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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. Why did Dorothy Vaughan believe the West Computers would need to learn to use the electronic computers?

2. What did Katherine's analysis of an accident involving a small plane lead to?

3. What did James Williams have to do on his first day of work at Langley?

4. Where did NASA move the space program to in anticipation of the large number of people needed to accomplish the manned orbital flight?

5. What rumor about the astronauts spread around the Hampton Institute campus?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why was Katherine Goble Johnson warned not to ask for a transfer to an engineering group when she started working at Langley?

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

3. What happened at Moton High School that drew them into the Brown v. Board of Education case?

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

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

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

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

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

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

10. Why was there confusion about which room to place Katherine Goble Johnson's mother in when she was in the hospital?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Shetterly makes a case for historical events affecting the opportunities made available to African Americans and women in mathematics and science. Write an essay describing and discussing the ways in which the events occurring in the world created these opportunities. Why was it necessary to hire African American women at Langley? What demands were placed on the researchers at Langley that required additional employees? How did the civil rights movement affect the hiring and advancement of black women at Langley?

Essay Topic 3

Melvin Butler saw the need for hiring black women as human computers due to a shortage in the workforce created by the war. How did the way in which Butler hired the women and brought them into Langley affect how they were treated or accepted in the workplace? Cite specific examples of the practices or structures he put into place and how they influenced the way in which black women were received in the workplace.

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