Did you ever see the movie, Hidden Figures? It was the 2016 movie based on Margot Lee Shetterly's novel documenting the female Black mathematicians who helped the United States win the Space Race. These women helped get the Mercury astronauts into space in the early 1960s.
It seems fitting that this month, Black History Month, and a month that celebrates the scientific achievements of Women (International Women in Science and Technology Day is Feb. 11), I introduce you to Monroe, NC native and "Hidden Figure", Christine Mann Darden.
A Union County native, Darden was a trailblazer among women. Her accomplishments were magnificent for any woman, and especially a Black woman in the Jim Crow era, and she is absolutely someone we all need to know.
Born September 10, 1942 to a school teacher and an insurance agent, Darden's interest in science began early; as a child, she was enthralled with taking things apart and rebuilding them. She attended local public schools and later attended an Asheville boarding school to further her education. Ultimately, she secured a scholarship and entry to Hampton University, a Historically Black University. Upon graduating in 1962, Darden worked as a school teacher herself for a short while before meeting her husband and taking on a research position with Virginia State College.
It was during her tenure at Virginia State College that she was hired by NASA as a data analyst at Langley Research Center. She started in the "computer pool", performing calculations as a human computer for engineers, and later began automating the process by writing computer programs.
By that time, computers were becoming more common in complex calculations to support engineering and design. Darden left the computer pool in 1989 for a position as an engineer, working on decreasing sonic boom in supersonic flight. In 1983, she earned her Ph.D. in engineering from George Washington University and became known for her research as one of NASA's preeminent experts on supersonic flight and sonic booms.
Darden advanced to become the first African-American woman at Langley to be promoted into the Senior Executive Service, the top rank in the federal civil service.
To think that someone of humble beginnings could ascend to such incredible status, during a period of time rife with racial justice trauma and open prevalent racism, sexism and all the other 'ism"s is so inspiring for children everywhere, but specifically in our area. I invite you to learn more about Christine Darden's NASA career HERE.
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