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MPR News Staff

Author Margot Lee Shetterly speaks about 'Hidden Figures' like Katherine Johnson of NASA

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Katherine Johnson
Katherine Johnson, a mathematician at NASA, contributed to NACA and NASA programs from 1953 to 1986. The was the first woman to receive credit as an author of a Flight Research Division report in 1960, contributing to many programs involving orbital mechanics. She was a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015.
NASA

Margot Lee Shetterly, author of "Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race," was the Distinguished Carlson Lecturer at the University of Minnesota on Friday.

Presented by the University of Minnesota Humphrey School, Carlson and the Carlson Family Foundation, the presentation included a discussion with Shetterly and Michele Norris, executive director of The Race Card Project at the Aspen Institute.

The two discussed the many ways women and people of color have contributed to American innovation and explored the prejudice and bias they had to fight against along the way.

To hear that discussion, click the first audio player above.

Additional content

Recently, a joint production by the Washington Post and APM reports, titled "Historically Black," featured the story of Miriam Daniel Mann, who removed the signs designating areas for "colored computers" while working at Langley Airfield.

To hear that feature, click this link to APM Reports’ page.

Shetterly's bestselling book is the inspiration for the 2016 film "Hidden Figures," which was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.