 Major sponsors for Ableton on Air include Green Mountain Support Services, empowering people with disabilities to live home in the community, Washington County Mental Health, where hope and support come together. Media sponsors for Ableton on Air include Park Chester Times, Muslim Community Report, WWW, this is the Bronx.info, Associated Press Media Editors, New York Power Online Newspaper, U.S. Press Corps Domestic and International, Anchor FM and Spotify. Partners for Ableton on Air include the HOD of New York and New England, where everyone belongs, the Orthodox Union, the Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired of Vermont, the Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Center Vermont Habitat for Humanity, and Montpelier Sustainable Coalition, Montefiore Medical Center of the Bronx, Roosevelt Kennedy Center of Bronx, New York, Albert Einstein College of Medicine of the Bronx. Ableton on Air has been seen in the following publications, Park Chester Times, WWW, this is the Bronx.com, New York Power Online Newspaper, Muslim Community Report, WWW.H.com, and the Montpelier Bridge. Ableton on Air is part of the following organizations, the National Academy of Television, Arts and Sciences, Boston, New England Chapter, and the Society of Professional Journalists. Welcome to this edition of Ableton on Air, the one and only program that focuses on the needs, concerns and achievements of the differently abled. I'm your host Lauren Sila, Arlene is not here today. On this program today, this is a program for Black History Month. We are preempting our normal interview to discuss Black History Month, and we are profiling the movie and the women involved with the movie, the original women involved in the movie called Hidden Figures, which is a 2016 movie about women that work for NASA. But before that, we would like to say a special thanks to our sponsors from Washington County Mental Health, Green Mountain Support Services, and many others including the partnership with the Association for the Blind and Vermont, the Division for the Blind and Vermont, and many, many others, including also Montpelier Hospital of the Bronx, Kennedy Center of the Bronx, and Montpelier Medical Center. So let's get started. Hidden Figures was or is a 2016 American Biographical Drama directed by Theodore Melphie, written by Melphie and Allison Schroeder. It is loosely based on the 2016 nonfiction book of the same name by Margo Lee Shedley about African American female mathematicians who worked at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, during the space race. The film stars Teri P. Henderson as Catherine Johnson, Octavia Spencer and Dorothy Vaughn, as well as Janet Monet and Mary Jackson. Kevin Costner and Kristen Dunst as well as Jim Parsons, and many other stars are featured in supporting roles. Principal Photography began on March 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia and wrapped up in May 2016. Other film locations included other locations in Georgia and East Point, Columbus, Ohio, and other places. Hidden Figures had a limited release on December 25, 2016. So let's talk about the real people of the movie, which is why we are talking about Black History Month. So let's talk about Catherine Johnson. Catherine Johnson was born on August 26, 2018 and died February 24, 2020. She was an American mathematician whose calculations of orbitable mathematics as a NASA employee were critical to the success of the first and subsequent US crewed space flights. During her 33 years of NASA and its predecessor, she has earned a reputation for mastering complex calculations and helped pioneer the use of computers to perform the task of the space agency noted as NASA historical role as one of the first African American women to work as a NASA scientist. Johnson's work included calculating trajectories, and by the way we are showing a picture of Catherine Johnson. She talked about her work included calculating trajectories, launch windows, and emergency return paths for project Mercury space flight, which included for those astronauts Alan Shepard as the first American in space and John Glenn, the first American in orbit. And rendezvous paths for Apollo Lunar module and the command module and flights to the moon. Her calculations were also essential to the beginning of the space shuttle program. She worked on plans for mission in Mars. She was known as the human computer for her tremendous mathematical ability and the ability to work on space territories. In 2015, President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016. She was presented with the Silver Snoopy Award by NASA astronaut Leland Melvin and a NASA Group Achievement Award. She was portrayed by Terry Henderson as the lead character in Hidden Figures. In 2019, Johnson was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal from the United States Congress. In early life, Catherine Johnson was born Criola Catherine Coleman on August 26, 1918 in White Springs, West Virginia. And her family had taken her to an all African American school so she can learn mathematics. Now, Johnson showed strong mathematical abilities at an early age. The school district did not offer schooling for African American students past eighth grade. The commons arranged for their children to attend high school at the Institute of West Virginia. The school was on the campus of West Virginia State College. Johnson was enrolled when she was 10 years old. The family split between the Institute and the school year in White and White Silver Springs that summer. After graduating high school at age 14, Johnson enrolled in West Virginia State, a historically black college as a student. She took every math course offered by the college. Multiple professors mentioned her including the chemist and mathematician, Andrew Turner King, which had mentioned Coleman through high school. And W.W. Slavin-Claytor, a third African American to receive the Ph.D. in mathematics. Claytor added new mathematics courses just for Johnson. She graduated summa cum laude in 1937 with degrees in mathematics and French at age 18. Johnson was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha. She took a job at a black public school in Marion. Johnson decided in a career in research mathematician at a family gathering in 1952. A relative mentioned the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics was hiring mathematicians. And then she started working for NASA in the 1960s. Johnson worked at a pool for women performing math calculations. Catherine had referred to the women in the pool as virtual computers who wore skirts. From 1953 to 1958, Johnson worked as a computer analyzing topics such as Gus alleviations for aircraft. Originally assigned to the western arena computer section supervised by mathematician Dorothy Vaughn. Johnson was reassigned to the guidance control division at Langley's flight research division. It was also staffed by white male engineers. Keeping with state racial segregation laws and federal workplace segregation introduced under President Woodrow Wilson in early years of the 20th century, Johnson and other African American women in the community pool were required to work, eat and use restrooms that were separate from those