Lesson Plan “When Computers Wore Skirts:” Katherine Johnson

Prepared by the Center for History of Physics at AIP

Lesson Plan

“When Computers Wore Skirts:” Katherine Johnson, Christine

Darden, and the “West Computers”

Melba Roy Mouton, a computer, in 1960. Mouton was Assistant Chief of Research Programs at NASA’s

Trajectory and Geodynamics Division and headed the “computers” during the 1960s. Image courtesy of

Wikimedia Commons

Katherine Johnson.

Image from MAKERS.

Christine Darden.

Image courtesy of the National Air and Space Museum,

Smithsonian Institution.

Prepared by the Center for History of Physics at AIP

• Photocopies of the AIP West Area Computers Handout (see Supplemental Materials)

• Access to internet and credible research materials (see Required/Recommended Resources)

• Downloads or access to certain videos on the HistoryMakers website (via a free account – see

Required/Recommended Resources)

In this lesson plan, students will learn about the “West Computers” or “West Area Computers” – a group

of African-American women who worked as “human computers” at NASA Langley Research Center from

the 1940s onward. This story is currently being adapted into the movie Hidden Figures by Fox,

scheduled for release in January of 2017. They will also learn about two women in particular –

Katherine Johnson and Christine Darden – who started working at NASA as computers and made

significant contributions to spaceflight.

Before electronic computers, the term “computers” referred to people rather than machines.

“Computers” performed complex mathematical calculations by hand either by themselves or in a group

called “computing offices” or “computer pools.” The profession originated in the eighteenth and

nineteenth century in fields such as astronomy, social science, and ballistics testing where large

amounts of data needed to be processed. The growth of “computer pools” occurred rapidly in the

interwar period in the United States as preparation for World War II led to large-scale scientific and

military research.

The National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA, the predecessor to NASA) was formed in 1915

during World War I in order to coordinate industry, academic, and government research on war-related

projects. Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, the main research arm of NACA, started hiring

computers in the 1930s. The computers of this era were white women who had degrees in

mathematics. Because of racial segregation in government, universities, and general society, there were

very few opportunities for African American women to obtain employment in federal defense industries

or pursue the sciences outside of HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities).

This began to change during World War II. Leading up to the war, A. Philip Randolph, a leader of the

Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, began to organize a March on Washington which would demand

that the federal government open defense industries to Black workers. In order to stop the March and

quell social protest, Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802 which banned racial discrimination in

government defense industries. A shortage of male workers due to the war allowed unprecedented

numbers of women and African Americans to enter industries which were previously restricted. It was

in this context that the first African American women computers were hired at Langley to compensate

for a shortage of male mathematicians. Though the industries were opening to African Americans,

Grade Level(s): 9-12 Subject(s): History, Mathematics

In-Class Time: 90 min Prep Time: 15-20 min

Materials

Objective

Introduction

Prepared by the Center for History of Physics at AIP

segregation continued and Black computers were called the “West Computers” or “West Area

Computers” because they were restricted to the West Area of the Langley facility. With their restrooms,

cafeteria, and routes in the building completely separate, many white computers at Langley were

actually unaware of the presence of their Black counterparts.

Computers contributed significantly to the success of missions and projects at NASA. Many computers

ended their careers at NASA before the onset of the “Space Age.” But for some women, the West Area

was a starting point that launched them into long careers in aerospace research at NASA at a time when

women were rarely hired as engineers. Katherine Johnson began working at NASA as a research

mathematician in 1953. She was a West Area computer for five years before she was temporarily

assigned to an all-male, all-white flight research team because of her knowledge of analytical geometry.

According to Johnson, she was so successful in her temporary position that her male bosses and

colleagues “forgot to return [her] to the pool.” She stayed on at the Flight Mechanics Branch and later

moved to the Spacecraft Controls Branch. Johnson was working at NASA during an incredibly important

time in the history of space science – the “space race” of the Cold War. She calculated the flight

trajectory for the space flight which put the first American, Alan Shepard, in space in 1961. She also

calculated the trajectory for the famous 1969 Apollo mission to the moon. She worked at NASA until

1985.

