Hidden Figures: Young Readers Edition

Dorothy Vaughan was one of the first Black women to be hired by NACA in 1943. She was born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1910, and her mother died when she was just two years old. However, Dorothy’s father remarried, and her stepmother taught her how to read and encouraged her to do well in school. Dorothy’s family moved to West Virginia when she was eight. She was the valedictorian of her high school class and later studied math at Wilberforce University on a full scholarship. One of her professors suggested that Dorothy continue her education at graduate school, but the Great Depression meant that Dorothy’s parents needed help providing for the family. She got a job as a teacher instead, hoping to help send her younger sister to college. This detail immediately foreshadows Dorothy’s role in paving the way for Black women of future generations. Dorothy worked at a school in Illinois and later in North Carolina, but both were forced to close due to financial difficulties. Finally, Dorothy got a job teaching in Farmville, Virginia, where she met her husband, Howard Vaughan.

When Dorothy saw the advertisement for the