Amelia Heymann, correspondent
RICHMOND, Va. 鈥斅燱hen Dr. Christine Darden was growing up, African-American women like herself had limited career prospects.
鈥淢ost black females got jobs as teachers or nurses or in someone鈥檚 house,鈥� she said.
But in school, Darden found a passion for geometry, and that made her 鈥渇all in love with math.鈥� This led to a job as a 鈥渉uman computer鈥� and later as the leader of the 鈥淪onic Boom Team鈥� at NASA
She then became a key figure in the best-selling book 鈥淗idden Figures,鈥� the precursor to the highly acclaimed movie.
On Sunday, Darden and another pioneer 鈥斅燛stelle Amy Smith, a mathematician at Dahlgren Naval Base 鈥斅燿iscussed their careers at an event hosted by the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia.
The discussion at nearby Ebenezer Baptist Church was moderated by Michael Paul Williams, a journalist for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. 鈥淚 feel so out of place,鈥� Williams said. 鈥淎 guy who could never figure out geometry is next to two geniuses.鈥�
Darden, who has watched the movie 鈥淗idden Figures鈥� 10 times since its release, said certain scenes in the film weren鈥檛 true to life.
In the movie, for example, the mathematician Katherine Johnson (played by Taraji P. Henson) cannot use the bathroom in the building where she works because it is for whites only 鈥� and so she must run across the Langley Research Center grounds to the 鈥渃olored ladies room.鈥�
But Darden said that didn鈥檛 really happen: Johnson never worked in a building without a bathroom.
Moreover, in the film, NASA鈥檚 first African-American manager, Dorothy Vaughan (played by Octavia Spencer) steals a book from the library so she can teach herself the programming language Fortran. Vaughan鈥檚 grandchildren have come out saying that she never stole the book, Darden said.
Darden encourages people to read the 鈥淗idden Figures鈥� book because it provides historical context that the movie does not 鈥� also, because 鈥淚鈥檓 in the book, and I鈥檓 not in the movie,鈥� Darden said.
Like the women in the movie, Darden dealt with issues of discrimination based on her race and gender. It bothered Darden that women with the same qualifications as male mathematicians were put in a separate room, where they would solve equations for their male counterparts.
Darden said that sometimes she would not know what the equation she was figuring out was being used for. She confronted a boss 鈥渟everal levels up鈥� about this issue.
The supervisor answered, 鈥溾�榃ell, no one ever asked that question before鈥� 鈥� I must have caught him on a good day,鈥� Darden recalled, adding that she subsequently received a promotion into the male-dominated department.
One reason Darden believes that women like herself went for so long as hidden figures is because there was no one they could talk to about their work.
鈥淪o if I went home and said, 鈥業鈥檓 working on so and so,鈥� no one would know what I was talking about,鈥� Darden said. 鈥淣o one dug enough to know what you were talking about.鈥�
Unlike Darden, Smith knew from a young age that she had a talent for math. In elementary school, teachers would ask her how to solve math problems, so they could see how Smith did it, and then explain the method to the class.
Darden and Smith believe that there are many other women whose stories have gone untold. More women like Margot Lee Shetterly, the author of 鈥淗idden Figures,鈥� should write these stories down to educate the public, Darden said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not only black history but American history,鈥� said Adele Johnson, interim executive director of the Black History Museum. 鈥淚t made me wonder what else I don鈥檛 know.鈥�
