stories? One thing to keep in mind is that by telling these hidden stories of people / women of color, we as historians do not have to pick and choose to eliminate stories of white participants, but to include them all. History doesn’t have to be like a pie to be carved up into smaller and smaller sections but like a tapestry that continues to be weaved into a more complete picture.
CHOOSE 3 OF THE 5 QUESTIONS BELOW AND ANSWER THEM.
- Explain how the title “Hidden Figures” has different layers of meaning for this film and time period.
- Provide at least 2 specific examples of Jim Crow discrimination or racism perpetrated by the white characters and how they affected Katherine, Mary, and / or Dorothy.
- This is a story of overcoming challenges that white society put in the way of our main characters. How did all three women overcame these obstacles.
- How did sexism affect Dorothy’s, Mary’s, and Katherine’s careers? Provide specific examples.
- How does the Civil Rights Movement play as the backdrop for the advancing fight against the Cold War’s space race? Provide examples.
300 minimum words for your total answer for all three questions. Due Thursday night, June 1, by 11:59 p.m.
How did sexism affect Dorothy’s, Mary’s, and Katherine’s careers? Provide specific examples.
Sexism affected Katherine’s career by, indirectly, meeting the man at the after-church congregation. Katherine meets the man at the congregation and is immediately underestimated by him, saying that he “couldn’t believe they would hire women”. She rebutes his words by saying that she was incredibly smart, one of the first black women to study at her university, and that she was hired for her glasses and not her looks.
Provide at least 2 specific examples of Jim Crow discrimination or racism perpetrated by the white characters and how they affected Katherine, Mary, and / or Dorothy.
The white consultant lady in the new room that Katherine was in didn’t know where “her bathroom” was, since she was white and didn’t care enough to know where it was, or ask. Not only that, the way she delivered the question was also in a sarcastic and rude tone. Another instance was when Dorothy brought her and her kids to the public library to pick up books. While her children were reading, she took out a book she wanted to check out in the white section, and a white woman told them to go back to the colored section, and Dorothy refused. She and her kids were kicked out of the library, but Dororthy stole the book in the end, because she deemed it right. Dorothy wasn’t affected at all and stayed strong, and so did Katherine.
Explain how the title “Hidden Figures” has different layers of meaning for this film and time period.
Hidden figures could mean in this film that the fact of the women working behind the scenes as hidden figures, calculating the math to get the men to space. They’re hidden because they’re black, and in this time period black women are basically the lowest of the low in recognition. Another thing could be in the workplace– theyre treated almost as invisible objects by their coworkers, and they get no respect from others in the workplace.
1.) Explain how the title “Hidden Figures” has different layers of meaning for this film and time period.
Hidden Figures is about 3 African American women who worked at NASA. The story gives light to the many contributions that these women made during this time. The names of the three women are Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson. The story helps capture and give recognition of the hidden works that these women did. Overall this film tells an inspiring story of the contributions of these women who helped get NASA astronauts into space but who also unfortunately stayed hidden, this therefore helps portray the meaning of the film title.
2.) Provide at least 2 specific examples of Jim Crow discrimination or racism perpetrated by the white characters and how they affected Katherine, Mary, and / or Dorothy.
Throughout the film there are many examples of Jim Crow discrimination or racism perpetrated by the white characters, due to the time period the movie was set in. One example that affected Katherine was when she was forced to walk a half mile to another building to use the bathroom because there were no colored bathrooms in the building she worked in. But once her boss Harrison found out about this he became very angry and therefore he ended bathroom segregation by knocking down the “Colored Bathroom” sign and announcing “We all pee the same color.” One example that affected Mary was when she had to go to court to try and convince the judge to grant her permission to attend night classes in an all white school so that she could get her engineering degree and get the job she really wanted. One example that affected Dorothy was when she visited a library and went into the whites-only section, to borrow a book but then she was scolded by the librarian and kicked out. Overall these examples, which many similar had to also face, during this time was due to the result of discrimination ingrained within society in this time.
5.) How does the Civil Rights Movement play as the backdrop for the advancing fight against the Cold War’s space race? Provide examples.
The Civil Rights Movement helped play as the backdrop for the fight against the Cold War’s space race due to the fact that the fight to combat communism co-insides as well as contradicts the fight for equality within the U.S. As America was claiming to help fight against communism, at the same time they were not allowing total freedom to all of their own citizens. So because of this the Soviet Union displayed the U.S. as hypocritical, greedy, and only wanting to make themselves richer rather than fighting for true freedom.
The title “Hidden Figures” first layer of meaning was how Kathrine, Mary, Dorothy, and the other African American women that worked at NASA were looked past and were still facing Jim Crow Discrimination. Another was just the fact that they were women, like when Kathrine was not the first choice for the job, though this also plays into racism. Though you could also view this from a math standpoint, how there was so much math behind the rocket and capsules that most did not know about.
Mary wanted to become an engineer but was rejected at first because she did not take the extra classes needed. When she found a high school that had the classes she was not able to attend because Virginia was still a segregated state. When she went to court she was able to convince the judge to allow her to take the classes she needed. When Dorothy took her children to the public library and was asked to look in the colored section for the book she wanted when Dorothy was already aware it was in the white section. They were taken out by force and an officer was grabbing one of her sons. On the bus, she told her kids that she pays her tax dollars for the library and should be allowed to get the book that she wants.
4. When Kathrine was told she could not attend Pentagon briefings because there were no protocols for women it ultimately lead her to have to restart her work every day. When she was allowed in she was able to show how she was a “human computer”. When Kathrine first met her husband Colonel Johnson he was surprised that they let women have such a job at NASA being a human computer. He said that he didn’t think that could ever happen.
1. The title Hidden Figures has many messages in it. In the mathematical sense, the title shows a common thread throughout the movie, the need to find the hidden numbers, the new (or old) math. Harrison gives a speech about it to Katherine, about the need to look beyond the numbers, to see the bigger picture. Another meaning of the title is that Dorothy, Mary, and Katherine were the hidden figures. They were part of the computers, and were ignored during much of their career, being both a woman and African American, but they were doing the brunt of the work that was required for the launch, and those three were some of the most influential in the long-term at NASA.
2. One of the more obvious cases of Jim Crow segregation is in the struggle Katherine has to go through involving the bathroom. Throughout the film, she arrives in the room of the Space Task Group, gets settled, then realizes she needs to use the bathroom. However, due to Jim Crow segregation, she isn’t allowed to use the same bathrooms as white women, and so she has to go to the nearest bathroom she’s allowed in, which is all the way in the West Wing. Due to this, the guy in charge ends up thinking she’s taking too many breaks and is lazy, which risks her job, all because of segregation. Another example is in the room and her job itself. She gets paid much less than any of the white guys in the room due to her gender and race, and she works much harder than any of them by checking all their calculations and doing her own. And yet, she is treated terribly and has to use a separate coffee machine that doesn’t even work, all because of the color of her skin.
4. Due to her sex, Katherine was unable to attend sessions that kept changing the mathematics needed. Thus, every time a meeting ended and she offered a report, the math had changed, and her report was worthless, so she kept having to redo stuff that would be worth nothing the next day. However, she confronted Harrison and Stafford about it and got herself into the meeting, where she was able to display her prowess with math, and got people to listen to her. It also affected Mary, because during her attempt at becoming an engineer, she had to enroll in classes, specifically the night classes, and she had to get through them in a class full of white guys, so she was affected by both sex and race obstacles, as seen by the teacher saying they’re not equipped to teach women, as if it was any different from teaching men, but she stayed in and continued, and became an engineer. Dorothy faces sexism through the IBM being created and only men running it, and when she was caught fixing it, they tried to kick her out, but she had learned the code and had fixed the machine, and was able to bring in the other computers to run the machine, doing a job no one else could do and proving wrong those that didn’t believe a woman could either.
1.The title of the film serves to display the nature of the American landscape at the time. Vast quantities of scientific advancements as well as improvements in quality of life were created by people of color, yet they rarely are given credit or recognition for their work. This theme of repression of information of black achievements prevails through into the movie and the work of NASA during the space race as Katherine, Mary, and Dorothy worked to put a man in space, and later on a man on the moon. Furthermore, women like Katherine, Dorothy, and Mary were doubly excluded from fair treatment at the workplace, as they were women of color. In a metaphorical and literal sense, women of color like these three were the hidden figures in the background of America, and specifically NASA that were advancing the scientific achievements of America.
2.The characters are subject to many different forms of either direct racism, or more subtle and / or indirect forms of racism from the white characters, or systems upheld by white characters in the movie. One obvious example is when Katherine is required to make a trip to her old building where she used to work in order to use the bathroom, as there were no colored bathrooms in the calculating building that she had newly begun working at. Another such example of racism in the movie perpetrated by white characters is when Dorothy was working on the computers, and two white IBM engineers walked into the room and assumed she would have damaged the machine, and treated her like a child. One last example is when Katherine initially arrived at the computational room, a man thought that she was the janitor and attempted to give her the trash to take care of.
3.All three women made monumental strides in overcoming the restrictions that were set upon them by white society, but they did them in various different ways. Katherine and Dorothy overcome these obstacles through small, and culminating acts of resistance against acts of racism in their workplaces. For example, Dorothy resisted her job assigner through small acts of defiance, and Katherine worked as hard as she could to advance herself, and then pushed her boss to make change when she faced challenges that hindered her work. For example, when she was struggling to keep up with the pace that the calculations were changing, she advocated for changing policies on women being in the pentagon briefing room. Lastly, Mary took a more direct route in challenging the legal system in order to work to advance her career in aerospace engineering. She went to a judge and argued her case in order to attend classes at an all white school where she would be able to take classes to qualify for a position as an aerospace engineer.
1. The title of the movie, “Hidden Figures”, has a lot of different meanings depending on the context in which you view it. If you look at it from a math perspective, Katherine had to use new (hidden) math figures to determine exactly how the shuttle would work and where it would land. Looking at it from an engineer’s perspective, it shows how much work goes into sending people into space that goes unseen, and how all of the different departments (figures) work together behind the scenes. Most obviously, it shows the importance of the untold black NASA workers that helped tremendously, even though their work often went unthanked.
2. There were plenty of examples of Jim Crow laws shown throughout the movie. Most prominently, there was how Katherine had to run so far to go to the “colored bathroom”. She would always be out for so long, just to go to the bathroom, because the main NASA facility didn’t have any bathrooms for black people. There was also how Mary had to go to a courtroom just to be able to go to the night school she had to attend to become an engineer. She had to completely suck up to the judge, just to get the education she had to get to become an engineer.
3. Katherine was simply working as a normal calculator, but when she had an opportunity to impact her future, she took it and ran with it. She worked later than many of the white workers and pushed mathematics forward in the process. She ingratiated herself as a reliable and smart person in the office. Dorothy worked hard as a supervisor and even got the IBM working when she wasn’t supposed to have access to it. She took the opportunity to get the other black computers to work as IBM programmers in the main office and pushed down race boundaries in the process. Mary took the time and went to the courtroom to get the opportunity to go to the all-white night school, all to advance her education and opportunities. She not only got into the school, but thrived, and became the first black engineer at NASA.
