Steven Otfinoski - Katherine Johnson: Physicist and Mathematician

Astronaut Dr. Yvonne Cagle is with Johnson as she receives a standing ovation from the crowd at the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Katherine Johnson Computational Research Facility.

Source: NASA/David C. Bowman

In an interview taped before the ceremony, she had this to say about her work: I was excited at something new, always liked something new, but give credit to everyone who helped. I didnt do anything alone but try to go to the root of the question and succeeded there. Looking back at her more than three decade-career at Langley, she said humbly, Little did I think it would go this far. But from the beginning, Katherine Johnson exhibited the determination, talent and work ethic that would take her to the far side of her dreams.

She was born Katherine Coleman, the youngest of four children, in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia on August 26, 1918. Her father, Joshua, was a farmer and part-time laborer. Her mother, Joylette, was a former schoolteacher.

Although the Civil War had ended more than fifty years before Colemans birth, slavery, an issue that divided the nation and led to the war, was not forgotten. West Virginia was originally part of the state of Virginia, but it split apart over a number of issues, including the Civil War. West Virginia was admitted to the Union in 1863, amid the war, and most West Virginians supported the Union and opposed the Confederacy of which Virginia was a part. But slavery existed in West Virginia as in the Southern states, until the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution ended the institution in 1865.

Katherine Colemans family had lived as slaves in the region since at least 1799. Her great-grandmother Louisa Johnson, who died in 1869, was probably a slave, but her daughter, Margaret Wheeler, Colemans grandmother, was listed in documents as a free colored woman. Because she was free, her children, including Joshua, were born free as well, according to local laws. Like nearly all African American children, Joshuas education ended in a segregated black school at sixth grade. While he had little schooling, he had a natural intelligence and was particularly gifted with numbers and math. He used his math skills in his work on the farm and in other jobs he held. Always neatly dressed and well spoken, Joshua Coleman was highly respected in the small community of White Sulphur Springs.

Katherine inherited her fathers gift for numbers. As a child shed love to count things, everything from the dishes in the pantry to the steps in front of the church they weekly attended. Anything that could be counted, I did, she later recalled.

She excelled in math in school and in all her other subjects. She was curious about everything and was forever asking teachers and her parents questions. A top student, she was drawn to sharing what she learned with others. When her classwork was done, she would often walk next door to her older brothers classroom and help him with his schoolwork. Her gifts did not go unrewarded. When she finished second grade she was promoted to fifth grade, skipping two grades.

Like their father, the Coleman childrens education was set to end when they finished sixth grade. There was no middle or high school for black children in White Sulphur Springs. The nearest school where African-Americans could continue their education was 125 miles (201 km) away in the town of Institute. It was operated by the West Virginia Collegiate Institute, formerly called the West Virginia Colored Institute.

Main Building at West Virginia Colored Institute, circa 1901.

Source: West Virginia State Archives

Joshua was determined to see his children continue their education and gain opportunities he never had. So he made a bold decision. When his eldest son turned 14, he loaded the family into a wagon and made the long journey to Institute. There, he rented a house for the children and their mother to live in while they attended school from September to May. Then he returned home to White Sulphur Spring to work several jobs to help pay for the familys growing expenses. Meanwhile, his wife worked as a domestic in Institute to help with costs. The family would return home for the summer. This situation continued for the next eight years. We only got to see my father about once a month during the school years, Kathrine remembered. I knew it was a real sacrifice for he and my motherliving separate like that for most of the year.