Have you heard of John Glenn and Neil Armstrong? Have you heard of the challenges and
hardships America went through to reach the moon? If you said “yes” to any of those questions,
that means there is only on question left to ask. Have you heard of the woman that made all of
that possible? If not, then you need to do your research because without her, America would
have never made it to the moon. Katherine Johnson was an intelligent and strong individual that
used her math skills to get astronauts to and from space. She is best known for calculating the
flight paths for America’s first mission into space.
On August 26, 1918, Katherine (Coleman) Johnson …show more content…
Her and her siblings had a pretty good childhood. Despite
living in segregated areas, her parents always encouraged them to get their education and follow
their dreams. Since her hometown didn’t allow African Americans to pass eighth grade, her
parents enrolled her into high school in Institute, West Virginia. She was accepted at the age of
10 and graduated high school at the age of 14. After graduating, Johnson was chosen along with
two other black students to integrate West Virginia State University. She was mentored by other
great mathematicians including, W. W. Schiefflin Claytor. In 1937,Johnson graduated with
highest honors and with degrees in Mathematics and French. Katherine was a precocious student
that took her studies very seriously. In 1939, she married her first husband, James Goble (who
later passed in 1956) and became pregnant. She stopped focusing on school for a while so she
could provide and take care of her family.
Johnson was experienced in various branches of math, but she spent most of her time
contributing to analytic geometry. She was also influential in other subjects such as science,
English and French. In 1953, Johnson was worked as a human computer for NASA along