TEST

Why and where was life most difficult in America for African Americans after the end of slavery?

The South because they still had segregation between white and black people while making it impossible for black people to do anything.

What actually created the opportunity for African Americans to find work, and in particular Vaughn, Jackson, Johnson, Darden?

WW2 created opportunities for African Americans to work by having them fill jobs of military men that were now away.

Why was America so concerned with making airplanes?

Because airplanes moved military troops, tracked enemies, and launched bombs. World Leaders felt that if they ruled the skies, they could win the war.

Why was it important to make every slight improvement to each aircraft design no matter how small a difference it made?

Because it can improve pilots speed and increase their miles which can tip the war in their favor.

What were the two reasons women were classified as “subprofessionals” rather than mathematicians?

It meant that the women could be paid less and it made them not on the same level as male employees.

How could employees identify a job applicants race without a picture?

By seeing the college the job applicant’s went to because black people only had accesses to certain colleges.

How did Langley employees feel about African American women coming to work in the labs with them?

The engineers welcomed the extra pair of helping hands even if they were African Americans.

Why was Dorothy considering working at building doing a soldier’s laundry instead of keeping with her job as a high school math teacher?

Because she could make twice as much doing laundry than teaching math.

Why did Dorothy decide not to go to graduate school after receiving her college degree?

She got a job instead of going to graduate school to support her family and improve her chances of her younger sister going to college.

Why did Dorothy at first decide not to apply for one of the Math jobs at Langley.

She thought that the bulletin was for the white students at the well of female college.

Men were serving in the military in WW2

Jobs needed to be filled

More planes needed to be built for WW2

Mathematicians were needed to do calculations

A. Philp Randolph encouraged President Franklin D. Roosevelt to sign an executive order

Opened up opportunities for African Americans to work alongside white people

African Americans didn’t have access to white colleges

Prospective employers knew the women were African American

There were still laws about segregation in Virginia

African American computers were assigned to separate work area from their white peers

Segregation was still a way of life in Virginia

Langley staff had to prep a separate space for the arrival of African American worker

What class did Vaughn create that she taught at the high school, what did it tell us about the country at that time?

Vaughn created Wartime Mathematics and it tells us that America is struggling to adjust to the war.

Why was Vaughn both happy and sad about getting the Math job at Langley?

Because she would have to move away from her family though she knew the money would help them.

What was Newsome Park?

A space for African Americans to live that was a subdivision from the other homes that were for white people.

What was the “colored line”?

It was a line that separated the white people from the black people on the bus.

Why did a lot of white people dislike the colored line?

Because it caused a lot of jostling and scrambling when people were getting off and on.

Why were African Americans sympathetic to the war effort, why were some not as sympathetic?

Some were sympathetic to the treatment the Jews were receiving by the Nazi’s while some weren’t sympathetic because of slavery and unfair treatment in America.

How is Dorothy trying to achieve a “Double Victory”?

By working as a mathematician to help with the war while fighting for civil rights by being a black woman in a white male dominated field showing that she was on the same level as them.

What was different between the East Computers and the West Computers?

The East Computers were made up of white people while the West Computers were made up of Black people.

How did Miriam fight against segregation while working at Langley?

She fought against segregation by stealing the “Colored Computers” sign enough times to the point people gave up putting it back up.

How did having the cafeteria sign removed changed where the West Computers eat lunch?

It didn’t change where they sat but it made them more comfortable without the sign up to bother them.

Why do you think the administrators at Langley give up putting up the cafeteria sign, why didn’t they just fire Miriam?

They gave up putting up the cafeteria sign because they knew it was just going to get taken down again and they wouldn’t fire Miriam because they needed all hands on deck.

What and why was the “Double V” important?

The Double V was adopted by African Americans to show their victory over the war while working towards victory towards civil rights at home.

Why didn’t the women who made up the West Computers talk about their work with those close to them?

Because their work was considered secret and they didn’t want spies stealing valuable information.

Why didn’t the locals get along better with those working at NACA?

Some of the people working at NACA had accents and they dressed and looked differently from the locals.

Why was it important to design plane wings to move smoothy through the air?

Because it helped the pilot fly smoother in the air which makes the plane easier to control.

What was the job of a test pilot?

They fly planes into their weak spots so engineers could collect data off how well the plane did and improve other planes.

Why was the creation of wind tunnels such a huge advancement for the aeronautical engineers?

It allowed for the model planes to be tested without risking the lives of pilots.

How much about the plane or the goal the engineers had in mind was understood by the computers?

The computers had no idea what the goal or the desired outcome the engineers had in mind.

What do you think will happen with Dorothy and her husband and both of their jobs taking them so far away?

I think they will get disconnected and fall out of touch and love with eachother.

What happened to the women (white and black) shortly after America’s victory over Japan? How did women feel about this?

Many women were given pink slips that meant that they were fired. Some women liked the fact that they wouldn’t be doing any more war work, but some women wanted to stay because they loved their jobs and their paychecks.

