Katherine johnson nasa interview full#

In 1952 Johnson heard that NASA was hiring black women as mathematicians and she joined at Langley. Gable died in 1956 and 3 years later she married James Johnson, hence Katherine Johnson. She was then occupied with teaching, motherhood and married life for over a decade. She then left that position once she married James Gable and became pregnant with her first child. It was there where she studied for her masters in mathematics. However, in 1940, she was chosen to be one of the first African American students to enroll in a grad position at West Virginia University, the all white institution in Morgantown. She was able to secure a teaching job and moved to Virginia. She knew that finding a job was going to be difficult and unsurprisingly for the time, there were negligible research opportunities for young female black mathematicians. Something which Johnson thrived in, she greatly enjoyed her education, as she expressed when talking to The Associated Press in 1999, “I couldn’t wait to get to high school to take algebra and geometry.” She progressed through school quickly and had started to attend high school at only 10 years old and graduated from West Virginia State College at age 18, with bachelor degrees in mathematics and French.

Katherine johnson nasa interview full#

Here, the rules were different, so her and her siblings could receive a full education. Because of this, her father moved the family to a town called Institute 125 miles away, also in West Virginia. In her hometown of White Sulfur Springs, because of the segregated school system, black students couldn’t progress further than 6th grade. As a young girl Katherine’s high intelligence was clear and her skills with numbers apparent.