Hidden Figures

Hidden Figures

• Genre: Nonfiction; historical biography
• Originally Published: 2016
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 1350L; grades 7-12; college/adult
• Structure/Length: 23 chapters, prologue, and epilogue; approximately 368 pages; approximately 10 hours, 47 minutes on audio
• Central Concern: Hidden Figures uncovers the remarkable story of a group of Black female mathematicians at NASA who played a crucial role in the success of the US space program. Against the backdrop of the civil rights movement and the space race against the Soviet Union, these women broke racial and gender barriers to contribute to major achievements in space exploration, including John Glenn’s orbital mission. Margot Lee Shetterly highlights the perseverance, intelligence, and talent of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and others who overcame societal challenges to excel in a field dominated by white men.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Discussions of racial segregation, gender discrimination, and the challenges faced by Black American women in the mid-20th century

Margot Lee Shetterly, Author

• Bio: Born 1969; American nonfiction writer who grew up in Hampton, Virginia, where her father worked at NASA; worked on the Human Computer Project, an initiative to recover the names and accomplishments of all women who worked as mathematicians and engineers at NACA and NASA

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Guide:

• Racism in the United States
• Sexism in the American Workplace
• Perseverance Pays Off

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Teaching Guide, students will:

• Gain an understanding of the social and historical contexts regarding NASA and discrimination in the workplace that show the conditions in which the “hidden figures” of this book worked.
• Read and analyze paired texts and other brief resources to make connections via the text’s themes of Racism in the United States, Sexism in the American Workplace, and Perseverance Pays Off.
• Based on oral histories, compile and present profiles of NASA employees that offer additional context and shared themes between their stories and those in Shetterly’s book.
• Analyze themes and literary devices to draw conclusions in structured essay responses regarding the telling of American history, perseverance in the face of difficulty, racism and sexism in the 20th century, and other topics.