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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How did Dorothy Vaughan find a place to stay when she arrived in Newport News?
(a) The personnel department at Langley kept a file of available housing separated by races.
(b) She found an ad in the paper for "colored housing."
(c) She stayed with people she met at church.
(d) A friend gave her the name of a woman who owned a boarding house.

2. What trial was Langley drawn into because of a suspected connection to one of the employees there?
(a) Roe v. Wade.
(b) Brown v. Board of Education.
(c) The Rosenberg trial.
(d) The Nuremberg trial.

3. Where did Mary Jackson attend college?
(a) Howard University.
(b) Virginia State University.
(c) Hampton Institute.
(d) Spelman College.

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

5. What was Dorothy Vaughan's summer job before she began working at Langley?
(a) She did laundry at Camp Pickett.
(b) She worked at the USO.
(c) She was a bookkeeper for a hotel.
(d) She was a waitress.

6. In what year did the first female computing pool begin working at Langley?
(a) 1971.
(b) 1935.
(c) 1943.
(d) 1953.

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

8. How many women, both black and white, were working as computers when Dorothy Vaughan started at Langley?
(a) 20.
(b) 100.
(c) 200+.
(d) 500+.

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

10. How did Shetterly know the woman that her father told her was a human computer, thus sparking her interest in the topic?
(a) The woman was her former babysitter.
(b) The woman was her kindergarten teacher.
(c) The woman was her former Sunday School teacher.
(d) The woman was her mother's best friend.

11. What was the name of the group of black pilots whose exploits were closely followed by the black community during World War II?
(a) The Black Panthers.
(b) The Negro Air Patrol.
(c) The Tuskegee Airmen.
(d) The African American Airmen.

12. What effect did V-J day have on the workforce in the area surrounding Langley?
(a) Many workers were laid off.
(b) There was a need to hire additional workers.
(c) Employers began paying their employees more.
(d) Employers began paying their employees less.

13. What part of Langley did the black computers work in?
(a) North Area.
(b) East Area.
(c) West Area.
(d) South Area.

14. What was Dorothy Vaughan's connection to Katherine Goble Johnson before working at Langley?
(a) Dorothy went to college with Katherine.
(b) Dorothy was Katherine's teacher in high school.
(c) Dorothy and her husband were friends with Katherine's grandparents.
(d) Dorothy and Katherine went to the same church.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Which Executive Order desegregated the military?

2. What did the local living around Langley Research Center call the people who worked at Langley because of their eccentric behavior?

3. At the time when black women began working at Langley, what was considered the highest level of employment a black woman could achieve?

4. What did James Thompson call the idea that black Americans had to fight in the war for victory overseas and at home for victory over oppression?

5. How old was Katherine Goble Johnson when she entered college?

(see the answer keys)

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