![]() ![]() Barry met Johnson, who is now 98 years old, at a premiere for the film in Hampton. Johnson Computational Research Facility was formally dedicated to her at Langley. In 2015, Johnson was awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama, and last year a Katherine G. She went on to work in aeronautics research, on the Apollo 11 and Apollo 13 missions. Katherine Johnson, played by Taraji P Henson, continued working as a Nasa analyst until the early 1980s. “By 1961-62, when the movie happened, most of the physical trappings of segregation would have gone from Langley.” As Nasa was part of the US federal government, it had been working towards de-segregation – quietly, so as not to attract the attention of the Virginia state government. Though African-Americans had to use separate bathrooms and dining rooms when working at Nasa in the first half of the 20th Century, segregation at Langley had mostly been eliminated by the late 1950s. “The movie takes a lot of things that happened in the 1950s and moved them into that time period to tell the story effectively.” “It’s a great moment in the film, but they took a little dramatic license with it,” said Barry. Unfortunately, it’s not an entirely true representation of the organisation at the time. It’s symbolic as an example of the racial barriers being smashed for black people at Nasa. ![]() There is a poignant scene in which the character Al Harrison, Johnson’s supervisor played by Kevin Costner, breaks down the “colored bathroom” sign. Throughout Hidden Figures we see these barriers of racial discrimination outside Langley being broken down as the women strive to be more than just computers. She went on to work in aeronautics research, on the Apollo 11 and Apollo 13 missions Nasa Katherine Johnson continued working as a Nasa analyst until the early 1980s.
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