2. One example of racism that Katherine experienced was being shunned from the Pentagon meeting. Katherine desperately needed to be in these meetings because of how fast needed calculations and ideas were moving, and these meetings were what established this. Also, since they were moving so fast, Katherine’s calculations were deemed useless. So, Katherine needed these meetings, but Paul Stafford stopped her. He didn’t want her in these meetings for several unjustifiable reasons. It’s definitely possible that part of the reason was that Paul didn’t want Katherine to have more power mathematically than him. But it was mainly because he was misogynistic and racist, and didn’t like Katherine, a black woman, to have access to these meetings. He doesn’t explicitly use race, but we can infer that because of how he’s been acting in the past. Another example of racism slowing down these girls with their work is how Dorothy wasn’t allowed to get a book from the white library. The colored library didn’t have the book she needed, which was for computing language, but the white library did. The librarian was angry at her for entering white library. Even a white police officer grabbed her son, trying to take him out of the library.
3. The way Katherine overcame her main obstacles was her great intelligence. She showed those around her, when she had the given opportunity, and used her small amount of publicity to show to everyone just how powerful and intelligent she is. She also came out of her shell and met a new man who would later become her husband. Mary overcame her obstacles by using her great argumentative skills. She was a good talker, and could get her way if she knew what she was doing, and she does this most memorably when she has to prove to the judge why she needs to go to the white school to get a good education for herself. Lastly, Dorothy used her connections to overcome these obstacles. She develops a “good” relationship with Mrs. Mitchell who got passed racism and gave Dorothy her manager title since she deserved it. Also, since Dorothy could control her entire group of smart African American women mathematicians, she had a good amount of power specifically with the IBMs.
4. Dorothy definitely could’ve became a manager at a much earlier stage of her career. She was basically given the responsibilities of a manager over a year before actually being a manager, and she was good at it. But, there had never been a women as a manager in the past, so people were hesitant to give her that role. Also, Mary definitely was affected career-wise because of her gender. She definitely could’ve been given an education much faster without appealing to a judge, or likely an even better school with her talent. Last but not least, Katherine could’ve definitely exceeded much more if she was a white man. She achieved a great position and had a tremendous role at NASA, but she could’ve even been the next Einstein with her intelligence. She was seen by many as a huge genius, and definitely was extremely intelligent. She could’ve easily taken Mr. Harrison’s role at NASA and maybe even further, if there even is. Her race and gender, however, made many people ostrocize or even dislike her, and this hindered her abilities.
2- Vivian Mitchell continuously brushed aside Dorothy Vaughn’s request to become supervisor, merely a title to go along with the shoes she was already filling. Each time Dorothy asked her about the promotion, Vivian would give an excuse. Another example is as follows: When Katherine Goble was assigned to work on the launch trajectories, she was moved to a division with all white, male men. These male, white coworkers were less than welcoming to her. They got a second coffee pot and labeled it “colored” so that she would not drink out of the same coffee pot as them.
3- The three main characters, Katherine Goble, Dorothy Vaughn, and Mary Jackson faced many challenges from white society. They faced racism and sexism on a daily basis. It prevented them from being able to do their jobs as effectively and get the treatment they deserved. How did they overcoem this? They didn’t stop fighting. No matter what obstacle was thrown at them, they kept fighting for what they wanted. They worked hard and proved their worth, they convinced the people in charge that they were right, they didn’t stop when an obstacle was in their way.
4- Mary Jackon wanted to become an engineer, but sexism stood in her way. More specifically, internal sexism that stemmed from societal sexism. She didn’t think that she could become an engineer because she was a woman, and women just weren’t engineers at that time. So, she became a calculator. It wasn’t until a new boss questioned her, that she decided to fight and become an engineer, despite societal norms and obstacles. Additionally, when Katherine wanted to attend the briefings on pertinent mission information, she was- originally- denied the privilege of participating. Amongst other reasons, Paul told her that she could not attend because she was a woman, and there was no protocol for women in briefings. Without attending the briefings, Katherine was unable to keep up with the information she needed to do her work. These are just two examples of how sexism affected our main characters, holding them back and delaying their success. I say “delaying” because, despite every single racial, sexist, monetary, and societal obstacle that our main characters faced, they were successful.
1. The name of the movie, “Hidden Figures” can be interpreted in multiple different ways, one of them being the true hidden figures of the movie are the 3 women who changed it all. The 3 women, Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan all work at NASA. they all work in a separate building with many other African Americans. Slowly, each of the 3 women begins to receive jobs higher in the business. The first was Katherine Johnson. She was brought to work as a computer, and she helped figure out how to use geometry for space travel.
2. Racism is well shown throughout the film in a couple of different ways. The first one is segregation. The african american employees at NASA struggled greatly with segregation, the main issue was not being able to use the same bathroom as the white employees. Katherine had to run half a mile from her desk to even be able to use the restroom. The other African American workers were forced to stay in a separate building, and they were called the ‘human computers’ and did most of the company’s calculations by hand. These women later were finally able to work in the IBM team of NASA, with Dorothy, who became the supervisor of the IBM team. Mary Jackson, faced much discrimination when applying for graduate-level math classes at Hampton University. She had to go to court to request permission to attend the all-white high school. She was surprised when she attended the first day and there was no colored section.
4. Sexism also affected the characters in a few different ways. The one that stood out to me most was when Paul Stafford told Katherine she couldn’t attend the Pentagon meetings, even though it was information she needed to complete her calculations. It wasn’t until Al Harrison stood up for her that she was able to attend. The other two women, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan were both discriminated against. Dorothy Vaughan with IBM when the men were surprised it had been a woman to power it on. Mary Jackson struggled going back to school and being judged when she walked in for the first time.
1. Hidden Figures has different meanings for this time and period in two ways. First of all, it refers to the African American women in the movie who were basically “hidden” in the work that they did. They were treated differently than the men and the other women during this time in multiple retrospects. They had to drink out of separate coffee pots and use a different bathroom than the other people in their division at NASA. In addition to this, the title of the movie has to do with the numbers, or “figures” that Katherine was trying to solve for. The title is trying to reference both of the main topics talked about in this film.
3. There were many ways in which the main characters overcame the discrimination they were faced with. Katherine had to yell at her supervisor in the room and explain to him how unfair the rules were at NASA that had to do with race. She wasn’t allowed in the board rooms, and she had to run all the way across campus to use the restroom. Mary wanted to take college classes so that she could succeed in being an engineer, and she had to take the situation to court. She ended up winning the civil court case and was able to take the classes that she had originally been denied access to. Dorothy wanted to be a supervisor for NASA, but was denied this opportunity all because of her skin color. She created a relationship with another women who worked there, and she challenged her to think about racism in another way. And Dorothy ended up getting the job she wanted.
4. Sexism affected all of the women in the movie in mainly the same way, being that they were some of the few women that worked at NASA. Katherine was the only woman in the room that she worked in, and had to consistently fight to be seen and heard by everyone else. Dorothy and many other women had to work in a basement room to do their “computer work” which really showed the divide that they faced because of their gender.
1. Hidden Figures has two different meanings as a movie title. Firstly, it describes the Math that Katherine and Nasa are working to create for the space race. The math required to launch and land the spacecraft doesn’t yet exist, or as it turns out to be, needs pulling from many different equations. This makes the math, or the figures, hidden. The other meaning is the people behind that math that were hidden because of their gender or race. All three main characters were highly intelligent and capable women, but because of their minority status, they weren’t able to easily contribute to their fields and weren’t celebrated after their accomplishments.
2. One example of segregation that affected Dorothy was the segregated Library. The colored section of the library did not have as big and as expansive a collection of books as the white section. Had Dorothy not taken the book, technically illegally, she would not have been able to learn what she needed to evolve with her job and help the rest of the West computing group do the same.
Similarly, when Katherine entered her new assignment, she was met with a separate coffee pot, inaccessible bathrooms, and an assumption that she was the custodian when she first came into the room. his made Katherine feel excluded and allowed the other mathematicians to feel above her, while also just making her work more difficult.
3. The civil rights movement and the space race almost came hand in hand with each other. The space race saw major scientific advancements that made whites and people of color alike believe in the impossible, whether that be putting a man in space or desegregating libraries. These major changes catalyzed each other. Additionally, the unified need to advance space technology to ensure safety from the Russians allowed, in some ways, for people to realize that there were bigger problems at stake and that we’d need every bright mind regardless of gender or color to do what we were trying to do.
1. The title of this film, “Hidden Figures”, has different layers of meaning. One of these meanings can relate to the term figure in math, and how Katherine had to find new ways of doing math. There were equations that were necessary to figure out the flight that were unknown at the time, and Katherine found that she could use older math to solve them. The title can also be about how they are hidden within NASA because of the discrimination at the time period that this takes place in. Katherine, Mary and Dorthy all faced inequality at NASA and had to work extremely hard to overcome the discrimination. It is much more difficult for them to get higher jobs and get the credit that they deserve for their work.
2. Katerine was affected by the segregated bathrooms at NASA because there was no bathroom that she could use in the building that she works in. Because of this she has to walk half a mile to the bathroom as well as half a mile back. It takes a long time for her to do this, which makes it difficult for her to have time to do her work. Mary is affected by segregation too because it makes it difficult for her to attend the high school and get the credits that she needs to be an engineer. It is a segregated white high school, so she normally would not be allowed to attend classes there. Mary was able to go to court so that she could be able to take classes at the high school, and was the first African American to graduate from that school.
4. Sexism affected Dorthy’s, Mary’s, and Katherine’s careers because they were not allowed to be in things that were only for men at the time. One example of this is when Katherine wants to go to the briefing meetings to get the newest information, but women aren’t usually allowed to take part in them. Although she was able to get in with the help of her boss, this was a challenge for Katherine that was caused by sexism. Mary also faced sexism when she was going to high school to get classes in engeneering. She was both the only African American and the only woman. When she entered the class, the teacher said that the curriculum was not meant for women. Her abilities were greatly underestimated by the teacher and other students because she was a woman.
The title, “Hidden Figures” can mean several things, in the context of the time period. The first of many, is likely in reference to the blacked out data on the documents. These documents were crucial to the story and the advancement of science. When Katherine held the paper up to the light, she was able to see the hidden words, or “figures”. Another Way the title means something is a bit more figurative, in the way that the three african american women were not initially given the opportunities or the recognition they deserved. When Katherine would write up reports, she would put her name on them, but Stafford had problems with this. Stafford wanted her to withhold her name due to the fact that she was simply a computer, but with his other actions, it seems he may have had negative feelings towards her, so he wanted her to remain hidden.
The first, and most obvious showing of the segregated times during the setting of this movie, was the segregation of the bathrooms on the Nasa Campus. Katherine had to go to another building in order to use the bathroom, which reflected poorly on her, due to the fact that she had to leave for large portions of the day, every day. This was an acceptable answer by her boss, and he took down the sign, but initially, the Jim Crow segregation threatened her job. The next form of Jim Crow segregation seen in this film that I will be discussing, is the way that Mary had to attend court in order to enroll in the engineering classes. Mary wanted to become a NASA engineer, but was denied due to her disqualification, and in order to work there, she needed to be in a white only class, due to Jim Crow.
First of all, Katherine overcame her challenges by simply putting up with them for the first part, then she decided she’d had enough. She expressed that the bathroom situation was unjust, and that it was unreasonable that she had to walk all that way, just to use a bathroom. With Mary however, she wished to become an engineer but lacked the qualifications, when she couldn’t get into the school she needed to, she faced her problem head on, and brought it to court. Dorothy handled her situation with persistence, she wished to be supervisor, and she was not allowed, but she persevered. Dorothy was so focused on getting that position that she did not give up, and kept asking and asking, whilst proving her worth, by teaching the other women about the IBM, that she was appointed supervisor.