Why had it been risky for Dorothy to buy the house that she was now currently living in?

Because she could’ve lost her job and she wouldn’t have the money to pay for the house since the men were coming back from war.

What happened to the East Computing Division?

They disbanded and they were sent to work in wind tunnels.

What kind of employee was Dorothy known as?

She was promoted to a computer to a shift supervisor because of her error free work and excellent ratings.

What was the only was for a female computer to become more specialized?

To impress an engineer by showing her valuable assets and skills so he would invite her to work in a wind tunnel with him to get closer to research and specialization.

in 1947, what was huge aeronautical feat was accomplished?

We flew a plane (Bell X-1 with Chuck Yeager) so fast that it broke the sound barrier.

What was Dorothy Hoover one of the first women to do?

To leave the computing pool and immediately work in research for an engineer.

What achievement did Dorothy make during her time at Langley?

The first African American woman that was given a management role at Langley. She was the head of the West Computers.

How does an airplane fly?

Different pressures above and under the wings create lift when wind moves through them.

How did Mary Jackson’s wedding represent the kind of person she was?

It showed that she did things her way and that she was independent.

Why was leading Girl Scout Troop 11 important to Mary?

Because it related with her core believes about respect for God and the country, loyalty, and honesty.

What two pieces of news about the Soviet Union cause the U.S. government to increase its plane research and start hiring more computers at Langley again?

That the Russians had planes so fast they couldn’t be spotted and how they increased their research power by three times.

What was the Rosenburg trial?

That an American couple was accused of being spies for the Soviet Union and they were imprisoned and executed.

What effect do you imagine the Rosenburg trial probably have on Langley?

It made others more suspicious and scared of their peers, and it increased the secretiveness of their work.

How did President Truman want to deal with communism?

He encouraged developing countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America to develop democracy in their countries and to become American allies.

In what ways was Langley segregated, in what ways was Langley desegregated?

By still separating the white computers from the black computers but Langley claimed that new employees worked in desegregated units for 1 to 3 months.

How did Mary end up working at the STP?

By venting to an engineer about the treatment she faced from the East Computers and the engineer was impressed with Mary’s work, so he invited her to work with him in the STP.

What did Mary do that impressed the chief researcher at Langley?

She stood by her work even if others said it was wrong even though the division chief gave her the wrong numbers on accident.

What was Katherine like in school?

Katherine excelled in school and she was especially good in math.

Why did Katherine have to quit graduate school?

Katherine quit graduate school because she found out she was pregnant.

What was West Computing’s “charm offensive”?

They always made an effort to dress well, be polite, well spoken, upright, and patriotic, to show that they could be just as good as any white person or man in their field.

Teachers couldn’t find Katherine at her desk in school.

They would find her helping her older brother with his math lessons.

There were no graduate programs offered by any African-American colleges in West Virgina.

Katherine had to study in a white graduate school instead.

The Flight Research Division at Langley needed two new computers.

Katherine and Erma were sent from the West Computers to work with engineers.

Dorothy Vaughn felt that Katherine Goble wasn’t getting paid enough for her work.

Katherine was offered a full-time job in the division with a higher salary.

A small Piper propeller plane had crashed without apparent cause.

Katherine’s data proved that the air disturbance from another jet passing by before, caused the propeller plane to crash which led to new air traffic regulations.

Kathrine’s husband James died from a brain tumor leaving her widowed with three children.

Katherine worked harder at being a stronger parental figure and changing household rules while making sure her daughters didn’t get any special treatment in school.

What important discovery in air flight did Katherine make while trying to figure out why a propeller plane had crashed?

She discovered that the air disturbance left from a jet 30 minutes ago caused the propeller plane to crash which led to new air traffic regulations.

Why did Katherine use the white bathrooms at Langley?

She didn’t know that they were still segregated and the white bathrooms were unmarked so she thought she could use them as well.

What tragedy struck Kathrine’s family?

Her husband James developed a brain tumor and died leaving her widowed with three kids.

How did Kathrine respond to what happened to her husband?

She became a stronger parental figure while setting new household rules, being the sole breadwinner, making sure her daughters didn’t get special treatment, while also allowing them and herself time to grieve before they got back to work.

What were some of the advantages and disadvantages of the computers that Langley started using?

They could run all night long, but they were slow, hard to use, and sometimes made mistakes.

How did Dorothy try to ready the women she supervised in the West Computer Division for the future?

She encouraged the women to sign up for the computer programming classes that were after work.

What was Mary amazed by when she first entered the Hampton High School, why did this seem like a stupid decision by the school board to her?

She was amazed by how run down the school actually was and she thought it was stupid that the school board didn’t combine school funding for one great school rather than two bad ones.

What were the U.S. and the Soviets now competing to do?

They were now competing to be the first ones in space.

How did people connect segregation with our falling behind in the space race?

