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Join us for an interesting discussion of Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly. 444-7816
Hidden Figures is the untold true story of the African-American female mathematicians, "colored computers" at NASA, who provided the calculations that helped fuel some of America’s greatest achievements in space, set against the Jim Crow South and the Civil Rights Movement.
Before John Glenn orbited the earth, or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as "human computers" used pencils, slide rules and adding machines to calculate the numbers that would launch rockets and astronauts into space.
Among these problem-solvers were a group of exceptionally talented African-American women. Originally math teachers in the South’s segregated public schools, these gifted professionals answered Uncle Sam’s call during the labor shortages of World War II. With new jobs at the fascinating, high-energy world of the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory in Hampton, Virginia, they finally had a shot at jobs that would push their skills to the limits.
Even as Virginia’s Jim Crow laws required them to be segregated from their white counterparts, the women of Langley’s all-black "West Computing" group helped America achieve one of the things it desired most - a decisive victory over the Soviet Union in the Cold War, and complete domination of the heavens.
Starting in World War II and moving through to the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement and the Space Race, Hidden Figures follows the interwoven accounts of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden - four African-American women who participated in some of NASA’s greatest successes. It chronicles their careers over nearly three decades as they faced challenges, forged alliances, and used their intellect to change their own lives, and their country’s future.
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Located in Hoover, Alabama, at 200 Municipal Drive, the Hoover Public Library has been operating since 1983. The Hoover Public Library seeks to reinvent the way communities view libraries. As the heart and soul of the Hoover community, we are more than just a library. We’re the place you come to meet your friends, experience live theater, peruse art, listen to music, entertain your children, learn about new technology, seek job searching assistance, explore your interests, find good book recommendations and much, much more. We seek to grow our patronage by offering an unparalleled customer experience.