1. The title “Hidden Figures” first layer of meaning was how Kathrine, Mary, Dorothy, and the other African American women that worked at NASA were looked past and were still facing Jim Crow Discrimination. Another was just the fact that they were women, like when Kathrine was not the first choice for the job, though this also plays into racism. Though you could also view this from a math standpoint, how there was so much math behind the rocket and capsules that most did not know about.
2. Mary wanted to become an engineer but was rejected at first because she did not take the extra classes needed. When she found a high school that had the classes she was not able to attend because Virginia was still a segregated state. When she went to court she was able to convince the judge to allow her to take the classes she needed. When Dorothy took her children to the public library and was asked to look in the colored section for the book she wanted when Dorothy was already aware it was in the white section. They were taken out by force and an officer was grabbing one of her sons. On the bus, she told her kids that she pays her tax dollars for the library and should be allowed to get the book that she wants.
4. When Kathrine was told she could not attend Pentagon briefings because there were no protocols for women it ultimately lead her to have to restart her work every day. When she was allowed in she was able to show how she was a “human computer”. When Kathrine first met her husband Colonel Johnson he was surprised that they let women have such a job at NASA being a human computer. He said that he didn’t think that could ever happen.
Explain how the title “Hidden Figures” has different layers of meaning for this film and time period.
The title “Hidden Figures” holds multiple meanings in the film’s context. It refers to the African-American women at NASA during the 1960s who were overlooked and marginalized in the space race narrative. Their significant contributions were often made behind the scenes, away from public recognition. The title also symbolizes the untold stories of numerous African-American women who faced prejudice and made noteworthy contributions across various fields. By highlighting these hidden figures, the film challenges the dominant narrative, encourages inclusivity, and inspires future generations to overcome barriers.
Provide at least 2 specific examples of Jim Crow discrimination or racism perpetrated by the white characters and how they affected Katherine, Mary, and Dorothy.
In “Hidden Figures,” white characters perpetuate Jim Crow discrimination, presenting significant challenges for Katherine, Mary, and Dorothy. Segregated facilities force Katherine to endure isolation and humiliation, frequently running to a distant “colored” bathroom. Mary faces limited career opportunities, initially denied entry into an engineering training program due to racial barriers, but she overcomes them to become NASA’s first African-American female engineer. These examples showcase the characters’ resilience against racism, pushing for equality and recognition, and inspiring future generations.
How did sexism affect Dorothy’s, Mary’s, and Katherine’s careers? Provide specific examples. in the movie “hidden figures”
Sexism impacted Dorothy, Mary, and Katherine’s careers in “Hidden Figures.” Examples include Dorothy being unrecognized as supervisor, Mary facing barriers to engineering training due to bias, and Katherine encountering hostility, exclusion, and skepticism from colleagues. Since the women face so much hostility it makes it so much more powerful when they overcome their struggles and achieve their goals. The film emphasizes their resilience and the need to challenge gender biases, opening doors for women in science and technology.
Explain how the title “Hidden Figures” has different layers of meaning for this film and time period.
The title “Hidden Figures” has very different layers of meaning for this film and time period. For the film, the meaning of the title “Hidden Figures” is supposed to show respect to the groups of people who were discriminated against during the space race. Throughout the whole movie, it is a story about how three African American women battled their way through discrimination and sexism in order to show the world they can do everything other people can do and so much more. The story of the three women shows how they sacrificed everything to show they were capable of doing some of the best engineering and problem solving at NASA. The layer of meaning for the film gives a small perspective of the wide picture. The film focuses on the African American women to show their story in getting the United States back into the space race. The layer of meaning for the movie is how these women conquered tremendous odds in order to get recognized for all the hard work they achieved. The layers of meaning for the title “Hidden Figures” during this time period shows respect for all the people who were discriminated against and didn’t get credit for their work during this time period. At this time period, the wake of the civil rights movement was at hand and many skilled people didn’t get their work represented equally. The title’s layer of meaning for this time period is supposed to show how many influential people during this time were ignored simply because of their race and this title sheds light on the amazing work they accomplished because back in the day they weren’t credited for doing it.
Provide at least 2 specific examples of Jim Crow discrimination or racism perpetrated by the white characters and how they affected Katherine, Mary, and / or Dorothy.
The first example of Jim Crow discrimination I will talk about happened to Mary Jackson. Mary was encouraged by her boss to become an engineer which would make her finally be able to accomplish her one true dream. Mary decided to follow up on his officer and apply to become a lead engineer on the project that she was working on. She academically met all of the original requirements with a masters and a bachelor’s degree. Though, she was not originally accepted because she was told she did not complete a specific engineering class at the University of Virginia which was still a segregated school. She could not be a lead engineer without taking this class and it was almost impossible for her to do this until she was able to take the class at a nearby high school. This affected Mary Jakcson very heavily because at first she lost all hope that she would become a lad engineer. She felt very depressed at first and thought that this would stop her from achieving her lifelong dream. Next, another example of racism was when Katherine had to run half a mile just to go to the bathroom. When Katherine got her promotion, she worked at a building which only had white people in it and there were no colored bathrooms at all. This forced her to walk a mile in total just to go to the bathroom in rain or shine which kept her away from her job for 40 minutes. Katherine ended up eventually getting into trouble for missing too much work and she felt really depressed because of this. Katherine felt really depressed because of this because it made her feel like a giant outsider. Katherine didn’t feel like she could focus on her world because no one treated her equally and didn’t care about her at the beginning. She was really depressed because no one gave her respect to her or her work.
How did sexism affect Dorothy’s, Mary’s, and Katherine’s careers? Provide specific examples.
Out of these three women I feel like sexism affected Katherine’s career the most. After Katherine started to get recognition for how smart she was and the amazing work she did she took the lead in the major project of getting John Glenn successfully back from orbit. There were certain briefings that Katherine was not able to attend because she was a woman and there was no protocol for having women in the briefing room. This led Katehrine to have to continually starry her work over again on the go or no go zone because the weight and measurements of the space capsule were continually changing without her knowing and she kept getting behind on her work. This shows how sexism majorly affected Katherines’s career. At the beginning, Katherine wasn’t being treated equally because she was a woman and would have to continually restart on her work all the time. This shows how Katherine’s career was continually affected because she was always forced to restart her work and no one gave her respect for the work that she did because she was a woman.
1. The title “Hidden Figures” has multiple meanings. First off it refers to African American women and how they go unnoticed in society. They are overlooked because of their gender and race. These women are viewed as inferior simply because of who they are. The title also refers to the overlooked work these women do, in this case at NASA. Dorothy Vaughn, Katherine Johnson, and Mary Jackson hold pivotal roles at NASA but their stories and achievements were only recently told. Dorothy was doing the work of a supervisor without the extra pay or title. She made it clear that she deserved the position and excelled at it once she got it. Katherine Johnson lasted longer than most other “computers” at NASA. She was instrumental in getting a man into space but was still not given a seat at the table because of her gender and race. Ultimately, she was superior to the actual computer that took her job and was in the room when NASA sent a man into space. Lastly, Mary Jackson went against the norm by into a white male-dominated field. She expanded her education and became NASA’s first female African American engineer. All of these accomplishments and important people were hidden from American history.
2. Katherine experienced lots of racism because she was the only African American female in the department she was transferred to. On the first day of her new job, she went over to the coffee station and poured herself a cup. The next day she saw a small coffee maker labeled
“Colored” directly next to the nicer, larger coffee machine label “whites.” To top it all off her coffee wasn’t even made and she had to take time out of her workday to make it. Katherine was out of her desk for almost an hour every day because there was no “colored” bathroom on this wing of NASA. The men looked down on her because she was often absent from her desk. When she was questioned about this she explained how she had to exit the building and go to the other wing just to use the restroom. Both of these are discrimination against African Americans that were typical in the workplace during this time. Lastly, all three women, as well as all African American women, were overlooked when the astronauts came to greet the workers. They were instructed to only shake hands with white women and to bypass the African Americans. This showed all three of these women that they were seen as lesser because of the color of their skin.
3. One of Katherine’s coworkers who was a white male often put her down and limited her opportunities because she was an African American woman. He blocked her out of meetings she should be a part of and was overall very rude to her. Katherine overcame this by being persistent and proving herself. She showed that she was just as good, if not better, than any white man. Secondly, Dorothy was told by a white woman that there couldn’t be an African American supervisor. Similarly to Katherine, Dorothy was persistent and showed that she was worthy of that position. She gave herself an opportunity that nobody else was giving her, by teaching herself how to use the new computer. She made herself indisposable and secured that supervisor position. Mary worked hard and enrolled in extra schooling to be a part of a male-dominated field. She put in the extra work to achieve the job she wanted.
Whoever came up with the title “Hidden Figures” is actually a genius because it is such a strong-sounding name that applies extremely well to the content. It also applies in multiple ways as the woman portrayed in the film are stashed behind multiple different layers. What I mean by that is, if someone who didn’t know anything about the movie was told that there was a film called “Hidden Figures” and it was about NASA in the space race, they would likely just assume that the title was referring to the people working behind the scenes at NASA to keep the nation moving. But, we know that it’s not just that. Not only are the main characters black, they’re also women. They are by far the most hidden people in that line of work of that time and that’s why I think that title is so smart because it really is true. They are the hidden figures behind everything, but they’re not the type of hidden figures typically portrayed in films in modern times, or even around at all during the time the film takes place.
The immediate first thing I think of when seeing this question was one of the first interactions Katherine had with the other woman working in her division. She asked where the restroom was, and the lady said “I don’t know where your restrooms are.” The woman was just perpetrating the idea that black people not only are but should be separated form white people, as seen when she said “your” when Katherine didn’t even ask for the colored restrooms specifically. Another one was in the courtroom when Mary was fighting to take the classes she needed to be an engineer and the judge said something like, “No matter what the supreme court says we’re a segregated state. We always will be and they can’t change that.” Even though he ended up agreeing with her, this is just another example of white people in this time being so ignorant to how obvioudly wrong things were, and perpetrating the Jim Crow beliefs.
Katherine overcame obstacles put in her way by white society by being persistent and fighting back against being silenced. She went way beyond what people expected of her and pushed boundarie by doing things like putting the papers up to the light to read secret stuff and by making them let her into that meeting. Dorothy overcame stuff by figuring out whatever that machine was and refusing to work on it if they did not allow her team to come with her. Also by persisting and making it so they basically had to make her supervisor eventually and not giving up before they did. Mary overcame obstacles by filling out those forms to become an engineer and going to the court when the rules were changed. She didn’t just give up since the classes were only at an all white school, she fought and worked hard so they would let her in and when they did she confidently walked into that classroom and didn’t let anyone get in her way.
Provide at least 2 specific examples of Jim Crow discrimination or racism perpetrated by the white characters and how they affected Katherine, Mary, and / or Dorothy.
One example of Jim Crow’s “Separate but equal” motion illustrated in the Hidden Figures movie is that Katherine Gobel was forced to run a half mile several times a day in order to use the bathroom because there were no colored bathrooms in her building. Another example of the Jim Crow laws portrayed in this movie was that Dorothy Von was unable to become a supervisor for NASA because of the color of her skin. There had never been an African American supervisor there and so instead of promoting her, she was forced to play the part of supervisor but without the title, pay, or benefits.
This is a story of overcoming challenges that white society put in the way of our main characters. How did all three women overcome these obstacles?
