Once 'hidden figures,' now Congressional Gold Medal recipients

WASHINGTON — Congressional Gold Medals were bestowed on a group of Black women who dared to boldly go where no woman had gone before: the labs and offices of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration where pioneering mathematicians and engineers figured out how to slip the surly bonds of Earth.

Congress honored Katherine Johnson, Christine Darden, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson on Wednesday for their long unsung work in the space race.

A fifth medal was also awarded to “all the women who served as computers, mathematicians, and engineers at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and NASA between the 1930s and the 1970s,” and was accepted by Andrea Mosie, the Apollo sample lead processor at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

The women came to the public’s attention in 2016 with the publication of Margot Lee Shetterly’s best-selling biography of them, “Hidden Figures,” and release of a movie of the same name, which was nominated for three Oscars.

The law granting the awards was enacted in 2019. The time it takes to design and mint the medals, plus delays added by the coronavirus pandemic, delayed their bestowal until now. In the meantime, both the original sponsor of the bill, Texas Democrat Eddie Bernice Johnson, and one of the recipients, Katherine Johnson, died.

The medals were accepted on the honorees’ behalf by family members, including those of the lone surviving member, Darden, who watched the ceremony from her home in Connecticut.

“Honoring the ‘hidden figures’ of the space race was an important cause to (Johnson) and I wish she could be here with us today,” said House Science, Space and Technology Chairman Frank D. Lucas of Oklahoma, who co-sponsored the bill with the lawmker who had previously served for years as the panel’s top Democrat. She was the first Black lawmaker and first woman to hold that committee’s gavel.

Shetterly, whose father worked at NASA, addressed the recipients’ families in her remarks. “This is like a family reunion,” she said.

The women worked as computers — the machines are named after the job — and engineers for NASA, performing the complex calculations that made space exploration and supersonic flight possible in the face of entrenched racism and sexism.

“At a time in America when our nation was divided by color and often by gender, these women dared to step into the fields where they had previously been unwelcome,” said Speaker Mike Johnson in his opening remarks. “Although we call them ‘hidden figures,’ we shouldn’t think of them merely as supporting characters in the American story of space exploration. They were the engineers and mathematicians who actually wrote the story itself.”

“They were paid less, received fewer opportunities for advancement and were not recognized for their contributions, often having to submit their work anonymously,” said Lucas. “And yet they persisted in their work, helping to send John Glenn into orbit, land the first humans on the moon and launch the enduring scientific missions like the Voyager probes.”

The honorees were also feted by NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York. Tony-award winning actress Audra McDonald sang “America the Beautiful.”

In the event’s concluding remarks, Mosie thanked Congress for their ongoing support of NASA and space exploration. “It is quite an honor and a privilege to be here representing the many women of Apollo and the space program who dedicated their lives and talent to making sure the sky is never the limit,” she said.

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