Katherine Johnson (1918-2020) was a pioneer in space and computing science, one of the first African-American women who worked at NASA, contributing to the success of the American Space Program.
Creola Katherine Coleman was born and raised in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Her talent in math was noticeable from a young age. In 1937, she graduated from West Virginia State College (WVSC) with degrees in mathematics and French. Two years later, she attended graduate school at West Virginia State University (WVSU); she was one of three African-American students and the only woman. She left after a semester to focus on family life.
In 1953, she joined a segregated group of women working as human computers for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). Five years later, NASA took over NACA; with the switch to digital computers, Johnson became an aerospace technologist, retiring in 1986; she participated in many complex and groundbreaking space programs.
Johnson has become a role model to a woman who fought gender and race to excel in STEM and an inspiration for many.
WVSU had decided to honor and celebrate Johnson’s 100th birthday by erecting a sculpture and establishing the Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson Scholarship.
The African-American artist, the owner of Excellent Image Creations, and a West Virginia native, Frederick Hightower, was chosen to design and sculpt it.
Hightower depicted Johnson as a young woman holding a book in her right hand. The left page of the book reads – ALWAYS BE YOUR BEST and the right- LOVE LEARNING. A nearby plaque presents Johnson’s biography.
The statue was dedicated a day before her birthday on August 25, 2018, in a special ceremony attended by more than 600 people; among them were her family, WVSU President Anthony L. Jenkins, and the African-American NASA astronaut Dr. Yvonne Cagle.
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