Katherine, Mary, and Dorothy overcame adversity in this movie by each gaining ground in the NASA cooperation. Katherine became the first woman in a Pentagon conference and also the lead mathematician in her group, the first woman, and also ended up checking everyone else’s work because she was better. Mary overcame adversity and discrimination by going to court to fight for her right to take classes at an all white school in order to get the proper credentials to get a promotion. She was the first Female engineer of Nasa, and also the first woman to attend a class at that school. Dorothy overcame obstacles by powering up the math machine that no man was able to do and it ended up landing her the supervisor job she was wishing for.
How did sexism affect Dorothy’s, Mary’s, and Katherine’s careers? Provide specific examples.
Sexism affected these women’s careers because there were so many places they were restricted from because they were seen as inferior to men. Katherine was not allowed to be a part of the Pentagon meetings for weeks because there had never been a female attendant thus far. There also had never been a female engineer at NASA so Mary persevered through that and became the first one.
2. One example of racism perpetrated by the white characters is when Katherine is handed a trashcan to take out on her first day working with a group of all white males. I feel like I don’t have to explain why this is racist, but this assumption that because of her race (and gender as well), she is nothing more than a janitor, meant to clean up after the messes left by white individuals. This likely had a psychological impact on Katherine, especially considering that interactions such as these are probably normal for her. Despite this impact, she was tremendously successful. Despite facing a lifetime of discouragement from society, she was a tremendously successful and significant figure. An example of Jim Crow discrimination includes segregated bathrooms. Under Jim Crow laws, the term “separate but equal” was used to justify segregation, but these separate buildings and institutions were never equal. Katherine was forced to walk a mile in total just to use the bathroom during the day, and this shows the extent of impact of Jim Crow laws on black people. Oftentimes, many people don’t realize how bad segregation was, and underestimate its impacts. This frequently leads to modern day denials of racism. By showing the way in which limited accessibility to a human necessity impacted individuals, the Jim Crow impact was shown as well.
3. Sexism impacted the careers of these women in both the white community and the black community. One piece of evidence for this gender discrimination includes the interaction between these women and a white male police officer at the beginning of the film. The officer attempted to make an assertion about NASA hiring black people, but the women cut him off by implying that he was going to make a claim about NASA’s decision to hire women. The way she brought up the topic of NASA hiring women attests to the fact that women in engineering type job positions at this point was unusual. An example of sexism impacting Kathrine in the black community is when Jim expresses his surprise at the fact that women are allowed to handle NASA calculations. This is significant because it speaks to the challenges unique to black women because of the intersectionality. They face discrimination and bias from both white people as a group and men as a group. Both of these examples support the idea that the roles of women during this time period were still commonly stereotyped to be valued less than masculine roles.
4. These women overcame the challenges of a white society by persisting and insisting on change. Each of these black women went above and beyond to prove that they were overqualified to perform the jobs that they were assigned. From having perfect calculations in short spans of time to single handedly managing all of the workers of color, these women completed an immense amount of work to be as successful as they were, yet they were still relatively forgotten. In addition, after performing this hard work, they insisted on things to change to make their job equal to those of their white counterparts. They proved themselves in the workplace and had more than earned equal rights, and it was that additional insistence that helped them overcome these challenges.
Explain how the title “Hidden Figures” has different layers of meaning for this film and time period.-
The title represents the fact that though the 3 black women at NASA, highlighted in the movie, are doing irreplaceable work at NASA, they are hidden by the government, because of race and gender barriers. Mary Jackson isn’t allowed to be an engineer without a degree of that, and so she is not a prominent figure in the engineering space, though she is doing work for the department that no one else there could do. Katherine johnson was doing calculations for the space flights that no one else, even the IBM computer, could do right, yet she was not allowed to publish her name on the work, or be in the briefings for a long time. They are hidden by not being allowed to be prominent figures at NASA, because they were black and because they were women, both of which were not normalized at the time.
Provide at least 2 specific examples of Jim Crow discrimination or racism perpetrated by the white characters and how they affected Katherine, Mary, and / or Dorothy.-
1 example of discrimination is when the white workers in the space flight department brought out a new coffee heater to the coffee table strictly for black people when Katherine started using the coffee heater they had in there. This was to stop Katherine from using the same one as them. This made Katherine feel ostracized within the department and even more like she wasn’t very welcome. Another example of discrimination is when there’s no college supported by NASA for black employees to get a degree at. Mary wants to become an engineer, and be recognized for the work she does. She knows she has to be the one to break this policy, because she is a very determined person. Mary goes to the court, and convinces the judge to allow her to take classes at the segregated Virginia university.
5. How does the Civil Rights Movement play as the backdrop for the advancing fight against the Cold War’s space race? Provide examples.
During the movie, at the church party, they acknowledge the people sitting in at restaurants in different areas, military members breaking barriers, and new pastors. The movie acknowledges the existence of the civil rights movement happening in the country during the period of the movie. The three women working at NASA also represent the civil rights movement because they fight for their civil rights within the workplace.
1. The first meaning of hidden figures is that Katherine was not acknowledged or hidden for her accomplishments and work at NASA probably because she is a woman or an african american. Another meaning of hidden figures are Mary and Dorthy that both make achievements for african american women as mary pushes for rights to take classes and Dorthy made it so black women had a job in NASA when their job was being taken by a computer. A final meaning of hidden figures is that these black womens work was covered up by the space race and cold war.
2. The main example of Jim Crow discrimination in the film is seen when Katherine would have to run half a mile over the NASA facilities to go to the bathroom due to there being no colored bathrooms on that side of the campus. This affected Katherine’s work ability as she would have to leave for 45 minutes per day. This also made her feel out of place at NASA. Another example of Discrimination is when Katherine went to go grab coffee in the workplace and all of the white men stared and looked at her for using it. They were shocked that she went and used the same one they used. This highlights the time period and thoughts about African americans. After this incident Katherine says in her fit she throws to the boss that none of the other men would use this coffee pot just because she touched it.
3. Katherine overcomes the white society by being the first not even african american but african american women to work as a computer or any high ranking high difficulty job at NASA. Mary came over discrimination by going to court and fighting for her right to get a higher education at virginia university when there were no classes that allowed women or colored people to take the class. She was allowed and won her case in court. Dorthy came over discrimination as her and her computing group fought for their jobs and got to work on the IBM machine.
2. Katherine was moved to a higher position as being a “calculator” for the team that calculated landings and trajectories. However, not only was she discriminated against by a few members there, but she also couldn’t use the bathroom, as it was for white women only. So everyday, she would be gone for an hour trying to use the bathroom in a building a mile away. This upset her boss, Mr. Harrison, but she never told him. Until one day he was upset with her about taking breaks, so when she told him, he decided to do something about it. He took a crowbar and took down the white only sign above the bathroom door. Another example is How Dorothy was treated by her manager, as she wasn’t allowed the spot of supervisor. Even though she had all the criteria, and basically was one already, her manager still declined it.
4. When Katherine was doing calculations, they weren’t fully up to date, and so she had to repeat calculations, slowing her down. When she asked Paul if she could attend a meeting, he immediately declined, as only white men could attend it. However, after hearing about her concern, Mr. Harrison invited her to the meeting, and she performed her calculations in front of everyone, impressing them.
5. The civil rights movement played as a setting to the movie. It put the audience in a setting that would set up the rest of the movie. For example, Not only did Katherine have to endure sexism, as only men were allowed in the conference room, but she was the only African American to ever step foot in there. While the main theme of the movie is about the hidden work done by Women to help the space race, it also paints a background about how African American women were able to succeed.
2. The two most prevalent examples of Jim Crow in the film are definitely the many scenes of Katherine running to the colored bathrooms in the building and Mary’s struggle of becoming an engineer. For starters, as stated by Katherine, the main building that she was working in had no colored bathrooms meaning the only ones she could use were in the West wing, half a mile away. This wasn’t really perpetuated by any of the white characters per say but before Harrison knew about this fact he was constantly upset with her long bathroom breaks. She didn’t really overcome this herself, but rather by bringing light to the issue, which was risky in its own as she could have been fired for talking back or something like that, but in the end Harrison used his authority to desegregate the restrooms. Secondly, Mary’s struggle to get into an all white college as a black woman to become an engineer. For starters, the fact she even had to go through all of that to become an engineer when she was already qualified was suspect, but even the fact that the college was known to be all white is an example of indirect segregation. Furthermore, she had to bring the whole thing to her local court as opposed to a white person who would just enroll and be done with it.
4. Sexism played into the story greatly. We saw a lot of this with Katherine as when she first arrived at her new job, it was pretty obvious that many believed she wasn’t capable, expressly the supervisor Stafford. Well this may have been both racism and sexism, even her future husband was surprised by her position when they first met which caused an argument and an apology. Mary also faced some as she tried to apply college as seen in the scene when the professor when he was surprised they allowed a woman in a “man’s course”
5. Civil rights was seen a lot in Mary’s life with her Husband definitely being very supportive of the movement, wanting his children to see the movement unfold. Dorthy also saw some in the library scene as people rioted in the university or wherever nearby. Well the movie itself may not have been very focused on the civil rights movement, the themes definitely impacted many of the characters as pretty much all of them made large strides towards helping the cause such as Dorthy being the first african American manager at NASA, Mary attending the all white college, and Kathrine being the first black woman in a lot of different positions in NASA like working with the mathematicians, going to their secret meetings, etc.
Explain how the title “Hidden Figures” has different layers of meaning for this film and time period.
Well to start, the women wear restricting uniforms at NASA, long skirted dresses and heels. This comes up during the movie when Katherine had to run miles to go to the bathroom each day. This led to her boss destroying the segregated bathroom signs and therefore desegregating bathrooms at nasa for all time. They’re bodies or figures are being covered by these sexist uniforms that the characters, especially Katherine disagree openly with. Furthermore, the computing african american women, led by Dorothy were locked in a small room hidden away from the rest of nasa. Lastly, most of the African American workers were placed in the west wing where there were almost no white workers.
Provide at least 2 specific examples of Jim Crow discrimination or racism perpetrated by the white characters and how they affected Katherine, Mary, and / or Dorothy.
One example of open racism is when the character paul staffer was starting over and over again that there were no computers authoring reports, and that’s probably because Katherine is an african american. This is blatant racist, while also being sexist because she’s obviously a black woman. The subtle yet noticeable racism begins at the beginning of the movie when the cop stops to help the three women and they are all fearful of what he may do to them, because of the cops’ frequent mistreatment of black americans. Another example is the segregated bathrooms that all three characters have to use. The black characters need to use the bathrooms in the west wing because Katherines building doesn’t have any bathrooms for african americans. So she has to travel the whole way to the west wing, which is over half a mile (as she said) to use a bathroom that she’s legally allowed to use.
This is a story of overcoming challenges that white society put in the way of our main characters. How did all three women overcome these obstacles?
Mary began to become an engineer and she overcame segregation by winning a court case that allowed her to take classes at an all white highschool so she could become an engineer. Katherine became the first African American woman to work in her office on the heavy computational math that is needed to launch that rocket into space. Lastly, Dorothy learned how to program the computers and taught the girls she was in charge of how to do the same for their job security.