Christine Darden was another computer who “left the pool” to become an engineer. Originally from

Monroe, North Carolina, Darden graduated from Hampton Institute with a B.S. in Mathematics in 1962.

She became a research assistant at Virginia State College in 1965 and began to study aerosol physics and

earned her M.S. in Mathematics in 1967. At that time, she was hired as a data analyst at Langley

Research Center. Though she started by performing calculations for engineers, she later began writing

computer programs and eventually was promoted to the position of aerospace engineer in 1973. She

later received her Ph.D. in 1983 from George Washington University in aerospace engineering. In her

more than 40-year career, Darden researched sonic boom minimization and served as director of the

Program Management Office of the Aerospace Performing Center.

The story of the West Area Computers is rarely told, but it offers an important history of how African

American women contributed to the history of space science. Though we sometimes still hear the

unfounded stereotype that “girls are bad at math,” the story of computers shows that some of the most

celebrated scientific achievements relied on the mathematical skills of women of all races. It also allows

us to explore how race and gender shaped who was able to pursue and access careers in science. Lastly,

because Katherine Johnson and Christine Darden represent successive generations of African American

women who worked at NASA as computers, exploring their lives also illuminates historical change at

NASA.

Engage: 3-10 minutes

To begin, ask the students what they think a computer is. Presumably, they’ll talk about desktops,

laptops, apps, and other contemporary associations with computers. Ask them if any of those things

are necessary to be a computer, and get them to think about what computers were like when they

were much older. Eventually, you can get them to say or tell them that computers didn’t always have

screens, machines used to be the size of an entire rooms, and in fact they used to be people! A

computer is just something or someone that can compute many different functions.

Instructions/Activities

Prepared by the Center for History of Physics at AIP

What is the teacher doing?

Ask the students what something needs to do to

be a computer. Respond to their answers by

asking follow-up questions.

What are the students doing?

Students should answer questions from the

teacher and discuss amongst themselves what

features make up a computer. This can be done

as a large class discussion or in smaller groups.

Alternative (Math-based) Engagement: 10-15 minutes

In order to understand the large numbers involved in human computers’ calculations, students can

engage with an activity based on learning scientific notation. This activity works especially well if

students already know the basics of scientific notation but need a refresher on it. Pass out the

optional “Think like a Human Computer!” worksheet and have students break into small groups or

work on the problems individually.

What is the teacher doing?

Hand out activity sheets to the students. Assist

students in setting up math and notation

problems and answer any questions they may

have.

What are the students doing?

Students should answer questions about

scientific notation and fill out the worksheet.

This can be done individually or in small groups.

Explore: 25-50 minutes

Divide class into an even number of groups. Each group will be assigned to research either Katherine

Johnson or Christine Darden. Among the groups looking at Johnson and Darden, each group should

decide to focus on their subject’s early life, education, or career. Each student should receive a West

Area Computers Handout as a starting point for their research. A list of sources is provided for each

individual for research (see Required/Recommended Reading and Resources section). If desired, you

can also have students prepare a short summary of what they’ve learned about their subject that

they can present to the class. Students should be able to answer the discussion questions without

consulting every resource.

What is the teacher doing?

Divide the class into an even number of groups.

Assign one half of the groups Katherine Johnson,

and another half Christine Darden. Provide the

students the recommended sources and videos.

What are the students doing?

Students should be reading the assigned

materials or watching the provided videos. They

should also discuss their subject’s experiences in

regards to larger issues of race and gender at the

time they were working. If assigned, they should

also work on preparing a short summary to

present to the class.

Explain: 15-30 minutes

If student groups have been asked to make a short summary of their sources, they should first

present those to the class. After that has been completed, have a short class discussion about what

the students have watched and read. This is a chance for students to reflect upon what they just

learned and how this might have changed their thinking from the beginning of the period. Make sure

to encourage students to ask any questions that they may have about gender and race defining

careers.

