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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. Where was the secret bunker for politicians to be evacuated to in the event of a Russian attack?

2. What happened when Katherine Goble Johnson sat down at a desk in the Flight Research Division on her first day there?

3. Besides fearing an attack, what bothered Americans about Russia launching Sputnik?

4. What did school boards in the community around Langley do to keep black students from attending white schools after schools were integrated?

5. Why did Langley employees hold meetings and social gatherings in their own Activities Building in the 1950s?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did the East Computing girls laugh at Mary Jackson when she asked them where the bathroom was?

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

3. How did the disbanding of West Area Computing affect Dorothy Vaughan?

4. How did the governor of Virginia respond to the Brown v. Board of Education ruling and what was the result?

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

6. What was one major change that occurred when NACA became NASA?

7. In the 1950s, what made Dorothy Vaughan believe that the nature of the computers' jobs would be changing?

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Shetterly dedicates an entire chapter to Mary Jackson’s son entering a soap box derby. Write an essay explaining the purpose of this chapter. How does the chapter relate to the themes of the book? What information about the individuals focused on does Shetterly communicate through this chapter? What information does the chapter communicate about racial relations during the time period?

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 explaining why Shetterly includes a discussion of the original Star Trek television series. What was important about the series? How did it relate to the civil rights movement? How did the series relate to the work being done at Langley?

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