1.)The term “Hidden Figures” has many meanings in this movie. One of them was that Mary, Dorothy, and Katherine were some of the most brilliant minds that made the Friendship 7 mission possible, yet were barely heard of at the time of the achievement. The three of them made outstanding contributions to the task, yet weren’t given the recognition they deserved because of them being black and also women. In fact, Paul even made an effort to hide Katherine from being recognized when she tried to sign her name onto the paper. He said things such as “computers don’t sign papers” This is why the title is so important because the three women were “hidden figures” to the mission
2.)One big example in the movie of Jim Crow laws is the fact that there is a whole separate building for the colored workers. As we see throughout the movie, the colored ladies wait there for assignments. Some of them are lucky enough to be moved up to the white building, such as our three characters, but it’s only until the end with a lot of persuasion that all of the black women get moved to the white building to work on the IBM. Another crucial example is with Katherine’s entire experience working in the white building. One of the most famous scenes of the movie is when Katherine has a breakdown about how she’s treated, she largely focuses on her having to run to the colored bathroom and drink from a different coffee pot. This is a primary example of Jim Crow laws at work, prohibiting her from basic areas and objects of the building.
3.)All three of these extraordinary women faced challenges throughout the movie. As I previously mentioned with Katherine, she had to do things such as run to the colored bathroom and use a different coffee pot than her white co-workers. Despite her being the most genius one there. Mary had to get a court order to be able to attend classes that NASA required her to have even though they were white only. Despite her being a black woman, she won her court case and attended the all-white classes to get the position she wanted at NASA. Dorothy also wanted another position, she wanted to be a supervisor. But there has never been a black supervisor at NASA so she kept getting declined. Dorothy kept pushing and showing her worth and eventually got promoted to supervisor. These are some of the many challenges that women faced during this time.
Hidden figures’ different layers lie within the fact that they were such significant figures in John Glenn’s launch and in NASA as a whole, but because of their race and their sex, they were ‘hidden’. All of their accomplishments weren’t highlighted as much as the accomplishments of white men would have been recognized at the time, and they were hidden within NASA’s workforce. They sometimes weren’t even allowed to showcase their full talents because of their race (like in the movie, Katerine wasn’t allowed to calculate the landing coordinates before John Glenn asked for her), and even when she did so, she wasn’t truly recognized until the 2000’s. But at the same time, it would have been socially unacceptable for there to be blacks or women in those positions, so despite all the work they did, they didn’t get acknowledgement, therefore their ‘hidden figures’.
The first example was the bathroom situation. Because there were no colored bathrooms in the building where she was working Katherine was forced to run from her office to the bathroom in a whole different building, an endeavor which would take her 40 minutes as a round trip. This was the effect of a Jim Crow Law- separate bathrooms, the colored one being in worse condition and farther away. The second was the separate coffee makers, the white one being larger, the colored one smaller. This more so affected Katherine’s self-esteem in my opinion, highlighting the divide between her and everyone else in her office. (Nobody even wanted to touch her pot). We see how this affects her when she blows up at her boss in the middle of the movie.
Dorthy, Katherine and Mary both pushed past the obstacles of racism and sexism by simply having the careers that they did. Katherine and Mary both had jobs in places where both women and especially black people weren’t wanted or even technically allowed. But all three of them kept pushing, and all three of them got to places of success where a lot of people like them weren’t common.
Question 1: One example of racism and discrimination in this film is the different computing rooms on different ends of the building based on race. They had to complete their work in the “separate but equal” west end. However, they were not equal. The west end was significantly less advanced, fewer desks, and the desks that were there were not nearly as nice, with less advanced materials. This shows how their African American employees were treated entirely different than their white employees. Another example of Jim Crow discrimination/racism is with the separate bathrooms. When Kathrine was reassigned to the East campus for computing flights, she would still have to use the restroom located on the west campus, half a mile away. This shows the discrimination of the time because she was unable to use the white restroom closest to her work, and had to take about an hour out of her day to run over to the other side of the building just to use the restroom.
Question 3: Two examples of the challenges they faced was not being recognized for their work and facing discrimination. For Dorothy, it was taking on the acts of a supervisor but never being recognized as one. She would make sure her team was getting what they needed to do and made sure everything they did was correct and up to standards. She took on this leadership role, but was not officially a supervisor. Katherine, although she did all of the calculations, was never allowed to attach her name to her work, and had to give her white coworker, who did none of it, the credit. Finally, Mary wanted to be an engineer at NASA, but was not allowed to take the required classes, as they were reserved for whites. However she managed to fight through the discrimination and attended these classes.
Question 4: Sexism affected their careers because they were given fewer opportunities as their male co-workers and were thought of as less. For example, Katherine wanted to attend the briefings with Glenn about his mission, but was told she couldn’t attend because she is a woman and that’s “not what women do”. Also, when she would complete the required math, it would always have to be checked by a man, even though they knew it was correct.
1.
The title of this movie, “Hidden Figures”, has a unique double meaning. It first refers to the women themself in that they are African Americans and have been pushed aside, not given the same rights as others and overall given less opportunity. This is clearly seen when Mary Johnson pursues her dream of becoming an engineer but needs to go back to school to do this but is originally denied because the only schools available are all white schools. The second deeper meaning of this title is to represent the hidden work they do for NASA. These strong, smart women are the brains behind most of the operations, being in the mathematics department working as computers, for NASA and yet they got little to no credit for their work and were then later replaced by a machine to do their jobs.
3.
The first major obstacle overcome by Katherine is seen when she is having trouble checking the work of Paul Stafford as part of her job because he crosses important details out with a black marker. Instead of being defeated by this Katherine holds the paper up to the light being able to finally see the hidden information to solve an important equation. Mary is also seen overcoming obstacles when she does not give up on her dream of becoming an engineer when the only school she could o to for classes is an all-white school. Mary does her research and presents a compelling argument in court for why she should be able to attend school, and it works. Finally, Dorothy challenges becoming the supervisor of all the women in the computing wing. She is denied time and time again and yet it doesn’t seem to phase her because she kept pursuing her goal and eventually reached it.
4.
There are several instances of sexism seen in this film, especially in respect to affecting Dorothy’s, Mary’s, and Katherine’s careers. When Katherine was moved up to be a computer doing the calculations to get a man into space she was first faced with discrimination in her new workspace. A specific example of this is when the calculations for the go/no go point were needed and she was working on it but was finding it difficult because the numbers changed too quickly in the confidential conferences so Katherine asked to attend the conference but was told she could because it was unheard of to have a woman attended. This made it near impossible for Katherine to complete her work effectively due to the lack of correct information. Sexism is also seen in Dorthy’s work life as she is widely underappreciated for the work she does. She does all the roles a supervisor does and yet she earns none of the credit because the system keeps refusing to give her the position. Mary is discriminated agist when she wants to move up the ranks in her carrier to become an engineer. All of the learning opportunity she needs are only given to white men.
1. As black women in the midst of the Jim Crow area, Dorothy, Mary, and Katherine were often overlooked as inferior, last-pick options. Their true selves only got to shine, in the eyes of white people at least, when they were finally able to take on the tasks typically done by white people out of pure necessity. They had been hidden away from view, half a mile away in a building reserved for the “colored computers”, with no opportunity, no matter how hard they struggled, to elevate themselves. Their brilliance was obscured with no reasoning other than the biases of their oppressors. Literally hiding in plain sight, though not by choice.
2. The most blatant discrimination came from Katherine’s perspective. When she got up from her desk to get a cup of coffee, everyone in the room, all white, stared at her like she was insane, like they were disgusted by the fact that she touched the same coffee pot they drank from. The next day, a new, smaller, empty pot had appeared, with the label “colored”. I’m sure this was an incredibly demeaning experience for Katherine, who was essentially told that anything you touch becomes undesirable for us. Dorothy also faced some brutal discrimination, as she was denied the job of supervisor again and again. There was no reason for this, there were other supervisors in other fields/wings/factions/whateveryouwanttocallthem that were performing the same kinds of tasks, the only difference between them and Dorothy being that she was black. The other supervisor lady (I forgot her name) kept telling her that her group didn’t need a supervisor because they were doing fine without one, despite Dorothy being the one holding it all together and doing the job of a supervisor without the pay. She brings this up again and again, only to be ignored and disregarded each time until she finally calls out the explicit prejudices.
3. Katherine is stubborn in her inclusion of herself and makes herself a key part in the Space Task Group. She consistently demands to be included in everything that would be relevant to her calculations and adds her name to the reports, even though Paul Stafford keeps trying to dissuade her. Her stubbornness eventually works out, she’s noticed and her grievances are heard by her boss, Al Harrison. Mary gets to work towards her dream of becoming an engineer in a similar fashion. She refuses to listen to those trying to tell her it’s impossible when she can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Not even her husband can convince her to quit. She keeps working and working until she petitions a court to allow her to be the first African American woman to attend classes at an all-white school, a requirement if she is to achieve her goal. Of course, she is met with more scorn when she gets there, but she won’t back down or run away scared from the scoffers. Meanwhile, and I’m noticing a trend here, Dorothy gets the job she’s been shooting for by stubbornly asserting herself wherever a need presents itself. She demands a supervising job again and again to no avail, so she takes another approach when she sees a possible threat to her and her girls’ jobs. She makes herself a necessity and proves her worth by trying over and over to get the attention she deserves. She finally stands up to the woman that seems to be in charge of the tasks by calmly informing her of the bias she wasn’t even aware of and subtly confronting her. Dorothy eventually is given the job and secures work for the people that would have been left behind.
1. The title “Hidden Figures” takes on two different meanings. Firstly, it can be taken literally, as much of the calculations and numbers involved with the Mercury 7 missions were unknown or hidden, until Katherine discovered them. Secondly, the title “Hidden Figures” can refer to the protagonists Mary, Katherine, and Dorothy. As they are all African American women, they and their efforts at NASA often went unnoticed or “hidden.”
2. Katherine was affected by Jim Crow discrimination in the workplace several times. This is seen when she got her own coffee jug, which was never filled, and when she had to walk half a mile to use the colored restroom. Not only did these things cause her to feel different or worse than her coworkers, they also caused her to be much less productive. Each of Katherine’s trips to the bathroom took around 40 minutes in total, as she had to walk across the entire NASA facility to use the colored restroom. Mary also experienced Jim Crow discrimination when she attempted to study to become an engineer but was denied admission because the school was for whites only. This made Mary all the more determined to become an engineer, and it ultimately resulted in Mary petitioning a court to let her attend the school.
3. Katherine overcame the obstacles of Jim Crow discrimination in the workplace by complaining to her boss, Mr. Harrison, about how difficult these things made her job. Upon hearing her story, Mr. Harrison decided to abolish segregated coffee and bathrooms. Katherine also overcame the obstacle of being regarded as less competent than her co-workers due to her skin color and the fact that she is a woman. She proved her competency by figuring out the unknown calculations involved in the Mercury 7 mission. Mary overcame the obstacle of school segregation in Virginia. She did this by going to court and convincing the judge to allow her to attend an all-white school in order to become an engineer. After the court hearing, she attended that school and became NASA’s first African American female engineer. Dorothy faced discrimination in the workplace when she was denied the position of supervisor for the west computing wing, despite her already doing the work of a supervisor. She ended up being promoted after she learned the Fortran coding language and proved that she could operate the IBM computers.
The title hidden figures refers to multiple components of the film. Firstly, it symbolizes the work of Katherine and others being behind the scenes due to discrimination. People were hesitant to give Katherine an opportunity to contribute to NASA’s efforts like the other white men were able to. Katherine, Mary, Dorothy and others were hidden figures behind NASA’s success. The title also refers to the literal math calculations Katherine had to do. Hidden figures can symbolize the math Katherine completed to go beyond scratching the surface, and successfully putting a man in space. Mathematics and lack of visibility for black women were themes shown through the entire film.
