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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

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 was Shetterly's father's job at Langley?

4. Where did Mary Jackson work immediately after her first year of teaching.

5. 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?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did the Jim Crow laws make public transportation difficult for both blacks and whites in Newport News?

2. Why did Miriam Mann object to the "colored computers" sign in the cafeteria?

3. Why did Joshua Coleman rent a house for his wife and children that was 125 miles away from their home?

4. Why was Margery Hannah considered a pariah by some of her white coworkers?

5. What was the goal of NACA during World War II?

6. What was the attitude of the male engineers when a human computer made an error?

7. Why did Howard Vaughan refuse to move from Farmville to live with his family in Newport News?

8. How did Shetterly's childhood affect the way she thought of blacks working in science, math, and engineering?

9. What observation did black leaders make concerning the events occurring in Europe during World War II?

10. How did designating women as "subprofessionals" help the laboratory?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Women working at Langley were subjected to gender stereotypes that influenced the way that the men they worked with treated them. Write an essay discussing the gender stereotypes that were in play at the time and how those stereotypes affected the women who worked at Langley. How did their male coworkers feel about the work the women did? How did the stereotypes affect women’s possibilities for advancing in their careers?

Essay Topic 2

Shetterly indicates that Langley was something of a social experiment in terms of integration. Write an essay describing the gradual integration of black employees into the general workforce of Langley. How did the work of the black women computers help to integrate Langley? What part did the attitudes of progressive white employees play in the integration of Langley? What changes in the outside world impacted integration at Langley?

Essay Topic 3

Shetterly writes about the way that segregation affected black students both positively and negatively. Write an essay discussing the way segregation both helped and hindered black students. What were the negative effects? What were the positive effects?

(see the answer keys)

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