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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why did Dorothy Vaughan sometimes put dinner on the table for her children and then walk around the block before eating?
(a) Because she did not want to take out the frustrations of her day on them.
(b) To stay thin.
(c) To prevent herself from talking about her classified work.
(d) To make sure they had enough to eat before she ate.

2. What position did the hotel Katherine worked at while in high school move her to to take advantage of her charisma?
(a) Store clerk.
(b) Bellhop.
(c) Waitress.
(d) Maid.

3. At the time when black women began working at Langley, what was considered the highest level of employment a black woman could achieve?
(a) Mathematician.
(b) Maid.
(c) School teacher.
(d) Nurse.

4. What was the name of Langley Research Center's newsletter?
(a) Research Reporter.
(b) The Flyer.
(c) NACA Notes.
(d) Air Scoop.

5. Who hid the "colored computers" sign from the cafeteria?
(a) Katherine Goble Johnson.
(b) Miriam Mann.
(c) Mary Jackson.
(d) Dorothy Vaughan.

6. How much did Dorothy Vaughan pay for her housing when she first started working at Langley?
(a) Nothing.
(b) $5 per week.
(c) $10 per week.
(d) $50 per month.

7. Who was the man that was promoted to head the Stability Analysis section despite the fact that he had not finished college?
(a) Thomas Byrdsong.
(b) Melvin Butler.
(c) Harry Byrd.
(d) R.T. Jones.

8. What were the employees at Langley warned against doing outside of the workplace during World War II?
(a) Socializing with people of different races.
(b) Letting anyone know where they worked.
(c) Telling people there were black women working at Langley.
(d) Talking about their work.

9. Whose family attended a concert with Dorothy Vaughan's family?
(a) Christine Darden's family.
(b) Margery Hannah's family.
(c) Miriam Mann's family.
(d) Mary Jackson's family.

10. Who was the head computer when Langley began hiring black women?
(a) Dorothy Vaughan.
(b) Blanche Sponsler.
(c) Mary Jackson.
(d) Virginia Tucker.

11. What was the name of the pilot who broke the sound barrier?
(a) John Glenn.
(b) Thomas Byrdsong.
(c) Harry Byrd.
(d) Chuck Yeager.

12. How many freedoms did President Roosevelt say that all men were entitled to in his 1941 State of the Union address?
(a) Four.
(b) Three.
(c) One.
(d) Ten.

13. What was the original name of NASA?
(a) NAPA.
(b) NAACP.
(c) NASP.
(d) NACA.

14. Which of the following planes was used in the bombing of Japan?
(a) Boeing B-29 Superfortress.
(b) Chance Vaught F4U Corsair.
(c) North American P-51 Mustang.
(d) Douglas C-47 Skytrain.

15. What event caused the need for Langley to initially hire black women?
(a) The launch of Sputnik.
(b) World War I.
(c) World War II.
(d) The space race.

Short Answer Questions

1. How did Dorothy Vaughan find a place to stay when she arrived in Newport News?

2. Why did the NAACP file a lawsuit against Booker T. Washington High School in Virginia?

3. What did the U.S. government do to prevent black leaders like Josephine Baker and W.E.B. Du Bois from having an impact on relations with newly independent countries?

4. How much was Dorothy Vaughan offered in pay to work at Langley in comparison to her teaching job?

5. How did Leonard Vaughan and the other black children ensure they would get the pond to themselves?

(see the answer keys)

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