Katherine had to overcome a segregated work environment . She was forced to rush across the property and into another building to find a bathroom that permitted people of color. Not only was this terribly racist, but it took lots of time away from her calculations and forced her to work even faster than others to make up the time. Mary Jackson faced severe racial discrimination in her engineering efforts as well. Though Mary was extremely intelligent and qualified, she was rejected from classes that only allowed white students. Additionally, Mary was forced to stay on her toes to keep her job. The requirements for NASA engineering were constantly changed to deter people of color from progressing in the program.
Katherine overcame the obstacles in front of her by refusing to settle with the conditions people at NASA tried to place on her. She never stopped demonstrating her intelligence and drive. When her coworkers challenged her clearance for the data, Katherine worked around it to get the job done. Mary Jackson fought against discrimination within the schooling system, and opened doors for many future engineers of color. Dorothy was threatened by being replaced with large computers. She worked around the clock to help her team adapt and remain an asset to NASA.
1. The title “Hidden Figures” has multiple meanings from a mathematical and character standpoint. When Kathrine got promoted to her new job at Nasa, her main goal was to try to crack the code to the rocket’s launch problems. The problem was that the “code” she was trying to crack was math that had yet to even be discovered. This unknown math sequence represents the title of hidden figures because Kathrine and her team had to discover hidden problems/figures. Secondly Katherine, Dorothy and Mary’s characters represent the title hidden figures. This is because during this time period, black women working in higher-up positions at Nasa weren’t allowed. Nasa’s math department was struggling to work out the math and needed more brains to help them, though they didn’t allow brilliant mathematicians who were black females to work for them. Kathrine was the key component to working out the math but was hidden because of the racial segregation of the time period.
2. Two examples of Jim Crow laws affecting the main characters were the separate bathrooms and not letting black women become engineers. When Kathrine got her new job, there wasn’t a black bathroom in her new building so anytime she needed to go, she had to walk over half a mile just to use the bathroom. This caused Kathrine to be very late back to work everyday and this wouldn’t have been a problem if bathrooms weren’t segregated. Secondly, Mary was looking to further her job at Nasa by becoming an engineer but in order to do so, she would need further education. This specific schooling wasn’t allowed for black people at the time so Mary had to get a special order from a court to attend only night lectures. Despite these setbacks, all of the characters succeeded in their professions.
3. Kathrine faced many challenges but one for example was calculating an exact landing coordinate while being inside a meeting room with some of the highest government members. She made a precise answer by using her smarts and helped ensure that John Glenn would reenter at the perfect location. Dorothy wasn’t allowed to become a supervisor of the IBM machine because it wasn’t allowed to be operated by a black woman. After Dorothy successfully proved to work the machine, she was made the first supervisor over the machine. Mary was looking to become an engineer but that type of education wasn’t allowed to African Americans during this time period. In a well-spoken speech she convinced a judge to allow her to attend a college to gain further education.
1. I think the title of the film “hidden figures” is shown throughout the entirety of the film. It is shown through all of the African American women who were in the film working at NASA. these women are not seen or appreciated for the work they do because of the time. Many women and especially African American women were not seen as equal to men, they were seen as not as smart or not as good compared to white men. The title represents all these women who were “hidden” in different science or math careers and this film shows all the hard work and discrimination they endured.
2. There was a lot of racism and discrimination towards the black women working at Nasa throughout the film. One example of Jim Crow discrimination that we see through Katherine was when she was moved up to work with the calculations. When she first walked into the room everyone looked at her weirdly because she was a woman and an African American. Also, every time she had to use the restroom she would have to travel to a different building so she could go to the colored restroom. Another example is shown when Dorothy was doing the work of a supervisor but she was denied the position or the pay for all of the extra work she was doing.
4. The workplace that Dorothy, Katherine, and Mary are in is dominated by males and they experience lots of sexism throughout the film. Katherine had to run to a whole different building to use the restroom because there were only white bathrooms in the building she was moved up to. As Katherine was moved up in positions lots of the men in the workplace didn’t think she was capable of working with the rest of the white men.
1. Explain how the title “Hidden Figures” has different layers of meaning for this film and time period.
Everyone has heard of Neil Armstrong, and some have heard of Fred W. Wolf (The person who created the household refrigerator), but not everyone knows of Sally Ride, the first American women in space, and Lillian Moller Gilbreth, the person who invented shelves in refrigerators and created kitchen designs for disabled people. Both these women are incredibly important for our country, and helped us pave the way for other girls in our country. Sally Ride showed that women can do anything a man could, and Lillian Gilbreth invented something extremely important for our food. Even though these women were instrumental for our country, history won’t remember them as much as they did Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, and Fred Wolf, the genius who invented household refrigerators. Even though Alan Shepard and NASA couldn’t have launched Shepard into space (as soon as they did), history wouldn’t remember or honor Katherine Johnson (until the book Hidden Figures came out) and all the important math she did in order for the flight of Shepard to be successful. Dorothy Vaughan would be the very first African American to be promoted and the first African American to become a manager. Mary Jackson would become the first African American women to become a engineer and would show it was possible for minorities to achieve their dreams. Hidden Figures has an alternate meaning in the way that the three women had a massive impact on our countries history, but they weren’t recognized for their work (until much later); therefore being called ‘Hidden Figures’, because they were hidden from the public. These three women, despite their importance on history, would only become recognized by the public when Margot Lee Shetterly published her book; Hidden Figures.
2. Provide at least 2 specific examples of Jim Crow discrimination or racism perpetrated by the white characters and how they affected Katherine, Mary, and / or Dorothy.
I can’t remember his name, but the guy who was constantly rude to Katherine, and said, “My numbers are spot on”. He opposed Katherine going into the meeting because she was an African American women. Another example of racial discrimination was when the librarian called the cops on Dorothy for trying to checkout a book in the white section. This was blatant racism and Jim Crow discrimination, because it was because she was African American. Jim Crow discrimination also happened when there was segregated bathrooms and it caused Katherine to have to leave work everyday for 40 minutes. Mary overcame Jim Crow Laws when she went to an all white college.
3. This is a story of overcoming challenges that white society put in the way of our main characters. How did all three women overcame these obstacles.
Katherine overcame the social normality that women weren’t either smart or they weren’t important enough to work with the men in the important math areas. Dorothy overcame the social norm that black people couldn’t have positions of power over / become bosses of white people. Mary overcame the Jim Crow Laws that said she couldn’t attend an all white college.
1.)The movie title resembles both the hiding of the characters because of their department in NASA and its much lesser publicity along with the color of these women’s skin. In the film, we find three African American NASA employees, none of which are astronauts who would receive the bulk of the praise regarding space travel. Instead, these three women consist of a supervisor, an engineer, and a human calculator. All of these are jobs that stay mostly under the radar and much out of the public eye. To add to this, these three women end up playing major roles in the advancement of space travel and African American rights. Despite this, their names, before the film, were relatively unknown, which really nails the title of this film, seeing that their contributions had gone unnoticed. Overall, this film was titled “hidden figures” to represent both their line of work and their unearthed importance.
3.) Beginning with Dorothy, she tackled her struggles of obtaining the label of supervisor over her friends in her work section. She tackled this by refusing to give up, she made constant attempts to request the position, and after much denial, she took it upon herself to make her value known. She did this by learning how to operate the new IBM machine in NASA’s headquarters and teaching her workmates how to as well. This led to her and her girls being chosen to run the numbers for the machine and operate it. Seeing that she was the only worker fit to not only operate the machine but teach others how to, she earned herself the long-awaited title of NASA’s first African American supervisor. Mary wasn’t allowed to become an engineer since she didn’t have the proper education which could only be obtained at a “white” school. To tackle this, she made a brilliant case with a judge and won herself the right to take said courses and become NASA’s first African American female engineer. Katherine struggled with discrimination in the office setting with her having to run a mile to use the bathroom and her own coffee cup. She pushed through this by speaking up, despite the standards of the time, she complained to Al Harrison, and convinced him of her mistreatment, leading him to take down the “colored” bathroom signs and allowing Katherine to work more comfortably.
4.) Sexism affects all the girl’s careers via underestimation, placement, and judgment. In Katherine’s work, Jim along with the other male scientists frequently doubts her ability and throws mere busy work in her direction, and even her soon-to-be husband makes a foul statement questioning her ability in her line of work. With Dorothy, she is only seen supervising fellow women such as in the IBM room and her initial office, which raises the question of why were there no men. Was Dorothy not trusted enough since she was a woman to teach men? Lastly, Mary finds sexism in the classroom, when she walks into it and is greeted by a class full of men who all give her strange looks, even the teacher is caught off guard, this shows that her line of work was deemed a mans job at the time. Ultimately, all three girls encountered trouble within their work due to their gender, whether that was because of the opinions of the others around them, or the lack of trust given to them.
Explain how the title “Hidden Figures” has different layers of meaning for this film and time period.
The title “Hidden Figures” refers to the work that was done by Katherine Goble, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson. The title “Hidden Figures” refers to the fact that because the people who were doing the most important large-scale trajectories were female and African-American, they were pushed into the background.
Provide at least 2 specific examples of Jim Crow discrimination or racism perpetrated by the white characters and how they affected Katherine, Mary, and/or Dorothy.
In one scene toward the middle of the movie, Dorothy takes her kids to the library. Because she is a woman of color the IBM book is not in the “colored” section. And because of the Jim Crow laws in place at the time, African Americans were not allowed to obtain books that they wanted to get. When Katherine first goes to work at the head trajectory office, she went to get coffee. The white men made a smaller, crappier pot that nobody wanted to drink out of because it was labeled “colored”. A small segment shows a Black Man getting a drink of water at a public drinking fountain. There is a white mother and a white child who are just standing there on the sidewalk. The white mother, seeing the black man get close to them, moves the little white girl away. Jim Crow laws affected the way all the African-Americans were treated. Because of the extreme racism in life/workplace, many African Americans were discriminated against because of the color of their skin. When Mary fought for her spot to enroll in the Affirmative Action Program and Office of Equal Opportunity Programs in NASA, which was a program hosted at an all-white school, the court initially declined. After Mary reasoned with the Judge, she was allowed to enroll in the program.
This is a story of overcoming challenges that white society put in the way of our main characters. How did all three women overcome these obstacles?
Mary fights the court for her position in the NASA training program at an all-white school. She fought the court and won. Dorothy fought against white oppression to get the manager position. Katherine convinced everyone that she was a smart and important and powerful person and gained axis to top-secret documents John Glenn would not go into space without Katherine’s numbers.
1.The title hidden figures can be interpreted as the alienation these women have endured preventing their talent from being recognized. These women’s abilities were “hidden” behind their identities as women and African American. Without these women’s determination they would have never been recognized, talent hidden away.Their capabilities were overlooked as well as the large role they played in NASA.Their contributions were overshadowed by their male counterparts.
4. As if racial discrimination wasn’t enough these women also had to face sexism. These women were alienated and their abilities were constantly questioned. A good example is when Kathrine expressed the importance of her being present at meetings and was met with the remark “but you’re a woman” by one of her male coworkers. Thanks to Katherine’s boss’s open mind she was allowed in. Mary too faced the same discrimination but in the form of education. When Mary pursued a higher education she was initially withheld from the university on the basis of being an African American womens. Lastly Dorthy was no exception as her intelligence was questioned by her coworkers but she time after time proved herself. For example Dorothy was able to fix the computer machine even though she was told she wasn’t allowed to be there.
