Katherine Gobel: An Exceptional Mind

Katherine Gobel's Early Life and Education

Katherine Gobel, like Mary Jackson, was a gifted mathematician and teacher.
She taught math and French in Marion, Virginia, and was content with her life as a wife and mother.
In August 1952, at a family wedding, Catherine learned about opportunities at the NACA in Hampton.
Her husband's brother-in-law, the director of the Newsom Park Community Center, knew Dorothy Vaughan and her work.
Catherine and her husband were public school teachers with modest incomes and three daughters. The opportunity reminded her of her dream of being a professional mathematician.

Catherine's father was a math whiz who could estimate lumber yield from a tree.
From a young age, Catherine showed a talent for math, counting everything around her.
She excelled in school, especially in math, and often helped her older brother with his math lessons.
Catherine graduated from high school at age 14 in 1933.

In 1933, Katherine enrolled at West Virginia State Institute, a black college.
By her junior year, she had taken all available math courses.
Her math professor created advanced math classes specifically for her, encouraging her to become a research mathematician.
The professor recognized her special ability despite the limited job prospects for black women in mathematics during the 1930s.

After graduation, Katherine taught at a high school in Marion, Virginia.
She married Jimmy Goble, but they kept their marriage a secret because married women were not allowed to teach at the time.

In the spring of 1940, the president of her former college offered her a special opportunity. Because no graduate programs offered at any black colleges in the state, the all white West Virginia University could be forced to admit African Americans to their graduate programs in order to comply with the supreme court order.
West Virginia University was forced to consider integrating its graduate programs due to the lack of separate graduate schools for black students in the state.
The governor planned to integrate the state's public graduate schools and sought capable West Virginia State College graduates.
Catherine was selected as one of the three students to desegregate the university.
The other two students were men entering law school.
Catherine accepted the place, deciding to study mathematics.
Her principal gave her math reference books, anticipating potential difficulties in accessing resources at the white school's library.

Katherine enrolled in the West Virginia University summer session, with her mother moving to Morgantown to support her.
Most white students welcomed Catherine, and professors treated her fairly.
One classmate attempted to slight her by ignoring her.
Her challenge was finding a course that she had not already mastered.

At the end of the summer session, Katherine discovered she was pregnant and left school to become a full-time wife and mother.
She and Jimmy had three daughters.
She didn't regret prioritizing family over graduate school.

In 1944, Catherine returned to teaching at a local black high school to support her family.
In 1952, she learned about the opportunity at Langley and decided to move to Newport News with her husband.
They moved into an apartment in Newsome Park.
Her husband secured a job as a painter at the Newport News shipyard.
Langley approved Katherine's job application as a computer in 1952, but she started in June 1953.
She worked as a substitute math teacher and developed a social network.

Katherine met Eunice Smith, a nine-year veteran at West Computing, who became her lifelong best friend.
Her new boss, Dorothy Vaughan, was also from West Virginia and had family connections.
Dorothy was a talented mathematician and supervisor.
After working in West Computing for two weeks, Katherine was assigned to the Flight Research Division.
The Flight Research Division specialized in testing real planes.
The assignment felt like a stroke of good fortune.

Katherine was excited to work closely with engineers in the Flight Research Division.
The office, located on the top floor of Langley's hangar, smelled of coffee and cigarettes.
The office was set up like a classroom with about 20 desks.
Most team members were men, with a few other women working as computers.

Katherine sat next to a white engineer, who moved away without speaking to her.
Katherine was unsure if the behavior was racially motivated, due to gender, professional status, or something else.
Langley was a place for exploring new ground in racial relations.
Blacks and whites were exploring new ground together.
Black mathematicians were aware that their interactions with whites could impact the entire black community.
Katherine and the other black mathematicians made an effort to be well-dressed, well-spoken, patriotic, and upright.

Within two weeks, the initial awkwardness with the engineer faded.
The engineer was pleased to discover Katherine was also from West Virginia, and they became friends.
West Virginia remained dear to Katherine, but Virginia was becoming her destiny.