LEWISBURG, WV (WVNS) — Katherine Johnson was born August 26, 1918, in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.
At the time, Greenbrier County did not provide public education for African-American kids beyond the eighth grade. That did not deter Johnson’s love of numbers. Johnson went on to teach at Marion, Virginia, after graduating from college.
Following the birth of her three kids, a relative informed her of open posts in the all-black West Area Computing section of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics Langley Laboratory.
59News spoke with her youngest daughter, Katherine Moore, to discover more about the lady who was not just a mathematics icon, but also a devoted “super mom.”
“She was very feminine and fashionable; she used to make her own outfits and taught us how to sew. She was a fun mother. “She modeled exactly what she wanted us to do,” Moore stated.
Moore and her sisters were unaware as children of her mother’s significant role on history.
Moore claimed her mother was humble and would sit down and talk with anyone.
“I just like the notion that what you see is what you get. She was the same to everyone. She treated everyone the same. “Her intelligence did not turn people off,” Moore remarked.
Moore and her sisters were both raised in Greenbrier County. She stated that her mother loved the state and was always encouraging to everyone around her.
Katherine Johnson’s book is available on Amazon and as audiobooks. You can also get a copy from the Greenbrier Historical Society.
Moore and her sisters claimed their mother placed the stars in the sky while assisting NASA in reaching them.
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