3.Despite constant disapproval from everyone around them these women continued to pursue their careers at NASA. Being an African American woman at NASA was already an accomplishment but they went further. These women held their ground and made people give them the respect they deserved. They did not tolerate sexism and racism and broke boundaries like racial discrimination in bathrooms and equal opportunities. Despite racist boundaries holding them back they persevered, surpassing many of their white coworkers.They continued to advance their careers, becoming an essential part of NASA’s moon landing.
Explain how the title “Hidden Figures” has different layers of meaning for this film and time period.
The title Hidden figures is super intentional in the creation of the film. The three main characters are African American Women, some of the most discriminated against at the time due to their race and gender. The movie highlights the hidden talents and strategies these women are able to use. Without these abilities NASA might never have gotten ahead in the space race yet as shown multiple times, they never received the recognition they deserve.
Provide at least 2 specific examples of Jim Crow discrimination or racism perpetrated by the white characters and how they affected Katherine, Mary, and / or Dorothy.
The first example of Jim Crow discrimination/ racism affects Katherine. Kathrine got promoted to work in a new building much further from the West computing room. Every day to use the bathroom it takes Kathrine 40 minutes to get all the way to the colored bathroom and back. Her boss (a white male) who doesn’t understand this problem gets mad at Katherine for never being at her desk. She finally loses it and shocks everyone by telling them why she is gone all day. Her boss takes action and knocks down the bathroom signs. A 2nd example of racism is when Dorthey is found by two white workers in the IBM machine room. They instantly assume she is vandalizing or harming the equipment when it’s quite the opposite. She ends up knowing how to work the machine better than them, becoming a supervisor.
How did sexism affect Dorothy’s, Mary’s, and Katherine’s careers? Provide specific examples.
Sexism affected all three of their careers. Mary struggled in becoming an engineer because she had to go to court in order to take an all white male class. They threw more challenges at her because they thought she lacked intelligence due to her gender. Another person whose intelligence was doubted was Kathrines. The second she stepped into her new assigned room, the men were looking her up and down. Paul, a coworker/ adviser, was appalled when Al, their boss, instructed Kathrine to check his work. He doubted her calculations and abilities because of her gender. Kathrine also wasn’t allowed into crucial, data changing meetings until towards the end of the movie.
2. One major depiction of Jim crow discrimination being perpetuated by the white characters of hidden figures, that specifically affected Mary Jackson, was when she had to go to court in order to be granted permission to be able to attend classes at a whites only highschool, because virginia had state jim crow laws that prevented her from attending the classes at the college. Their state was still segregated, under the Jim Crow laws, so legally she could not attend and was forced to present her case in front of a judge, to grant her very special permission to be able to simply attend an engineering course with the other white students. Another instance of racial discrimination, was the scene where Katherine was forced to drink from a separate coffee pot, because her white male co-workers felt too uncomfortable to drink, or even touch the same pot as her, because she was a black woman.
3. Katherine Goble-Johnson, Dorothy Vaughn, and Mary Jackson all overcame many challenges. Growing up black, and women in the Jim Crow ruled south, their entire lives revolved around their gender and race. Always getting the short end of the stick, the girls never let that stop them from going after what they wanted in life and took grasp of every opportunity they could. They maintained positive attitudes and never let it discourage them, or set them back and kept going no matter how hard it was for them, because they wanted their end goal.
4. Sexism affected the women’s careers heavily, almost as much as their race did. For starters, Katherine was denied access to the meetings, even though she needed to be there to keep up with the changes happening constantly, solely because she is a woman and Paul Stafford reasoned it as “there was no protocol for women attending the meetings.” Another example of how much it is a man’s world. Women were only ever hired as computers or assistants, and nothing more. Mary Jackson challenged this by becoming one of the first african-american, female aerospace engineer to work for NASA. Being talented enough didn’t matter, if you didn’t have networking and man, otherwise your supervisors would overlook you, oftentimes ignored.
3.
These three women were not ready to have their potentials shut down by white males who thought they were better than them. Mary fought in court for her right and changed the judges mind that she deserved to go to an all white high school to take engineering courses. Katherine stood up in the room against all of the white men and spoke her mind about how she was treated and the work she was put in. No one even knew that just to go to the bathroom was a 10 minute walk, maybe more. Dorothy repeatedly spoke to her advisor about the supervisor position as she had already taken leadership initiative, she did not quit and when she was promoted she refused to go unless her girls came with her.
4.
Katherine was the only woman other than the girl who posed as an assistant in the space task room. When Mr. Harrison addressed the group he referred to them all as “men” or told this to “go call their wives”. This was a time of extreme segregation in genders especially in the facilities such as NASA because there was an ideal that women could never be as smart as men. Dorothy was stuck in the room with all the women for a majority of the movie, but at the end of the movie we are told she is known as one of the most brilliant minds at NASA. Dorothy had so much potential, she fixed the machine in a fraction of the time that it would have taken the men, because she was a black woman she was overlooked.
5.
The Civil Rights movement plays as a backdrop because the country’s main focus was to prove to the Soviets that they were superior, at that point in time nothing else mattered. We hear Mary say in her anger over not being able to get her engineering degree, something along the lines of “Virginia acts like Brown v. Board of Education never happened”. This shows that the steps that had been taken to integrate schools had not been taken seriously or followed through.
1.On one level, “Hidden Figures” refers to the job positions held by the main characters, Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson who worked as mathematicians and computer programmers at NASA. Their work used complex calculations and trajectory plotting necessary for space missions. These women were hidden in the sense that their contributions were often not seen, recognized, or downplayed due to racial and gender discrimination. Another layer of meaning in the title revolves around the women’s perseverance and their eventual break into the spotlight. Despite the obstacles and problems they faced the main characters exceptional talent and determination allowed them to shatter the stereotypes on their race and gender. With their achievements they emerged from the shadows as figures of importance, their brilliance and contributions revealed to the world.
2.One significant example of Jim Crow discrimination in the film is the segregation of facilities based on race.b Katherine Johnson is assigned to work in the Space Task Group which was all white worker before she came. As an African-American woman, she comes across numerous discriminatory practices. For instance, she is initially not allowed to use the “white” restroom near her work area. This forces her to run across the campus to a segregated “colored” restroom, which is farther away. Another example is with the character Mary. Mary aspires to become an engineer and desires to take advanced engineering courses at al segregated high school. But she faces obstacles when the school refuses to allow her to attend the classes because they are offered at an all-white school.
3. Despite Kathrine’s talent and mathematical knowledge, she initially struggled to gain recognition and acceptance in the predominantly white and male-dominated Space Task Group at NASA. However, she overcame these obstacles through her dedication and contributions to the space program. Mary’s ambition to become an engineer was set back by segregation and discriminatory practices. However, she refused to let societal limitations define her abilities. Dorothy faced the threat of being replaced by an IBM mainframe computer, which posed a risk to the job security of her and her team which was comprised mostly of African-American women. Recognizing the need to adapt, Dorothy took it upon herself to learn programming languages and learn the operation of the new IBM computer.
The title of the movie, “Hidden Figures” has many different meanings. First, is the part about the three women, Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson, being hidden. They did so much work and were absolutely instrumental in the work of NASA’s space programs but were never fully recognized, especially in their time. They stayed basically hidden in the background but they became monumental figures in NASA’s efforts. Next, I think the title could be referring to figures in a math sense that they needed to figure out for the rockets to work but were “hidden” if that makes sense but they all uncovered them.
There are so many examples of racism in this film but two stand out in my opinion, Dorothy Vaughan’s struggle to become a supervisor even thought she was already doing the work for that role, and also the situation Katherine had with the bathrooms. Dorothy Vaughan was fulfilling the role of a supervisor and covering the duties but was refused to be listened to and brushed aside to get the title she deserved. Katherine realized that there were no bathrooms for black people anywhere near where she was working so every day, she had to walk half a mile just to get to the bathroom and after a while, she got in trouble. Her bosses reaction was to let her use whatever bathroom she needed to but the point is that nobody realized it until she said it.
The civil rights movement plays as a backdrop for the space race as a part of the civil war because so many of the people fighting for their civil rights were also aiding the fight against communism for the “freedom” that they themselves are not granted. They have to fight for both their rights within the workplace and outside of it for two different reasons.
Blog #155
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1) The title of the film, Hidden Figures, represents the history of these important figures that have been left out of school history books as well as popular media. The importance of this title is that some people get overlooked for their work because of their race, sex, social standing etc; and we never learn who they were/what they did, we just see the bigger picture, which leaves them out, hiding them and their work behind others who take the credit. The figures displayed in the film were women at a time where women were openly discriminated against in the workplace, and black in the Jim Crow south. This meant that whatever they did, society would demean and overlook.
2)Two examples of Jim Crow discrimination perpetrated by white characters was when Jim Parson would not trust Taraji P. Henson with information, and constantly demeaned her while she did her work. Another example would be when the white male IBM workers got mad at Octavia Spencer for using the machines while they didn’t know how to use them, and she could work them perfectly. They thought that she was not qualified or trustworthy enough to work with the machinery. In the end, both women were allowed to do their work, but not without them being the only people who could do their job as America desperately tried to get the launch. This means that even while they were overly qualified and the best in their field, they were still doubted and demeaned.
4) Sexism affected Dorothy’s, Mary’s, and Katherine’s careers through constantly being undermined and disrespected in their fields. They were told that their minds and bodies were too fragile and dumb to do men’s work. For example, women at NASA were only given jobs computing and checking numbers, because anything past that was deemed too hard for them. This was something that they persevered through and became exceptional at, gaining their standing above all of the men in their fields, doing math better than them, and fixing their plans only to eventually not be credited for their hard work in history. Without them, NASA probably would not have gotten into space as fast as it did, and surely would not have been first to the moon. Even after this, the environment and overall workspace of the time still patronized and attacked them for being strong independent women making livings for themselves. I can confidently say that even though these women were hard workers who took big roles, their paychecks probably did not reflect that, as women at the time were not paid as well as the men.
1. The title of the movie hidden figures is complex when looking at the context of the film itself. The more obvious answer to what the title really means describes the women that the film follows. The main characters work behind the scenes at NASA and are very underappreciated compared to their white and male counterparts. The film follows their journeys as they all work towards their goals and in doing so, gain respect. One deeper meaning of the title that I took away from the movie speaks about black people in America as a whole. Hidden figures can represent the underrepresented black Americans that have been one of the driving forces in everything throughout American history.
2. There were multiple examples of the Jim Crowe laws that affected the main characters in our film immensely. Nearing the climax of our movie, a big issue arose when Katherine was forced to run across the campus of NASA to use the bathroom because there weren’t any colored women’s restrooms in the building she was working in. Another example was when Mary was attempting to join classes at a college in order to become an actual engineer for NASA. During this time, all-white colleges were all too common and Mary’s attempt to join classes to get the degree was shot down. She had to petition in front of a judge to actually attend these classes. Jim Crowe affected the characters in this film many times and in many different forms.
3. Racism was the driving factor behind this movie, as seen in the specific stories of all of our three main characters. To begin with, Katherine when she was moved to her job to compute, was seen and spoken to as less than others and had to persevere and fight for a seat at the table. Next, Mary’s struggle with racism occurred when she attempted to take classes in order to become an engineer. She was turned away from an all-white university and had to petition in front of a judge. Lastly, Dorothy was also referred to as a lesser employee and had to fight and figure out new ways to keep a job for her and all of the other calculators that worked for her.
