Katherine Johnson Timeline

Life of Katherine Johnson: The human Computer

1937-1959

1918

1953-1986

1923-1939

Awards

NASA Work

Adult Life

Education

Early Life

Jump into the birth and early life of mathmatical genius known as Katherine Johnson

Jump into the education that shaped mathmatical genius known as Katherine Johnson

Of course we cannot forget about all of her accomplishments and awards!

Did you know she sent the first American to space?!

Sooo what did Katherine do after graduation?

Created By:Dalasia Burnside

Katherine's Incredible Schooling

Like many children, Katherine started elementary school at age 5. However because she was so advanced, she skipped straight to 2nd grade. At age 8 she then skipped to 6th grade because of her intelligence. She was ready for high school at age 10.

Katherine began high school at age 13. She attended the high school on the campus of West Virginia State University, which she later enrolled into and graduated from at the age of 18 in 1937 with 2 Bachelor's degrees in both Mathematics and French

In 1939, Katherine was selected to enroll in the graduate school in West Virginia University. Katherine was one of the first African Americans to integrate the school. She however left the school after 1 semester to focus on family.

Fun Fact: When Katherine skipped to 6th grade, she was a grade above her brother who is 3 years older

Beginning of Life

On August 26, 1918, a baby girl named Creola Katherine Coleman was born in Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Creola(better known as Katherine), was born to Joylette Roberta who was a educator, and Joshua McKinley Coleman who was a farmer and janitor. She was the youngest of 4 siblings.

Childhood

As a child, Katherine loved math and loved to count: “I counted everything.I counted the steps to the road, the steps up to church, the number of dishes and silverware I washed … anything that could be counted, I did.”- Katherine Johnson

In 1953 Katherine was offered and accepted a job at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), where she analyzed data from flight tests. In 1957 Katherine also provided math for the Notes on Space Technology document. From this, she could work with engineers from the Flight Research Division and Pilotless Aircraft Research Division who also formed the Space Task Group. When NACA became NASA Katherine was able to come with the engineers because of her longtime work with them. In 1961 she calculated the trajectory for Alan Shepard's Freedom 7 mission to space. This means she participated in sending the first American to space. That following year, John Glenn was preparing for the Friendship 7 mission. By 1962, NASA was already equipped with the necessary technology to do the necessary calculations for the mission, however, John Glenn did not trust the computers because they were prone to blackouts, so he specifically requested Katherine Johnson to complete the calculations. When she was finished he stated "If she says they’re good, then I’m ready to go.”. The flight was a success.

At A Glance

• Provided math for the Notes on Space Technology document
• Completed the trajectory analysis of Alan Shepard's mission, Freedom 7
• Completed the complex calculations for John Glenn's Friendship 7 mission
• Helped synch Project Apollo’s Lunar Module with the lunar-orbiting Command and Service Module
• Worked on the Space Shuttle and the Earth Resources Technology Satellite.

FUN FACTS!

Accomplisments

Katherine Johnson retired from NASA in 1986 and passed in 2020 at the age of 101, but not without a decorated list of awards and accomplishments!

• She got a school named after her. "Katherine Johnson Global Academy" in Baltimore, Maryland
• She was a member of a group of African American women at NASA who were known as "computers" because of their mathematical and problem-solving abilities, They were known as the "Hidden Figures"
• Coauthored Determination of Azimuth Angle at Burnout for Placing a Satellite Over a Selected Earth Position. This was also the first time a woman in the Flight Research Division had received credit as an author of a research report.

• Mathmetician of the Year(1997)

• NASA Lunar Orbiter Award

• 3 NASA Special Achievement Awards

• Presidential Medal Of Freedom (2015)

1937

After graduating from college, Katherine began teaching at Carnegie High School in Marion, Virginia before enrolling in graduate school.

1940- 1944

Katherine left teaching after she met her first husband James Goble. Together they had 3 daughters: Constance, Joylette, and Katherine.

1952

Katherine's first husband fell ill in 1952. She decided to return to teaching before hearing that the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics(NACA) was hiring Black women to solve math problems. She decided to apply.

1953

After being rejected the first time, Katherine reapplied at NACA and was hired in 1953 and became an Aerospace Technologist at NASA.

1956-1959

In 1956 James Goble died due to a brain tumor. Katherine remarried in 1959 to James Johnson, who was a United States Army Captain.