Prepared by the Center for History of Physics at AIP

What is the teacher doing?

If desired, call on each student group to present a

summary of the videos they’ve watched or the

articles they read. Then, lead a large group in

discussion of what they’ve learned. Possible

discussion questions are below (a handout of

them to students is available in Supplemental

Materials of this lesson).

What are the students doing?

If desired, students should present a summary of

the videos their group watched or the articles

they read. Students should be participating in

the group discussion. They should be answering

and asking further questions about the West

computers and the history of women scientists

and engineers more generally. They should also

make sure any assigned worksheet questions

have been completed.

Elaborate: included in Explain

Throughout the explanation discussion, take the opportunity to elaborate on how both computers

and women’s role in science has changed. Computers have gradually shifted from people who

compute equations to machines that take up rooms to ones that fit within our phones. Similarly, the

role of women in science has shifted from being math support for engineers to designing flight paths

and then to leading large experimental research teams.

What is the teacher doing?

While having the class discussion described

during the explain section, steer students to think

more about how things are today. Make

connections between the technology they take

for granted and the women who helped create it.

What are the students doing?

Students should be thinking about the changes

which have occurred in both technology and the

position of women. They should ask questions

and expand on what they thought before

learning this story.

Evaluate:

Answers and participation in discussion can be used to evaluate student performance. Students can

also turn in their answers to the discussion questions worksheet for evaluation.

If groups are divided among different periods of Johnson and Darden’s lives, each group can do a

short (3-5 minutes) presentation and be evaluated on it.

Katherine Johnson Resources:

1. An in-depth series of 8 short video interviews on aspects of Katherine Johnson’s life (if time is a

concern, only the first (5 minute) video needs to be watched) (requires a free account):

http://www.makers.com/katherine-g-johnson

2. Jim Hodges, “She Was a Computer When Computers Wore Skirts,” NASA, August 26, 2008,

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/langley/news/researchernews/rn_kjohnson.html

3. Heather S. Deiss, “Katherine Johnson: A Lifetime of STEM,” NASA Education, November 6, 2013,

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/a-lifetime-of-stem.html#.VFetufnF8Vw

4. ScienceMakers Biography of Katherine Johnson:

http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/katherine-g-johnson-42

5. ScienceMakers Video Interview Clips:

a. Katherine Johnson (The HistoryMakers ScienceMakers Video Archive A2012.017),

interview by Larry Crowe, 02/06/2012, The HistoryMakers ScienceMakers Video

Archive. Session 1, tape 3, story 5, Katherine Johnson talks about her work computing

Required/Recommended Reading and Resources

Prepared by the Center for History of Physics at AIP

flight trajectories for NASA.

http://smdigital.thehistorymakers.com/iCoreClient.html#/&i=6245

b. Katherine Johnson (The HistoryMakers ScienceMakers Video Archive A2012.017),

interview by Larry Crowe, 02/06/2012, The HistoryMakers ScienceMakers Video

Archive. Session 1, tape 3, story 2, Katherine Johnson describes her experience as a

black woman at NASA.

http://smdigital.thehistorymakers.com/iCoreClient.html#/&i=6242

Christine Darden Resources:

1. Denise Lineberry, “Standing on the Shoulders of a Computer,” NASA, March 29, 2013,

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/langley/news/researchernews/rn_CDarden.html

2. ScienceMakers Biography of Christine Darden:

http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/christine-darden

3. ScienceMakers Video Interview Clips:

a. Christine Darden (The HistoryMakers ScienceMakers Video Archive A2013.045),

interview by Larry Crowe, 02/26/2013, The HistoryMakers ScienceMakers Video

Archive. Session 1, tape 4, story 8, Christine Darden talks about being recruited to work

at NASA's Langley Research Center in 1967. (3:00):

http://smdigital.thehistorymakers.com/iCoreClient.html#/&i=23719

b. Christine Darden (The HistoryMakers ScienceMakers Video Archive A2013.045),

interview by Larry Crowe, 02/26/2013, The HistoryMakers ScienceMakers Video

Archive. Session 1, tape 5, story 1, Christine Darden talks about NASA's "West

Computers," and segregation at NASA in the 1960s. (2:00):

http://smdigital.thehistorymakers.com/iCoreClient.html#/&i=23721

c. Christine Darden (The HistoryMakers ScienceMakers Video Archive A2013.045),

interview by Larry Crowe, 02/26/2013, The HistoryMakers ScienceMakers Video

Archive. Session 1, tape 5, story 2, Christine Darden describes her early experience at

