Segregation In Hidden Figures

Makayle R. Tillman

Liz Wilfong

Women in Literature W01

09 April 2023

The film Hidden Figures by Theodore Melfi defines how colored women defeated segregation within the workplace and became prominent members of history during the 1960s. The film begins by showing the audience a group of colored women working in the West Wing of NASA acting as calculators for engineers. There are three major women who go down in the history books for their accomplishments during the 1960s launch for the first American in space and segregation. Katherine Goble, later known as Katherine Johnson, was dedicated to the Computational Building in honor of her accomplishments in space travel calculations. Dorothy Vaughn became the first colored supervisor in NASA and

In a scene where Katherine is questioned about why she goes missing every day, she states “’ there are no colored bathrooms in this building or any building outside the West Campus’” (Hidden Figures). This scene is the most well-known from the film and describes the segregation within the workplace that women must endure while being human computers for engineers and scientists. It asserts passion for the mistreatment and causes Katherine’s supervisor to realize how bad segregation is within NASA. Throughout the film, Melfi inserts recordings and newsfeeds from the historical launch to make it more realistic of the time and pay tribute to the launch. Alongside the inserts, the wardrobe and hairstyle chosen for each actor/actress in the film are used to show the difference between each race and the pay they receive. Pearls are primarily used to show the difference as whites were well-off and could afford them; however, as stated in the film companies “don’t pay coloreds enough to own pearls” (Hidden Figures). The emphasis on this minute piece of wardrobe is used to symbolize equality within a workplace. At the end of the film when Katherine was no longer needed for her task on the launch calculations, Ruth hands Katherine a string of pearls from the team as a symbol of the equality she had within the Space

The year was altered for when Katherine joined the Space Task Force; however, the events were accurate as John Glenn “refused to leave until ‘the girl,’ as he called Johnson, had checked their calculations” (Yount). Another alteration to the times was Mary Jackson and her education to become an engineer. Historically, Jackson acquired the special permission needed to further her education in 1956 rather than in the early 1960s described in the movie. This was done to align the achievements for a dramatic effect on the movie. Mary Jackson was “the first black female engineer” to work for NASA; however, it was before Katherine Johnson worked for the Space Task Force and launched John Glenn into orbit (Roland). Overall, the film was historically accurate in the accomplishments and segregation, but the time frame for each achievement and setting was inaccurate and used to dramatize the