HAMPTON ROADS — NASA Langley Research Center still feels the effects of some of the legendary women who have entered its doors — the legacies of Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan are very much alive on campus — and Johnson has a building named after her.
Johnson, Jackson, and Vaughan were some of the first influential black women at NASA Langley Research Center. Their work was integral to the success of American spaceflight, and they were featured and highlighted in the 2016 feature film “Hidden Figures.”
It’s their legacy that inspires some of NASA’s employees today.
Working with the ladies
Doctor Sharon Monica Jones, who spent time with both Johnson and Jackson, met the two women through a connection with the National Technical Association (NTA). Jones currently works as the Deputy Director of the Aeronautics Research Directorate.
She recalled learning about Jackson’s involvement in the NTA and her work securing math tutors.
“Mary Jackson, even after she retired from NASA, spent a lot of time with the National Technical Association. She was still still doing tutorials for students in the area, she’d send emails to folks at NASA asking for people to help tutor students with their math. She was trying to get more kids who didn’t have the luxury of a parent at home that could help them with their algebra,” Jones recalled.
Jones also got to know Katherine Johnson’s husband, James, very well.
Jones notes inspiration from another lesser-known “hidden figure,” Christine Darden, who shaped her career.
“Christine had gotten her undergraduate degree in mathematics, which is very similar to what I did. She went on and got a graduate degree in engineering. I didn’t know you could do that. When I saw that, I said, ‘oh cool, that means I can go to grad school for engineering.’ I ended up attending the University of Virginia in their Systems Engineering program,” Jones said.
In contributing to the “hidden figures” legacy, Jones provides outreach whenever possible.
“I’m a behind-the-scenes person, but I force myself to do the outreach, to go out into the community, to talk to students. It really does make a difference,” Jones said.
Bridging the Gap
While Julie Williams-Byrd did not directly work with Johnson, Jackson, or Vaughan, she did get to spend some time with Johnson after she retired from the facility.
In September 2017, NASA Langley Research Center dedicated the Katherine Johnson Computational Research Facility. The building consolidated four Langley data centers and was named after Johnson for her work on calculating trajectories for some of America’s first spaceflights.
Williams-Byrd attended the ceremony and spoke with Johnson.
“I had the opportunity to meet with her and to talk to her. She was a wonderful lady who had all of her wits about her. I really just asked her what she remembered about working at NASA, what some of her obstacles were, I just wanted to get to know her a little bit better,” Williams-Byrd said.
Like Jones, Williams-Byrd also got to know Darden. She and Darden have worked closely as members of The Links, Newport News Chapter. The Links is an invitation-only social and service organization for prominent Black women in the United States. The Newport News Links Junior Chapter is named after Darden.
“Christine is such a lovely person and has done very impactful work. She may be only five foot tall but she is a dynamo. Working with her and sitting at her feet as she navigated her way through her career, navigated through different activities in the community, she was so gracious. I took a lot of lessons and advice from her. There was no air about her, there was no Dr. Darden, she was just Christine,” Williams-Byrd said.
Of all the lessons that she took from Darden, it was doing the best you can and following your dreams that remain important to Williams-Byrd.
“She told me a story about how she wanted to be a supervisor. When she went to her supervisor to inquire about being a supervisor herself, she was told that black women aren’t supervisors. She had to make a decision of if she was going to stay where she was or go over the gentleman’s head. She ended up going over his head, she became a supervisor, she soared in that supervisory role. She was the first black senior executive service awarded here at NASA Langley,” Williams-Byrd said.
Inspiring the next generation
Naylah Canty, a new NASA employee, grew up loving science and math. When it came time for college, Canty knew she wanted to study something in the science field. It wasn’t until she saw a movie in 2014 that she was sold on the field.
“My interest in space came about when I watched Interstellar. It didn’t strike me so much for its technical aspect, it struck me because of all of the questions that it asked that were left unanswered. The excitement of those questions that we didn’t know the answer to is what pushed me towards pursuing aerospace,” Canty said.
Canty went on to earn two bachelor’s degrees in Aerospace Engineering and Urban Studies and Planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She started at NASA Langley in November.
“Being a woman in STEM is important because, if the purpose of engineering and technology is to improve lives, then there is no way you can do that without the perspective of the lives that you are attempting to improve,” Canty said.
Canty works as an aerospace engineer in the Space Mission Analysis Branch of the Systems Analysis and Concepts Directorate.
“You have to be comfortable in places where you are not a part of the majority … where you are not only a minority but a super minority, or maybe the only one in a branch or division. You have to become comfortable in those spaces, but also not diminish yourself to a point where your only goal is to assimilate or to become like them. Your differences have strengths too,” Canty said.
She hopes to leave a legacy at NASA, just like Johnson, Jackson, Darden and Vaughan.
For more in-depth coverage of the women and their lives at NASA, visit nasa.gov.
