https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj A mathematician who made history. en-us 2021-01-11 17:42:13 UTC 2025-08-18 04:15:59 UTC hello@padlet.com 20258813 https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1075300399 Katherine Johnson was born Katherine Coleman on August 26, 1918, in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.]]> 2021-01-11 17:45:04 UTC https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1075300399 20258813 https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1075313898 When Katherine was a child she breezed through her classes and completed the eighth grade by age 10. ]]> 2021-01-11 17:47:27 UTC https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1075313898 20258813 https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1075319768 In 1952, Johnson learned that the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was hiring African American women to serve as "computers;" namely, people who performed and checked calculations for technological developments.]]> 2021-01-11 17:48:30 UTC https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1075319768 20258813 https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1075339658 Katherine Johnson was 14 when she graduated high school.]]> 2021-01-11 17:51:58 UTC https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1075339658 20258813 https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1092286625 In 1939 Katherine Johnson was selected to be one of the first three African American students to enroll in a graduate program at West Virginia University, at Morgantown.]]> 2021-01-15 17:59:40 UTC https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1092286625 20258813 https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1092321327 In 2015 she was awarded the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom. President Barack Obama presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of 17 Americans so honored on November 24, 2015. She was cited as a pioneering example of African-American women in STEM.]]> 2021-01-15 18:07:07 UTC https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1092321327 20258813 https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1102553161 Katherine Johnson died at a retirement home in Newport News on February 24, 2020, at age 101. Following her death, Jim Bridenstine, NASA's administrator, described her as "an American hero" and stated that "her pioneering legacy will never be forgotten."]]> 2021-01-19 17:55:09 UTC https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1102553161 20258813 https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1102584334 In 1937, at age 18, Coleman graduated with highest honours from West Virginia State College (now West Virginia State University), earning bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and French.]]> 2021-01-19 18:01:00 UTC https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1102584334 20258813 https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1102587541 Katherine was 18 when she graduated college. ]]> 2021-01-19 18:01:38 UTC https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1102587541 20258813 https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1102590473 Although her town didn’t offer classes for African Americans after that point, her father, Joshua, drove the family 120 miles to Institute, West Virginia, where they lived while she attended high school. It was a public high school.]]> 2021-01-19 18:02:11 UTC https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1102590473 20258813 https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1102600953 In 1953 she began working at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA)’s West Area Computing unit, a group of African American women who manually performed complex mathematical calculations for the program’s engineers.  ]]> 2021-01-19 18:04:06 UTC https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1102600953 20258813 https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1106364542 The West Computers were segregated from the space agency’s white workers. They were forced to use separate bathrooms and dining facilities. That changed when NACA became NASA in 1958.]]> 2021-01-20 16:00:14 UTC https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1106364542 20258813 https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1111271494 While the work of electronic computers took on increased importance at NASA, Johnson remained highly valuable for her unwavering accuracy. ]]> 2021-01-21 18:01:16 UTC https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1111271494 20258813 https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1115204455 2021-01-22 18:00:17 UTC https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1115204455 20258813 https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1115206145 2021-01-22 18:00:40 UTC https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1115206145 20258813 https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1115209058 2021-01-22 18:01:22 UTC https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1115209058 20258813 https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1123241315 2021-01-25 17:44:03 UTC https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1123241315 20258813 https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1123244771 2021-01-25 17:44:40 UTC https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1123244771 20258813 https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1123281959 Katherine Johnson was a part of history that America will never forget. America will forever have her in our hearts.

]]> 2021-01-25 17:50:54 UTC https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1123281959 20258813 https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1123293350 For Katherine Johnson, calculating space flight came down to the basics of geometry: "The early trajectory was a parabola, and it was easy to predict where it would be at any point," she said. "Early on, when they said they wanted the capsule to come down at a certain place, they were trying to compute when it should start.]]> 2021-01-25 17:52:45 UTC https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1123293350 20258813 https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1141766518 Katherine and her dad driving to Institute,West Virginia]]> 2021-01-29 17:49:23 UTC https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1141766518 20258813 https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1155164023 During this time, NACA was segregated, and the West Computers had to use separate bathrooms and dining facilities. That changed in 1958 when NACA was incorporated into the newly formed National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which banned segregation.]]> 2021-02-02 18:07:49 UTC https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1155164023 20258813 https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1155170552  I said, '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 .' " As a result, the task of plotting the path for Alan Shepard's 1961 journey to space, the first in American history, fell on her shoulders.]]> 2021-02-02 18:08:58 UTC https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1155170552 20258813 https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1155172785 She performed calculations for the historic 1969 Apollo 11 trip to the moon, and the following year, when Apollo 13 experienced a malfunction in space, her contributions to contingency procedures helped ensure its safe return.]]> 2021-02-02 18:09:20 UTC https://padlet.com/newhavenpublicschools/myds0ilz1rko6znj/wish/1155172785