Born as Dorothy Johnson in Kansas City, Missouri. At 19, she earned a B.A. in mathematics from Wilberforce University, a black college in Ohio. Deciding to support her family during the Great Depression years, she did not proceed to higher studies in the university and worked as a math teacher. At the age of 22, she married Howard Vaughan. When she was 33 years old, Vaughan started working as a mathematician and programmer at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA)’s West Area Computing Unit – a group of African-American female mathematicians that performed manually complex computations and analyzing data for aerospace engineers. The unit’s work was essential to the success of the early US Space Program. At that time, NACA was segregated, and Vaughan and her colleagues (among them were Katherine Johnson and Mary Jackson) had to use separate bathrooms and dining facilities. At the age of 39, she got promoted to be the acting manager of the West Area Computers, and by that, became the first African-American supervisor at NACA. It took several more years until she was promoted to be the official manager. Seeing the future in computer machine, she became an expert in computer programming, teaching herself and her coworkers to program in Fortran to be prepared for the future use of computer machines. This was one of many actions to promote women in the organization. After NACA was incorporated into the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the segregation abolished, and Vaughan joined the new Analysis and Computation Division. She retired in 1971 after 28 years in NACANASA, well appreciated for her scientific contribution as well as for paving the way for African-Americans in the organization.   Dive deeper into the inspiring story of Dorothy Vaughan with our fun and engaging printable worksheet! Available now on Etsy and Teachers Pay Teachers. Read more...