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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. What was special about Mary Jackson's son winning the soap box derby?

2. Why did Dorothy Vaughan go to speak with the division chief of The Flight Research Division?

3. How did the engineers in Flight Research and PARD learn about space flight?

4. What did Shetterly say was one of Katherine Goble Johnson's "great talents?"

5. What did the reporter who interviewed Dorothy Lee say that women had to work like?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did Katherine and Jimmy Goble have to stay with relatives when they attended Jimmy's sister's wedding?

2. Why did Melvin Butler fail to inform the engineering staff that James Williams was black?

3. Why was there a push toward space for Americans after Russia launched Sputnik?

4. Why did Mary Jackson think it was important for her son to participate in the soap box derby?

5. Why was the U.S. Army called to a school in Little Rock, Arkansas?

6. What happened that allowed Katherine Goble Johnson the opportunity to publish her first research report?

7. Why was Katherine Goble Johnson prohibited from attending the editorial meetings?

8. Why did Dorothy Lee regret agreeing with a reporter when she said that women had to act like ladies in the workplace?

9. Why did the talk that Mary Jackson and Emma Jean gave to a group of girls have such a great impact on the girls?

10. What made the theoretical group an especially good place for women to work?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay discussing Shetterly’s motive for writing Hidden Figures. What does she hope to accomplish with this book? How does she want the world to see the black women who worked as human computers? What is the overall message of the book?

Essay Topic 2

Mary Jackson’s humanitarian work outside of Langley informed the direction of her career. Write an essay describing the work that Mary did outside and inside of Langley and how the two were interconnected. Why did Mary make the move to Human Resources and how did her humanitarian work influence the work she did in that department?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay describing the impact of the Rosenberg trial on employees at Langley. Why was Langley drawn into the trial? How did the trial affect interactions between employees? What was the impact on racial relations within Langley?

(see the answer keys)

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