The reason why the title hidden figures has such a different meaning for this time is that, It doesn’t just relate to Dorothy, Mary, and Katherine, It relates to how colored people women, and people from minority groups are just hidden in the background. Until the first time I watched this movie back in 2017, I never heard of these influential women; while the moon landing and all of the successes were talked about in the news constantly that they’d become part of the American cultural norm of things you should know. Yet the woman that had the hardest, most difficult, and most important role in the moon landing got almost no attention. As the title says, They were hidden figures.
2. The way Jim Crow discrimination affected Dorothy is evident in the library scene. Dorothy is with her kids in the library after passing a segregation protest outside. Dorothy’s kids are reading their books on the floor of the white section while Dorothy is looking for a book. While looking for a book a white lady came to Dorothy and assumed she was there to cause trouble. Dorothy and her children were unfairly kicked out of the library by a Police officer. As an effect of Jim Crow Discrimination, Dorothy was immediately assumed to be a troublemaker while she was just peacefully checking out books. She was wrongfully kicked out of the library and this obviously left a feeling of inferiority in her children.
3. All these three women overcame these challenges by proving their ability to accomplish what any white man could, even when the bar was set Higher for them they reached it. For example Mary met all the standards it took to be a mathmatician at NASA’s Langly research center; yet because of her physical appearance her Position wasn’t accepted. A new bar was set out of the blue which forced he to go back to school, instead of complaining, Mary finished the course and got the Job she sought for. Katherine was undermined and none of her coworkers valued her Advanced geometry prowess, but Katherine calculated the flight path for America’s first crewed space mission and the moon landing, and got some of the respect she deserved for it. For Dorothy, When her Job at Langley becomes permanent in 1946, the risk pays off as she goes on to become a supervisor and later the head of West Computers. Being in charge gives Dorothy the chance to show off her leadership and organizing abilities. She learns programming to find another method to stay relevant when her role is no longer necessary. Dorothy uses her voice to stand up for equal pay for the women under her supervision. They all showed ability to adapt against the odds and succeed in an unfair game.
1. Explain how the title “Hidden Figures” has different layers of meaning for this film and time period.
I feel that the idea of hidden figures refers to the women themselves behind this launch for many years , who were doing this work and people didn’t see them. They were basically the hidden force behind the launch; mathematics conducted by the women . It is also a powerful reminder of the destructive consequences of discrimination and segregation, but it also holds important lessons for women in technology about how to excel even under challenging circumstances in their lives. It showed the struggle that was there in this time period not only being a woman but being a different race.
2. Provide at least 2 specific examples of Jim Crow discrimination or racism perpetrated by the white characters and how they affected Katherine, Mary, and / or Dorothy.
Dorothy is the manager and de-facto supervisor of a group of “computers”—about thirty black women, all skilled mathematicians—that includes Katherine and Mary. Dorothy is awaiting a formal promotion to supervisor, but a talk with a senior administrator makes clear that it’s not to be; the clear but unspoken reason is her race. In the movie , Dorothy seeks out a book from the local library (a segregated library from which she’s thrown out), in which she’ll learn the programming language Fortran; and she soon becomes nasa’s resident expert. On that trip to the library, with her two sons, they witness a protest by civil-rights activists chanting “segregation must go” and see police officers, with police dogs, approaching the protesters. Dorothy and her sons pause and look. She tells them some key facts “pay attention that we’re not part of that trouble.” But, sitting in the back of the bus with them, she emphasizes that “separate and equal aren’t the same thing,” and adds, “If you act right, you are right.”
Katherine Goble, the widowed mother of three young girls—she’s selected from the pool of mathematicians to join the main research group, headed by Al Harrison. There, she’s the only black person and the only woman. She shows her mathematical genius, but not before being mistaken for the department custodian in the building. She is also forced to drink from a coffeepot labelled “colored”; and treated dismissively by the lead researcher, Paul Stafford and told to walk a half-mile to her former office in order to use the “colored ladies’ room.” The colored restroom is depleted and dilapidated facility in comparison to the well-appointed and welcoming white-women’s bathroom . This was a clear example of the meaning of “separate but unequal.”
4. How did sexism affect Dorothy’s, Mary’s, and Katherine’s careers? Provide specific examples.
Mary, who is gifted with engineering skill, is summoned to a team led by an engineer named Zielinski (Olek Krupa), a Polish-Jewish who escaped the Holocaust and who encourages her to seek formal certification as an engineer. To do so, Mary will have to take additional classes—but the only school that offers them is a segregated one, whites-only, from which she’s barred. Mary’s struggle takes place in a public forum: she petitions a Virginia state court for permission to take the needed night classes in a segregated school. She’s not represented by a lawyer, and speaks on her own behalf; but, rather than making her case in open court, she makes a personal plea to the judge that’s as much about him and his outlook as it is about her, and her work and its usefulness. What her plea isn’t about is law, rights, or justice. Mary was basically discriminated for her race, so she could not become an engineer.
Dorothy’s pursuit of a formal promotion to supervisor also takes place against the backdrop of the civil-rights movement. She took on the responsibility of serving as an interim supervisor but she was denied the title and pay for a whole year because she was a black woman .
Katherine, too, fights for her dignity and for opportunities at work. Her calculations very soon prove to be needed in the effort to put the first American astronaut, Alan Shepard, into outer space. She’s fighting prejudice against blacks, against women (none has ever been admitted to a Pentagon briefing, where she can get the information she needs for her analyses), and against bureaucracy itself. Paul who is the department’s resident genius, and to whom she reports, is so resentful of his subordinate—a black woman, He was so upset that Katherine was outshining him in mathematical talent and insight. Katherine also did the math, but her white male colleague got the title and pay, while his name was the only one listed on the report (even though the numbers were Katherine’s work).
2.) A specific example of sexism would be the Nasa hearings that Katherine was not allowed to attend. During the film, Katherines supervision consistently denies her access to attend meetings that were essential to the success of the friendship seven. As explained by Mr. Stafford Katherine was not allowed to participate in pentagon meetings because she is a woman. Another example of sexism in hidden figures would be Mary Jackson’s work as an engineer. Towards the beginning of the film, Mary Jackson was told that she would be a great engineer. After hearing this, Mary Jackson decides to pursue her goals of becoming an engineer. After applying, Mary Jackson gets smited by her husband who feared that Mary Jackson could get hurt working as an engineer. Mary Jackson gets the credentials and does all the work only to realize that she has to take a class at an all white high school because she is a black woman. This idea shows how white privilege controlled Mary Jacksons, Katherine Johnson, and Dorothy Vaughns lives in nasa making it impossible for them to get the recognition that they deserved.
3.) The women in hidden figures overcome sexism by challenging the system. Dorothy Vaugn, despite being kicked out by a police officer from a library, still took a book she was restricted to read on the bus. Dorothy Vaughn fought racism and sexism by putting matters into her own hands and taking control of the situation better than her white male superiors. Katherine Johonson worked as a calculator that defined gender norms in nasa by fighting against her superior, Stafford, by flat out exclaiming her role that she felt she deserved. Her success made her the first African American woman to attend a pentagon meeting playing a major part in the launch and landing of John Glen. Mary Jackson overcame racism as well sexism when she went to court against an all white jury and won, allowing to take classes at an all white high school. Mary Jackson proved that she could break racial and gender barriers even despite being a female African American and can become an engineer.
5.) The Civil rights movement was the first in a series of outspoken critics of racism and white privilege. The Civil rights movement made separate but equal no more allowing more and more African Americans to get educated and get jobs previously inaccessible to them because of the color of their skin. The Civil rights movement was a fight against white privilege at its surface. It took Sputnik and the failure of the Redstone rocket for Nasa to realize that they were behind in what would be known as the cold war. When Nasa finally allowed the hidden figures to take upon positions of importance, change was made and eventually, America would make it to the moon. These accomplishments were possible because of the Civil Rights movement taking full force. In hidden figures, this is most evident when the director of Nasa dramatically removed the colored restroom from the building. This act set the stage for Nasa and symbolically represents that color has been holding them back. After this scene, everything changed for the better, furthermore setting Nasa from 2nd to first place in the infamous Cold War.
1. The name “Hidden Figures” captures the complex meanings that run through it. It stands for the untold tales of the remarkable African-American women who defied societal norms and racial barriers to make a significant contribution to NASA’s space program. These exceptional African-American women mathematicians worked tirelessly behind the scenes, crunching numbers and resolving challenging equations to make sure that important space missions were successful while remaining unnoticed. Because of their race and gender, the system ignored and disregarded their talents, hiding their brilliance and dedication. The title also references the wider social setting of the era, reflecting the widespread prejudice and discrimination that restricted these extraordinary women to history’s background. The movie shines a spotlight on the unsung heroes of the past, recognizing their determination, intelligence, and spirit while inspiring a new generation to face and remove the current barriers.
2. There were many ways that racism/sexism affected Kathrine, Dorthy, and Mary. According to Mary’s professor, the material wasn’t intended for women. Mary’s learning opportunities are limited by dealing with a racist teacher, which has an impact on her engineering career. Because they were browsing the white section of the library, an officer grabbed one of Dorothy’s sons by force and took Dorothy and her other sons outside. Only because she was trying to understand the language of this electronic computer for her job.
5. The Civil Rights Movement served as an important historical backdrop for the battle against the Cold War’s space race. The United States and the Soviet Union engaged in a race for space dominance in the 1960s as African Americans fought for equal rights and the end of racial segregation. Events like the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the March on Washington brought attention to the fight for equality, highlighting how important the space race was. Katherine Johnson, an African American mathematician, served an important part at NASA as an example of the potential for inclusion and diversity in scientific endeavors. Space exploration developed a greater meaning as the Civil Rights Movement gained momentum, connecting social justice and equality concerns to the goals of reaching the moon.
How did sexism affect Dorothy’s, Mary’s, and Katherine’s careers? Provide specific examples.
Sexism was very prominent in this period and when Katherine first stepped into the research place with all the white men in the same outfits, they all looked at her weird, partly because she was black and partly because she was a woman. Dorothy was denied being a supervisor because she was a woman even though she had all the qualifications Mrs. Mitchell didn’t pass her supervisor’s request because there was no need for a supervisor for colored women. Mary was denied the opportunity to become an engineer because she was a woman and she had the stuff needed to become a wonderful engineer at NASA yet they denied her because she was a woman.
Provide at least 2 specific examples of Jim Crow discrimination or racism perpetrated by the white characters and how they affected Katherine, Mary, and/or Dorothy.
The head mathematician in the research facility didn’t give Katherine the necessary stuff for her to check his math because it was “perfect” and because she was black and a woman he didn’t think was smart enough for the NASA math program. When Dorothy was getting a book from the library some white lady went up to her and said “I don’t want any trouble so go back to the colored section” which is an example of segregation. Jim Crow laws were also visible on the bus when Dorothy and her kids went and sat in the colored section in the back of the bus.
This is a story of overcoming challenges that white society put in the way of our main characters. How did all three women overcome these obstacles?
Kathrine made tons of calculations that the white men wouldn’t have been able to do and was a real help to NASA. She overcame many challenges like the people in charge not wanting a colored woman to work with them and not crediting her for her hard work. Kathrine went to an all white school in order to get a degree in engineering which is a male lead job choice and she had to go to a judge in order for her to be able to attend that school. Dorothy had to take a book out of the library from the white section and had the cops called on her after a white person was being quite racist towards her. Dorothy had to take out this book in order to become the lead supervisor for the IBM machines and for her to help get job security for her and her workers.