Presented By: Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Program
Hidden Figures: The Untold Story of the Black Women Who Helped Win the Space Race
Margot Lee Shetterly
College of Engineering, Women in Science and Engineering (WISE), Center for Engineering Diversity & Outreach (CEDO), and the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) present: Margot Lee Shetterly
Audiences of all backgrounds will be captivated by the phenomenal true story of the black “human computers” who used math to change their own lives—and their country’s future. Set against the rich backdrop of World War II, the Space Race, the Civil Rights Era, and the burgeoning fight for gender equality, this talk brings to life the stories of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden, who worked as mathematicians at NASA during the golden age of space travel. Teaching math at segregated schools in the South, they were called into service during the WWII labor shortages. Suddenly, these overlooked math whizzes had jobs worthy of their skills at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, in Hampton, Virginia. Even as Jim Crow laws segregated them from their white counterparts, the women of this all-black “West Computing” group helped America achieve a decisive victory over the Soviet Union in the Cold War. They were part of a group of hundreds of black and white women who, over the decades, contributed to some of NASA’s greatest successes.
In this keynote, Margot Lee Shetterly talks about race, gender, science, the history of technology, and much else. She shows us the surprising ways that women and people of color have contributed to American innovation while pursuing the American Dream. In sweeping, dramatic detail, she sheds light on a forgotten but key chapter in our history, and instills in us a sense of wonder, and possibility.
4:00 pm: Keynote with Q&A – Rackham Auditorium
6:30 pm: Fireside Chat – Stamps Auditorium (North Campus)
7:15 pm: Reception & Book Signing – Stamps Auditorium (North Campus)
Is RSVP required? No
Event Contact Info
Purabi Devi
(734)-647-7120
pdevi@umich.edu
http://cedo.engin.umich.edu
Audiences of all backgrounds will be captivated by the phenomenal true story of the black “human computers” who used math to change their own lives—and their country’s future. Set against the rich backdrop of World War II, the Space Race, the Civil Rights Era, and the burgeoning fight for gender equality, this talk brings to life the stories of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden, who worked as mathematicians at NASA during the golden age of space travel. Teaching math at segregated schools in the South, they were called into service during the WWII labor shortages. Suddenly, these overlooked math whizzes had jobs worthy of their skills at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, in Hampton, Virginia. Even as Jim Crow laws segregated them from their white counterparts, the women of this all-black “West Computing” group helped America achieve a decisive victory over the Soviet Union in the Cold War. They were part of a group of hundreds of black and white women who, over the decades, contributed to some of NASA’s greatest successes.
In this keynote, Margot Lee Shetterly talks about race, gender, science, the history of technology, and much else. She shows us the surprising ways that women and people of color have contributed to American innovation while pursuing the American Dream. In sweeping, dramatic detail, she sheds light on a forgotten but key chapter in our history, and instills in us a sense of wonder, and possibility.
4:00 pm: Keynote with Q&A – Rackham Auditorium
6:30 pm: Fireside Chat – Stamps Auditorium (North Campus)
7:15 pm: Reception & Book Signing – Stamps Auditorium (North Campus)
Is RSVP required? No
Event Contact Info
Purabi Devi
(734)-647-7120
pdevi@umich.edu
http://cedo.engin.umich.edu
Co-Sponsored By
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