They connected it by saying that while we’re trying to fight segregation, all Russian children are getting education so they could be able to help with the space race when they’re older.

What was the effect of Brown v. Board of Education?

Schools were starting to integrate both black and white students.

Before the space race how was the possibility of space travel treated by both the workers and the administration at Langley?

The administrators treated space travel like it was science fiction, but the employees were actually curious about the possibility of space travel.

Why did the engineers decide against making their spaceship like a plane gliding out of Earth’s atmosphere?

Because it would take too much time if they wanted to beat the Russians in the space race.

What did NACA get renamed to?

NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

How were the achievements at NASA meant to be treated differently than they achievements made by NACA?

NASA’s achievements were more open, and they broadcasted it so everyone could see while NACA’s achievements were hidden since no one knew what was happening there except the workers

What was the Sputnik challenge?

A challenge that Russia set off because they launched Sputnik into space, making America realize how far behind they were in space travel technology.

Why was the West computing pool being merged with the East computing pool both a positive and a negative for Dorothy Vaughn?

It was a negative for Dorothy because she saw the women she worked with leaving but it was a positive because segregation ended in Langley and Dorothy could move on.

How did Kathrine eventually get permission to attend the editorial meetings?

She kept asking politely and persistently until the men in it finally got tired of her asking and they let her in.

How did the State of Virginia react to the Supreme Court order to desegregate their schools?

They kept dragging out their times when they would actually desegregate schools, they underfunded schools so they would just close, and they put chains on the door and locked up the schools so no one could get inside and learn anyway.

What were the physical requirements to become one of those first astronauts?

You had to be no taller than 5 feet 11 inches and less than 180 pounds.

Why did Kathrine Goble work so hard to be at editorial meetings and why was it important for her to be there?

She wanted to be there because she wanted to learn more about what they were doing, how she could help them, and be a part of the research they were talking about.

In the depression era what made the soap box derby so popular?

Because it was a cheap way to spark excitement in such a hard time.

Why was it such a big deal for Levi to win the Hampton Roads Soap Box Derby, how did the community react?

It was a big deal because he was the first black boy to win the Hampton Roads Soap Box Derby. The community supported him and funded his trips to go to nationals in Ohio to compete with others.

What did Mary decide she wanted to do for the future women wanting to be engineers?

She decided to show that women can be engineers by doing a joint lecture with her college Emma who was the complete opposite of her in looks so they could both encourage women to join the engineering field.

What were sit-ins?

Sit-ins are a form of peaceful protest that involved groups of people sitting together in a place that refused service to them just because they were discriminating against that group.

What change did Dorothy make to stay with the times?

She learned how to program the calculations into the new IBM computers.

What communications challenge did NASA have to tackle when preparing for the first space flight around the Earth?

They had to build a worldwide communication network between them and the astronauts to stay in touch with them.

Why was it courageous, for NASA to televise the launch of the first manned space mission?

Because they didn’t know if something wrong would happen and it was only the third time they used the Redstone rocket to boost the Mercury capsule.

Why does the author imply that the NASA control center was moved from Langley to Houston, Texas?

Because of the Texas politicians in Congress that influenced the idea of moving the control center.

How did the advancements in computer technology affect the computers at NASA? What happened to people who couldn’t adjusts to the new technology?

This pushed the computers at NASA to reinvent themselves and specialize themselves so they could stay useful to NASA. The people who couldn’t keep up got fired because NASA wouldn’t want to pay someone the same job a computer could do that worked overnight.

For mathematicians at Langley, like Katherine, what made bringing an astronaut back to Earth safely so difficult?

Because there were many ways the mission could go wrong and they had to be prepared for it.

Why did John Glenn ask for the human computers at Langley to double check the computers work?

Because one slip up from the computer could mean disaster.

A few days before the flight what task was Katherine assigned directly from John Glenn?

She was assigned to double check the trajectories so the mission around the Earth could go smoothly.

What problem did the rock have that caused John Glenn to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere early?

The capsule’s heat shield was loose which was supposed to protect John Glenn from the heat when reentering the Earth’s surface.

How did the African American community respond to John Glenn’s successful space flight around the Earth?

They cheered him on while proudly calling him our “Ace of Space”.

What reason did the director at Langley give his letter to Washington DC on why so few African Americans were applying for jobs at Langley?

African Americans don’t find the living conditions in Virginia favorable because Langley was located in an area where segregation was still practiced.

What happened with the Apollo 1, how did the people at NASA respond?

An electrical fire that happened inside the Apollo 1 killed the crew inside. NASA honored the dead and said they learned from their past mistakes and would carry on with future missions.

Why did people protest NASA just before the Apollo 11 launch?

They protested because they thought the billions of dollars used in space exploration could’ve helped millions of people here on Earth instead.

Name three laws of segregation.

They could not eat in the same restaurants. They could not drink from the same water fountains. They could not use the same restrooms.