67 pages • 2 hours read
Hidden Figures
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Reading Questions & Paired Texts
Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.
PROLOGUE-CHAPTER 3
Reading Check
1. What industry was the largest in the world during World War II?
2. What important task took place at Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory?
3. What was Dorothy’s job before she became a mathematician?
4. What was Katherine’s degree in?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What inspired Shetterly to write this book?
2. What was the effect of Executive Order 8802 in 1941?
Why did Dorothy decide to take the job as a mathematician?
3. How did Katherine’s and Dorothy’s families know one another?
Paired Resource
“Executive Order 8802: Prohibition of Discrimination in the Defense Industry (1941)”
- This resource from the National Archives represents the full text of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s order to desegregate the defense industry during World War II.
- This text connects to the theme Racism in the United States.
- Why was this order significant? How did it pave the way for the events of this book? How did it fall short in other ways?
CHAPTERS 4-7
Reading Check
1. What was a “computer” at this time (1961)?
2. Who removed the segregation sign in the Langley cafeteria each time it reappeared?
3. What class did Dorothy take at Langley?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Why was much of the work at Langley such as computing done by women?
2. What was the “Double V”?
3. Why were there two computing pools at Langley?
CHAPTERS 8-13
Reading Check
1. Where did Katherine enroll in a graduate program?
2. Which role at Langley specifically excluded women?
3. Where was Mary from?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Why did Katherine drop out of graduate school?
2. How did Mary prove herself at Langley?
3. Why did Katherine’s supervisor in the Flight Research Division give her a promotion?
CHAPTERS 14-19
Reading Check
1. With whom did Mary author a report at Langley?
2. What is the name of the satellite that the Soviet Union launched into space?
3. What agency was the NACA reorganized into in 1958?
4. Who was Katherine’s second husband?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Why did Dorothy take extra classes about electronic computers?
2. Why did Mary have to get special permission to attend classes at Hampton?
3. Why wasn’t Katherine initially allowed to attend lectures and editorial meetings at which key research was discussed?
4. What was significant about Katherine’s report about the trajectory of the spacecraft?
Paired Resource
“How the Space Race Built Today’s Technology”
- This article from the Alliance for Innovation and Infrastructure describes NASA’s role in developing technology.
- What is the relationship between technology and the space race? How might Dorothy have described it during her time at NASA?
CHAPTER 20-EPILOGUE
Reading Check
1. What political figure promised that the United States would put the first American on the moon?
2. Which astronaut was on the mission during which the Mercury orbited the Earth (the first American orbital crewed mission)?
3. On what show did a Black woman appear as a character in space flight?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What was missing from the documentary that NASA made in the early 1960s?
2. What new challenge did Katherine work on for the moon landing?
3. Why did Mary make the transition to the Human Resources Department?
Paired Resource
- This Oyez overview describes a lawsuit between a Black man, Percy Green, and McDonnell Douglas Corporation, which built the Mercury capsule that sent John Glenn to the moon.
- This resource connects to the theme Racism in the United States.
- What does this court case suggest about how there was still work to be done about employment discrimination in the United States? How does it add to our discussion of Black women and segregation at Langley?
“Modern History Makers: Phuong Marangoni”
- This post from NASA’s Modern Figures series showcases the work of today’s NASA employees.
- This resource connects to the theme Perseverance Pays Off.
- How does Marangoni’s story compare to some of those we read about in Shetterly’s book?
Recommended Next Reads
Rise of the Rocket Girls by Nathalia Holt
- Holt’s nonfiction work explores the work done by women at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and their contributions to NASA’s success.
- Shared themes include Sexism in the American Workplace and Perseverance Pays Off.
- Shared topics include space, NASA, and women’s roles in history.
- Rise of the Rocket Girls on SuperSummary
The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took a Measure of the Stars by Dava Sobel
- This nonfiction text describes how a group of women researched stars and features their contributions to the field of astronomy.
- Shared themes include Sexism in the American Workplace.
- Shared topics include space and women’s roles in history.
- The Glass Universe on SuperSummary
Reading Questions Answer Key
PROLOGUE-CHAPTER 3
Reading Check
1. The aircraft industry (Chapter 1)
2. New aircraft designs were tested and reworked. (Chapter 1)
3. Teacher (Chapters 2-3)
4. Education (Chapters 2-3)
Short Answer
1. Shetterly was inspired to write this book after hearing her father talk about the women who worked for the Langley Research Center as mathematicians. (Prologue)
2. Executive Order 8802 desegregated the defense industry in 1941. Langley sought and hired qualified Black women to work as mathematicians when they needed them during WWII. (Chapter 1)
3. Despite having to leave her children to be cared for by grandparents in Farmville, Dorothy took the job and moved to Hampton because the salary was twice her wages as a teacher. (Chapter 3)
4. Dorothy’s husband and Katherine’s father worked at a famous resort, The Greenbrier, during a previous summer. (Chapter 3)
CHAPTERS 4-7
Reading Check
1. A human doing calculations (Chapter 5)
2. Miriam Mann (Chapter 5)
3. Physics of flying, with an emphasis on aerodynamics (Chapter 6)
Short Answer
1. Much of the work was done because so many men were overseas fighting in World War II. (Chapter 4)
2. The “Double V” referred to the hope that the United States would win the war and that, because of Black troops’ involvement in the war effort (and the contributions of Black workers at home), society would treat all groups more fairly—a double victory. (Chapter 4)
3. There were two computing pools because they were segregated by race. (Chapter 5)
CHAPTERS 8-13
Reading Check
Short Answer
1. Katherine dropped out of grad school at WVU because she became pregnant. (Chapter 8)
2. Mary proved that she was smart and confident when she completed a project for John Becker, proving that the numbers he gave her initially were incorrect. (Chapter 11)
3. Katherine pressured the supervisor to either let her return to West Computing or give her a promotion and a raise, and he did so because her mathematical knowledge was too valuable to lose. (Chapter 13)
CHAPTERS 14-19
Reading Check
1. Kazimierz “Kaz” Czarnecki (Chapter 14)
2. Sputnik (Chapter 15)
3. NASA (Chapter 16)
4. James Johnson (Chapter 18)
Short Answer
1. Dorothy took classes about electronic computers because she knew they represented the future; skilled workers who understood how the machines operated would be invaluable. (Chapter 14)
2. Mary needed to get special permission because the classes at Hampton were segregated by race. (Chapter 14)
3. Katherine wasn’t allowed to attend lectures and editorial research meetings simply because tradition dictated that women did not attend those meetings. (Chapter 17)
4. Katherine’s report was significant because it was the first report to come out of her division by a woman. (Chapter 18)
CHAPTER 20-EPILOGUE
Reading Check
Short Answer
1. The documentary left out the role that women played in Langley’s work. (Chapter 21)
2. Katherine contributed to determining a landing vehicle’s decoupling and recoupling process. (Chapter 22)
3. Mary felt that her work had plateaued; consequently, she changed to the Human Resources Department. (Epilogue)
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By Margot Lee Shetterly
