-
The birth of Katherine Johnson
Katherine Johnson was born in Sulphur,West Virginia. she was the youngest of four children -
Attending High School at West Virginia College
Johnson showed mathematical abilities at an early age. At 10 she attended a high school on the campus of West Virginia College. -
Graduating from High School
Katherine graduated from high school at the age 14. -
Graduating from West Virginia State
Johnson graduated from West Virginia State at 18 with the highest honors -
Teaching in Marion,Virginia
After graduating from college she took a teaching job at a black public school in Marion,Virginia -
James Global
Katherine married her first husband James Global -
Math Program
Katherine left her teaching job and enrolled in a graduate math program she was one of the first African-American woman to attend a graduate school at West Virginia University in Morgantown -
Family
After one year Johnson quit the program after she became pregnant to focus more on her family. -
Returning
She returned to teaching after her three daughters got older -
Fun Fact
NASA rejected her the first time she applied. -
NACA
In 1952 a relative told her about an opening position at the all-black West Area Computing section at the NACA’s Langley laboratory headed by Dorothy Vaughn. -
Moving(Working at Langley)
Katherine and her husband decided to move their family to Newport News to pursue the opportunity, she began working at Langley in the summer of 1953 -
Maneuver Loads Branch of the Flight Research
This position for Katherine became permanent.She spent the next four years analyzing data from the flight test and worked on a investigation on a plane crash caused by wake turbulence. -
Death of James Goble
As she was wrapping up her project her husband James Globle died of cancer. -
James Johnson
Katherine remarried to her second husband James Johnson in 1959 -
Determination of Azimuth Angle
Katherine and Ted Skopinski coauthored “Determination of Azimuth Angle at Burnout for Placing a Satellite Over a Selected Earth Position”.It was the first time a woman of the Flight Research Division had received credit as an author of a research report. -
John Glenn
NASA prepared for the orbital mission of John Glenn, Katherine Johnson was called upon to do the work she was most known for. Glenn’s flight was an success. -
Fun Fact
She helped send the first men to the moon. -
Retiring
She retired in 1986 after thirty three years of working at Langley. -
Presidential Metal of Freedom
President Obama awarded her with Presidential Metal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor.