NASA's Langley Research Center in the 1960s. (5:45):

http://smdigital.thehistorymakers.com/iCoreClient.html#/&i=23722

d. Christine Darden (The HistoryMakers ScienceMakers Video Archive A2013.045),

interview by Larry Crowe, 02/26/2013, The HistoryMakers ScienceMakers Video

Archive. Session 1, tape 7, story 4, Christine Darden describes her concerns for the

African American community and for the current American educational system. (6:30):

http://smdigital.thehistorymakers.com/iCoreClient.html#/&i=23739

4. Emily McMurray, editor, Notable Twentieth Century Scientists (Detroit: Gale Research, 1995),

455-456. (Available in Supplemental Materials)

Discussion Questions can be found as a Handout with a corresponding Answer Key in the Supplemental

Materials to this lesson plan.

1. Compare Katherine Johnson’s and Christine Darden’s life and experience at NASA. How were

their experiences similar? How were they different?

2. When did electronic computers start being introduced into NASA? What were they like

(appearance, size, etc.) and how did people use them?

Discussion Questions

Prepared by the Center for History of Physics at AIP

3. How were Katherine Johnson and Christine Darden recruited to work at NASA? How did they

end up leaving the “computer pool”?

4. How was the computer pool organized? How did the computers receive assignments? How did

this change over time?

5. What major historical events led to the first African American women being able to work at

NASA?

6. What are some of the larger changes that were happening in African American history between

when Katherine Johnson started as a computer at NASA in the 1940s and when Christine Darden

started in the late-1960s? How would these changes have affected their experiences at NASA?

7. What do you think it would have been like for Johnson and Darden as African American women

to work in a predominantly white and male environment as engineers?

• David Blackwell, “Katherine Johnson: Visionary Videos,” National Visionary Leadership Project,

http://www.visionaryproject.org/johnsonkatherine

• “Human Computers: Katherine Johnson,” NASA Biographies,

http://crgis.ndc.nasa.gov/historic/Katherine_Johnson

• Katherine Johnson (The HistoryMakers ScienceMakers Video Archive A2012.017), interview by

Larry Crowe, 02/06/2012, The HistoryMakers ScienceMakers Video Archive. Session 1, tape 4,

story 1, Katherine Johnson discusses the advent of computers and her work as a mathematician.

http://smdigital.thehistorymakers.com/iCoreClient.html#/&i=6249

• Interview with Christine Darden by Sarah McLennan, April 1, 2011,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_QiI_HESWY

. (Error in film from 22:30-25:00)

• Hilary Mac Austine, “Darden, Christine,” Facts on File Encyclopedia of Black Women in America:

Science, Health, and Medicine, edited by Darlene Clark Hine (New York: Facts On File, 1997), 59.

• James H. Kessler, J. S. Kidd, Renee A. Kidd, and Katherine A. Morin, Distinguished African-

American Scientists of the 20

Century (Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press, 1996), 60-62.

• Ray Spangenburg and Kit Moser, African Americans in Science, Math, and Invention (New York:

Facts On File, 2003), 56-58.

• Margot Lee Shetterly, “Hidden Figures: The African American Women Mathematicians Who

Helped NASA and the United States Win the Space Race,”

http://margotleeshetterly.com/hidden-figures-nasas-african-american-computers/

Dr. Shetterly is currently working on “The Human Computer Project” which will examine

African American women computers at NACA/NASA from the 1930s through the 1970s.

