Hidden Figures Memorial Cover

Although they may never completely shed the label, the women who worked for NASA as human computers during the space race no longer are "hidden figures," and they now have a medal to prove it. On September 18, 2024, in Emancipation Hall at the Capitol in Washington, D. C. the women as a group and four individuals who have come to represent their collective experiences were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, one of the highest civilian honors in the United States. As authorized by Congress, the medals were bestowed to Christine Darden and posthumously to Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan. A separate Hidden Figures Congressional Gold Medal also was dedicated to all of the women who worked as computers, mathematicians, data analysts, engineers, and scientists at NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) and NASA between the 1930s and
1970s. The honorees' contributions to the space program were first brought forward in the 2016 book Hidden Figures, which in turn inspired the feature film by the same title.