Hidden Heroes and Their Struggle to The Top

The fabulous forties in America was an era filled with Frank Sinatra, luxury cars, WWII, and lastly, racism. In the 2016 movie Hidden Figures. Three brave women persevere against the white patriarchy of the 1940’s. Fighting to show their intelligence and right to be on the NASA team. This movie is based on a true story, the story of Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Dorothy Vaughan struggling to get the positions they deserve in NASA as black women in a time of oppression and discrimination. The women of Hidden Figures used bravery and courage to break through racial and gender-based boundaries while changing history tremendously.

Although the officials of NASA refused to let these women into higher positions because of their gender and color, the women of Hidden Figures persevered to show NASA the extent of their intelligence, Jackson, Johnson, and Vaughan all graduated with high honors and bachelor’s degrees in science and mathematics, Mary Jackson, in particular, was accepted into the “human computer position at NASA due to her high knowledge in physical science (“Mary”). Segregation was still present in Virginia workplaces. and Mary Jackson was over having to walk a mile from her desk just to get to the “colored bathrooms (“Mary”). Meeting with a supervisor of NASA, Mary voiced her complaints about the segregation and discrimination she was experiencing, and the supervisor then invited her to a higher position. She then took more engineering classes and in time was promoted to the position of aeronautical engineer at NASA, making her NASA’s first black female engineer. Through the use of her perseverance, Mary refused to give up and kept pushing for more equal environments for black workers. Before she had spoken up, the black women of NASA were working in a basement office, far away from any other workers in the building. However, as she worked her way up through the white, mostly male, corporation, she continued to voice her opinion on changes that needed to be made. As the first black female engineer, she proved to America that everyone is equal and should be valued equally. Without Mary pushing through the system and showing NASA that her knowledge should be valued, there may not have been racial changes for decades after.

Although all of the women of Hidden Figures eventually moved up to higher positions in NASA, they would not have done so without their bravery and courage to speak up. Due to Roosevelt’s executive order to prohibit discrimination based on race. Vaughan and Johnson were among the first group of African American women to serve as NASA “computers and mathematicians (“Katherine”). However, despite Roosevelt’s executive order, local and state laws still required “colored” mathematicians to work separately from their white colleagues (Biography). Johnson was sent into the Langley Research Center, where she was curious and was always asking her supervisors questions (“Johnson”). Unlike Johnson’s colleagues, Katherine had a curious mind and talked her way into higher meetings so she could leam more. This eventually led to her becoming one of those at NASA responsible for finding how to send a man to space and bring him back (“Johnson”). Taking the higher position, Johnson was praised for her unwavering accuracy. However, if she had not been courageous and started questioning those around her. She would have never been given the incredible position. Vaughan, on the other hand, was eventually promoted to an aeronautical supervisor due to her incredible knowledge. Although she was easily given the position. Dorothy decided to use her voice and became an advocate for the women of her department, white and black (Biography). Being extremely risky for Vaughan to speak up because she could lose her job, she spoke her mind anyway, wanting to get better conditions and overdue promotions for her female coworkers. Without Vaughan and Johnson’s bravery to speak up and push their boundaries, Katherine would have never been given a better position and Vaughan would have remained in the shadows. Their bravery inspired others to speak up, as well as fight for what they deserve.

Although some may argue that these women had merely been given the opportunities they received with no hardships, they persevered to break through the racial boundaries of the 1940’s to get the positions they deserved, while also changing history. Vaughan may have been given her position easier than the others, but she still used her voice and spoke up against the gender discrimination at NASA. Speaking against her white, male superiors as a black woman was more than brave during the era. Pushing for what was needed, what promotions were necessary, was extremely courageous of Vaughan (Biography). On the other hand, some may also argue that these women did not deserve the positions, they were simply handed to them because of their race and lawsuits that were to come. However, all three women in these positions were highly intelligent and all graduated with high honors with degrees in mathematics and science (Collazo). There was nobody better qualified for the positions these women would fill. Before Johnson was given the task of calculating aeronautics, the NASA team was at a standstill in their calculations for finding where the astronaut should take off to land in a certain place. Immediately after Johnson was put on the team, she knew how to find exactly what the scientists were looking for. She told them, “Let me do it. You tell me when you want it and where you want it to land. And I’ll do it backwards and tell you when to take off” (Katherine). These women had extreme intelligence and only wanted to contribute. Their knowledge to NASA to help solve their calculations. More than qualified for the positions, these women were given their rightful jobs after speaking up and showing what they could do. Johnson, Vaughan, and Jackson worked hard for everything they got, and they didn’t stop fighting until they got it.

Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan fought for their well-deserved positions at NASA through perseverance and bravery. If not for these three women pushing through the corporate system to show their potential. Racial segregation in the workplace could have continued for decades. Being the first black, women engineers at NASA, their courage to speak up inspired others, and inspired the change in history forever.

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