Hidden No More: What These Women Taught Us About Courage and Capability

Published in the Empowered Newsletter, by Women PowerUP Network, on 04/05/25 (https://tinyurl.com/3a7sxcye)

1961. Hampton, Virginia. While the U.S. grappled with the civil rights movement, the Cold War and the space race intensified — a high-stakes contest between the U.S. and the Soviet Union for space dominance.

In this charged environment, Hidden Figures brings to life the remarkable true story of three Black women mathematicians at NASA who overcame racial and gender barriers to contribute to some of the most critical missions in American space history.

The film centers on Katherine Goble Johnson, whose mathematical brilliance helped calculate the trajectories for the first U.S. manned spaceflights. Working in a segregated environment, she faced daily prejudice — from the lack of restrooms for Black women to exclusion from key meetings — yet ultimately earned national recognition, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom and a NASA building in her name.

It also honors Mary Jackson, who fought for the right to study at an all-white school and became NASA’s first Black female engineer, and Dorothy Vaughan, who foresaw the rise of computing, mastered FORTRAN, and led her team through NASA’s digital transformation — becoming its first Black female supervisor.

Key Takeaways

- Women’s potential has no limits, even in male-dominated fields like STEM.

- Adaptability is power: Dorothy’s foresight shows the importance of staying ahead of change.

- Representation matters: Katherine, Mary, and Dorothy’s stories inspire future generations to push past barriers.

Hidden Figures is a tribute to talent, courage, and resilience — a reminder that breaking barriers builds a better, more inclusive future.

#WomeninSTEM #STEM #NASAMathematicians #BreakingBarriers #HiddenFigures