• Sarah McLellon, “’When the Computer Wore a Skirt:’ Langley’s Human Computers, 1935-1970,”

NASA, 2011, http://crgis.ndc.nasa.gov/historic/Human_Computers#cite_note-0

• James H. Kessler, et. al., “Christine Mann Darden,” Distinguished African American Scientists of

the 20

Century (Phoenix, Ariz: Oryx Press, 1996), 60-63.

• NASA Biographical profiles of African-American computers:

o Dorothy Vaughan, head of the West Area Computers. She was one of the first Black

women computers hired at NASA (then NACA) in 1943.

http://crgis.ndc.nasa.gov/crgis/images/2/29/VaughanBio.pdf

o Laura Pateman, one of the first Black women hired at NASA in 1948 graduated from

Hampton University and was posted in the Rotating Machine Aerodynamics Division.

http://crgis.ndc.nasa.gov/crgis/images/2/22/BatemanBio.pdf

Further Reading and Additional Resources

Prepared by the Center for History of Physics at AIP

• An 18-minute documentary produced by NASA in the 1960s taking the viewer inside the

Manned Flight Center and explaining the various functions of different electronic computers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJPLVa7q410

• Cape Cosmos (http://www.capecosmos.org) is a fictitious space facility set in the 1950s and

1960s. This interactive exhibit allows viewers to explore women and African Americans who

contributed to space exploration as scientists and engineers.

Related AIP Teacher’s Guides on Women and Minorities in the Physical Sciences:

• Meet Four Pioneering African American Astronauts

• African Americans in Astronomy and Astrophysics

• Strategies and Compromises: Women in Astronomy at Harvard College Observatory

For more information on Common Core Standards, visit http://www.corestandards.org/

Speaking & Listening

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.1

Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative

discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse

partners on grades 9-10 topics, texts, and issues, building on

others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.4

Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly,

concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of

reasoning and the organization, development, substance, and

style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and task.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.1

Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative

discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse

partners on grades 11-12 topics, texts, and issues, building on

others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.4

Present information, findings, and supporting evidence, conveying

a clear and distinct perspective, such that listeners can follow the

line of reasoning, alternative or opposing perspectives are

addressed, and the organization, development, substance, and

style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and a range of formal

and informal tasks.

History/Social Studies

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.1

Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and

secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and

origin of the information.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.2

Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or

secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key

events or ideas develop over the course of the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.3

Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine

whether earlier events caused later ones or simply preceded

them.

Extensions

Common Core Standards

Prepared by the Center for History of Physics at AIP

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.9

Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several

primary and secondary sources.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.1

Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and

secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details

to an understanding of the text as a whole.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.2

Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or

secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear

the relationships among the key details and ideas.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.7

Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented

in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well

as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.9

Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and

secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event,

noting discrepancies among sources.

Optional Engagement Activity:

Mathematics

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.8.EE.A.1

Know and apply the properties of integer exponents to generate

equivalent numerical expressions. For example, 3

× 3

-5

= 3

-3

1/3

= 1/27.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.8.EE.A.3

Use numbers expressed in the form of a single digit times an

integer power of 10 to estimate very large or very small

quantities, and to express how many times as much one is than

the other.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.8.EE.A.4

Perform operations with numbers expressed in scientific notation,

including problems where both decimal and scientific notation are

used. Use scientific notation and choose units of appropriate size

for measurements of very large or very small quantities (e.g., use

millimeters per year for seafloor spreading). Interpret scientific

notation that has been generated by technology

For more information on the Next Generation Science Standards, visit http://www.nextgenscience.org/

Optional Engagement Activity:

Dimension One: Practices

1. Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for

engineering)

5. Using mathematics and computational thinking

7. Engaging in argument from evidence

8. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information

Dimension Two: Crosscutting

Concepts

3. Scale, proportion, and quantity

Dimension Three: Disciplinary

Core Ideas

Core Idea ESS1: Earth’s Place in the Universe

Core Idea ETS1: Engineering Design

Next Generation Science Standards