SJCA Announces a Panel Discussion of the Critically Acclaimed Film Hidden Figures, Wednesday, January 21 at 7 pm on Zoom
Saratoga Jewish Community Arts, with a generous grant from the Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York and the sponsorship of Temple Sinai of Saratoga Springs, is pleased to present a panel discussion of the critically acclaimed film Hidden Figures, on Zoom, Wednesday, January 21 at 7 pm.
The film is part of SJCA’s Social Justice series. The film Hidden Figures is a 2016 American biographical drama, co-produced and directed by Theodore Melfi and Allison Schroeder. It is loosely based on the book Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly.
The film follows three actual African American women mathematicians – Katherine Goble Johnson, Dorothy Vaughn and Mary Jackson — who challenged stereotypes and racial barriers at NASA during the Space Race.
The National Board of Review chose Hidden Figures as one of the top ten films of 2016.
Johnson is hired at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia in 1961. She becomes a pivotal figure among a small group of African American women colleagues, including Jackson and Vaughan. These talented women start out with two strikes against them: their race and their gender. They work in segregated facilities, are assigned menial mathematics calculations, and receive no respect from male colleagues.
Segregation shapes their daily experiences, particularly for Johnson. When her skills in analytic geometry are finally noticed, Johnson joins the Space Task Group that plots critical flight paths. Her white male engineers dismiss her contributions. However, when discrepancies arise in the IBM’s computer calculations, Johnson’s unparalleled mathematical skills become evident and indispensable. Her resolve, precision and diligence help ensure the success of the Friendship 7 mission with John Glenn aboard.
“Hidden Figures,” says Phyllis Wang, Coordinator of the SJCA series, “reveals the personalities and relationships among the three, presents their skills, and portrays continuing examples of their tough experiences, but never undercuts the broader fears and oppressions of this era.”
In real life, the three women continued to excel. Mary Jackson earned her engineering degree to become NASA’s first African American female engineer, while Dorothy Vaughn blazed trails as NASA’s first African American supervisor. Katherine Goble Johnson co-authored reports with the lead engineer and calculated crucial trajectories for the Apollo 11 and Space Shuttle missions.
In 2015, Johnson received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and in 2016, NASA honored her enduring legacy by naming the Computational Building at Langley Research Center for her, a testament to her profound influence in mathematics and beyond.