Hidden Figures. By Patrick by Patrick Rieder

Trait 1

32prieder — 2025-02-24 17:09:00 UTC

Dorothy Vaughan is fearless because she stood up against the odds to be a black female and have a good job. At the time, segregation was common in most jobs, especially computing. Most computing jobs were held by white males with good educations, none of which applied to her.

When WW2 broke out "NACA" was desperate because most of their workers were white men who got sent off to war so she got hired. According to the text, “With the country ramping up for war, civil service jobs opened up for Black workers in unprecedented numbers.” This shows how the demand for smart people skyrocketed because everyone went to war.

Trait 2

32prieder — 2025-02-24 22:07:05 UTC

Dorothy Vaughan was incredibly determined. She always tried to be outstanding. She always tried to be equal. She always wanted to do her best. The text states, "Dorothy knew her work was making a difference in the outcome of the war." This is exactly why she always wanted to do the best work possible.

Trait 3

32prieder — 2025-02-24 22:50:50 UTC

Dorothy Vaughan is a leader because when her boss became mentally ill, she took charge of the office and started leading everyone in her computing room. The text states, "The engineers at the laboratory decided to choose Dorothy to be the temporary head of the entire section." She eventually became a great leader by helping everyone with everything they needed, said, or struggled with.

Katherine's Traits

32prieder — 2025-02-24 23:09:04 UTC

☛She is humble because when she does something incredible she never brags.

☛She is a trailblazer because she sent Alan Shepard to space during the space race and inspired many young women to be like her.

☛She is hard working because when she has work to do she goes above and beyond and spends extra time trying to do the task at hand.

Mary's Traits

32prieder — 2025-02-24 23:14:32 UTC

☛Mary is courageous. Instead of giving up because of segregation, she kept trying to pursue her education and job.

☛Mary is humble. She didn't brag when she became an engineer.

☛Mary is ambitious; she did her best to become an engineer and succeeded.

Christine's traits

32prieder — 2025-02-25 16:10:52 UTC

☛Perserverent-She worked hard and made it to a mainly male-dominated area.

☛Smart – She became amazing at math and engineering, playing a big part in supersonic flight research.

☛Resilient– She faced challenges as a black woman in STEM and persisted in making major contributions.

Historical Things I learned

32prieder — 2025-02-25 16:26:28 UTC

◉ Segregation was a much bigger problem than I thought. They even segregated workspace!

◉These women played a massive part in winning World War 2 and the Space Race.

◉Some people like Miriam Mann were willing to take risks to fight against segregation, like taking down segregated bathroom signs.

◉Wind tunnels were incredibly like the sky's conditions. I thought they were just made to create insanely loud sounds.

◉The Bell X-1, which Dorothy Vaughan worked on, was the first plane to break the sound barrier.

◉Computers back then were people! Not machines. (They didn't run on electricity!)

◉The Jim Crow laws said that blacks got paid less then whites.

HIDDEN FIGURES PADLET BY PATRICK

32prieder — 2025-02-26 01:23:47 UTC

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TITLE

32prieder — 2025-02-26 01:33:10 UTC

The author chose "Hidden Figures" to express that they do not get the recognition they deserve. It relates to the book because in the book it says that black people and women did most of the work and white male engineers would claim it as their own. In reality, the people who did the reports were "hidden" and did not get their much-deserved recognition.

DOROTHY VAUGHAN PLOT

32prieder — 2025-02-26 16:11:12 UTC

Dorothy Vaughan was a talented mathematician born in Kansas City, Missouri, and was NASA's first black woman supervisor. She was hired by NACA in 1943 (which later became NASA in 1958) and worked at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory for 28 years until she retired in 1971. At work, there was a lot of gender and racial segregation, which bothered Dorothy. She overcame it by becoming the leader of her computing room and playing a major role in the Space Race. She wanted more people like her to have more freedom, be more equal, and get paid the same as others. She lived a happy rest of her life, receiving many awards for her incredible achievements until she died in 2008. Many people still honor her and respect her today for all that she has done for America.

Changes in Dorothy Vaughan

32prieder — 2025-02-27 00:55:26 UTC

When Dorothy was a child, she was hard-working and smart. Later, she graduated from Wilberforce Academy, got married, and had 6 kids. Her biggest change was when she had to learn how to use a machine that did math instead of doing her calculations on pencil and paper. The text states, "Dorothy Vaughan taught herself FORTRAN and became the first African American woman to supervise a group of staff at the center." She started becoming more adaptable, eventually becoming a pro at it. One "little" machine changed her life by making her more adaptable to big changes and overall, made her a better person.

My Thoughts On This Book

32prieder — 2025-02-27 01:29:50 UTC

This book was very interesting because it explained a lot about each person, going into depth about their lives and experiences. What most intrigued me about this book was learning about Mary Jackson. I felt like she had the most entertaining life, but the text rarely spoke about her which disappointed me. I wanted to learn more about her son's soapbox derby, her highest honors award in high school, and her dual degree in college.