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Dorothy Vaughan

A mathematician and one of the protagonists. Through her impeccable work and leadership skills, she climbs up the ladder of success and goes from working as a human computer at Langley to becoming one of the organization’s first Black section heads.

Read an in-depth analysis of Dorothy Vaughan.

Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson

A mathematician and one of the protagonists. She uses her skills and incredible intelligence to rise within the ranks of Langley, where she quickly joins the Flight Research team. She double checks the numbers of the electronic computer for John Glenn’s NASA mission.

Read an in-depth analysis of Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson.

Mary Jackson

An engineer and one of the protagonists. She works as a human computer at Langley, and is outspoken about the discrimination there. Her outspokenness and her skills allow her to quickly rise as part of the team that does wind tunnel research. Eventually, she becomes Langley’s first Black female engineer.

Read an in-depth analysis of Mary Jackson.

Christine Mann Darden

An aeronautical engineer at Langley. She is an exceptional student with unusual curiosity that leads her to Hampton Institute and to working at Langley. She ultimately receives a doctorate in engineering and succeeds in writing code that is still used today. Christine is younger than the other Black women she works with, and she represents the future for which those women pave the way.  

Miriam Mann

One of the “computers” at Langley. She removes the insulting cafeteria signs that say “COLORED COMPUTERS” until they stop appearing. She and Dorothy become close friends. 

Howard Vaughan 

Dorothy Vaughn’s husband. His work as a bellman at luxury hotels is seasonal and keeps him away from his family for much of the year. 

Joshua Coleman

Katherine Coleman’s father. Joshua is brilliant and charming like Katherine, and he is one of her main inspirations. Like Howard Vaughan, he also works as a bellman at a luxury hotel. 

Levi Jackson, Jr. 

Mary’s son. He is the first Black child to win the Newport News soapbox derby, and when a reporter asks him what he wants to be when he grows up, he says that he wants to be an engineer like his mother. 

William Schieffelin Claytor

A brilliant professor at West Virginia State College. Professor Claytor, a Black man, creates advanced classes especially for Katherine Coleman and encourages her to attend graduate school. 

Jimmy Goble

Katherine Coleman’s first husband. He is a chemistry teacher and encourages Katherine to start a new career at Langley. Shortly after they move to Hampton Roads, Jimmy is diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor and dies. 

Kazimierz “Kaz” Czarnecki

An assistant section head at Langley. He asks Mary to join his team after she speaks her mind during a conversation with him. 

Jim Johnson

Katherine’s second husband. He is a mail carrier who once served in the Navy and in the Army. 

Melvin Butler

The head of personnel at Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. He is in charge of hiring the human computers. He hires women for the job because they are good at it and their pay is less than men’s. When he struggles to find enough workers, he begins hiring Black women as mathematicians and sets up a segregated workspace for them. 

Malcolm MacLean

The head of the Hampton Institute. He is more progressive than his peers at the time and encourages the advancement of Black students.

Margery Hannah

A supervisor of West Computing at Langley. She treats her Black colleagues with respect and as equals and socializes with them. 

Blanche Sponsler

A section head of Langley West Computing. After Margery transfers, Blanche becomes the section head, but she suffers a mental breakdown while preparing for a meeting. 

Thomas Byrdsong

One of just three Black male engineers at Langley. The Black male engineers are mostly treated cordially by their white colleagues, but they often receive open hostility from white technicians and mechanics. 

Dorothy Lee

A Pilotless Aircraft Research Division (PARD) engineer at Langley. As a white woman, she is permitted to take part in editorial meetings and even earn authorship credits on some reports, unlike her Black female peers. 

John Glenn

A NASA astronaut. He requests that Katherine manually check the electronic computer’s work before his Project Mercury Mission. 

A. Philip Randolph

An activist in the Civil Rights Movement. He led a strike that prompted President Roosevelt to sign two executive orders desegregating the defense industry. This led to Black women working at Langley. 

W.E.B. Du Bois 

Black scholar, sociologist, and writer. He coined the term “double consciousness,” which was applied during World War II to describe white people’s expectation that Black people must fight against the racist Nazi regime in Europe, but then endure racism at home without resisting.  

Joylette Goble

One of Katherine’s daughters. Joylette attends Hampton Institute and befriends Christine Mann before she goes to work with Katherine. 

Levi Jackson

Mary’s husband. He is supportive of Mary in her career and shares her community-minded spirit.

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