The remarkable woman at heart of the smash New York Times bestseller and Oscar-winning film
Hidden Figures tells the full story of her life including what it took to work at NASA help
land the first man on the moon and live through a century of turmoil and change.In 2015 at
the age of 97 Katherine Johnson became a global celebrity. President Barack Obama awarded her
the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom-the nation's highest civilian honor-for her
pioneering work as a mathematician on NASA's first flights into space. Her contributions to
America's space program were celebrated in a blockbuster and Academy-award nominated movie. In
this memoir Katherine shares her personal journey from child prodigy in the Allegheny
Mountains of West Virginia to NASA human computer. In her life after retirement she served as
a beacon of light for her family and community alike. Her story is centered around the basic
tenets of her life-no one is better than you education is paramount and asking questions can
break barriers. The memoir captures the many facets of this unique woman: the curious daddy's
girl pioneering professional and sage elder. This multidimensional portrait is also the
record of a century of racial history that reveals the influential role educators at segregated
schools and Historically Black Colleges and Universities played in nurturing the dreams of
trailblazers like Katherine. The author pays homage to her mentor-the African American
professor who inspired her to become a research mathematician despite having his own dream
crushed by racism. Infused with the uplifting wisdom of a woman who handled great fame with
genuine humility and great tragedy with enduring hope My Remarkable Journey ultimately brings
into focus a determined woman who navigated tough racial terrain with soft-spoken grace-and the
unrelenting grit required to make history and inspire future generations.