because everybody was doing research. You have a mission, you have to work on it. It was important to do your job and sometimes they played bridge at lunch. The secretarial pool disbanded, the color commuting pool in 1958, which the agency was superseded by NASA and adopted digital computers, although the installations was desegregated. Since we're on that topic of hidden figures, let's go to the clip of hidden figures. So let's talk about the clip. So the scene here, Kevin Costner in Hidden Figures 2016 took down the colors only sign because of segregation. So let's take a look at this clip from Hidden Figures in 2016. I need you to be. It's not my imagination. Now where the hell do you go every day? To the bathroom, sir. The bathroom. To the damn bathroom. For 40 minutes a day? What are you doing now? We're T-minus zero here. I put a lot of faith in you. There's no bathroom for me here. What do you mean there's no bathroom for you here? There is no bathroom. There are no colored bathrooms in this building or any building outside the West Campus. We're just half a mile away. Did you know that? I have to walk to Timbuktu just to relieve myself. And I can't use one of the handy bikes. Picture that, Mr. Harrison. My uniform, skirt below my knees, my heels, and a simple string of pearls. Well, I don't own pearls. Lord knows you don't pay color enough to afford pearls. And I work like a dog. Damn! If I have to go to the restroom a few times a day. No more white restroom. Go wherever you damn well please. Preferably closer to your desk. Okay. Now, according to the biography of Catherine Johnson, she was handpicked to be one of the... Catherine Johnson's biography, she was handpicked to be one of the black students to the intricate West Virginia's graduate schools. It's something many people would consider one of their life's notable moments. Now, just to let our viewers know, the reason why we chose this topic is that sometimes color, especially back in the 1960s, color could have been some type of disability. But people like Martin Luther King fought to make a point to desegregate everything. Because it's extremely important to not let color or any disability or special needs stand in somebody's way of getting a job. Now, she was hired, she retired from NASA in 1986. And she died in 2020 at the age of 101. Now, Catherine Johnson here. Oh, she was a NASA trailblazer. She was a mathematician, a trailblazer, and a quest for racial equality. She was a contributor to our nation's first triumphs of human space flight and a champion of STEM education. Catherine G. Johnson stands as NASA's most inspirational figures. Again, she was born on August 26, 1918 in West Virginia. And now in 1953 and what today is known as NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, but then was called the Langley Memorial Astronautical Library. She retired from the center in 1986. And she retired, you know, so we're going to be showing pictures of her and what she stood for. Now, there are plenty, according to the website, www.nasa.gov. You can also find out more about the women of NASA in terms of hidden figures. So let's go to Dorothy Vaughn. Okay. Dorothy Vaughn also worked for NASA. So let's go quickly to her. Dorothy Vaughn was born September 20, 1910 in Montana, and she retired from NASA in 1971. In an era where NASA and the African-American man administrator Charles Bolden and a woman deputy administrator, David Newman, helped her get a job. Dorothy Vaughn came to the Langley Memorial Astronautical Laboratory in 1943 during the height of World War II, leaving her position as a math teacher in Virginia. And she also skyrocketed to NASA. Dorothy Vaughn retired from NASA in 1971. She sought but never received another management position at Langley. Her legacy lives on as a successful career and notable West computing alumni, including Mary Jackson, Catherine Johnson, and Eunice Smith, as well as Catherine Pedro. And the achievements of the second generation mathematicians and engineers such as Dr. Christine Darden. So again, you can find out about these ladies for hidden figures. Dorothy Vaughn and the other ladies including Catherine Johnson at www.nasa.gov. For this content, you can go forward slash Dorothy Vaughn biography. And then you can find out more about the modern figures video series about these ladies in black history and about the real Catherine Johnson. Again, this is a real important topic about black history and the importance that no one should have color as a disability or use color as a disability when it comes to segregation and people with special needs or anybody that is trying to find employment. I'm a journalist and growing up it was hard for me partly to find employment there were people that mentored me to find that employment and no one should be scared to find employment. So that's why we do these historical shelves to make sure that everybody understands that it's extremely important to stand your ground and make sure that everybody can advocate for their own employment or other services that they need. Again, the website for NASA is www.nasa.gov forward slash modern figures and you can also look up the movie Hidden Figures about the real Catherine Johnson and the other ladies involved. Thank you to our sponsors Washington County Mental Health, Green Mountain Support Services and many others including the Association for the Blind of Vermont, the Division for the Blind of Vermont and many others including Montefiore Hospital of the Bronx, Kennedy Center of the Bronx and Einstein Hospital of Medicine and other sponsors and partners of Abel Den Arnair for this show today of Black History Month and we talked about Hidden Figures. Again Arlene is not here today. I'm Lauren Seiler. See you next time on the next edition of Abel Den Arnair. Remember never be afraid to stand up for what you believe in especially when it comes to segregation. I'm Lauren Seiler. See you next time on Abel Den Arnair. Major sponsors for Abel Den Arnair include Green Mountain Support Services, empowering people with disabilities to live home in the community, Washington County Mental Health where hope and support comes together. Media sponsors for Abel Den Arnair include Park Chester Times, Muslim Community Report, WWW, this is the Bronx.info, Associated Press Media Editors, New York Power Online Newspaper, U.S. Press Corps Domestic and International, Anchor FM and Spotify. Partners for Abel Den Arnair include Yachad of New York and New England where everyone belongs, the Orthodox Union, the Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired of Vermont, the Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Central Vermont Habitat for Humanity and Montpelier Sustainable Coalition, Montpelier Medical Center of the Bronx, Rose of Kennedy Center of Bronx, New York, Albert Einstein College of Medicine of the Bronx. Abel Den Arnair has been seen in the following publications, Park Chester Times, WWW, this is the Bronx.com, New York Power Online Newspaper, Muslim Community Report, WWW.H.com and the Montpelier Bridge. Abel Den Arnair is part of the following organizations, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Boston, New England Chapter and the Society of Professional Journalists.