II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 590 

To award Congressional Gold Medals to Katherine Johnson and Dr. Christine 

Darden, to posthumously award Congressional Gold Medals to Dorothy 

Vaughan and Mary Jackson, and to award a Congressional Gold Medal 

to honor all of the women who contributed to the success of the National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration during the Space Race. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 27, 2019 

Mr. COONS (for himself, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Ms. HARRIS, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, 

Mr. GARDNER, Mrs. FISCHER, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. ISAKSON, Ms. ERNST, 

Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. BURR, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. BLUNT, 

Mrs. CAPITO, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina, 

Mrs. BLACKBURN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. KING, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. CASEY, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. SCHUMER, 

Mr. BOOKER, Ms. STABENOW, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. 

JONES, Ms. WARREN, Mr. PETERS, Mr. REED, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. 

MERKLEY, Mr. MANCHIN, Mr. TESTER, Ms. HASSAN, Ms. CANTWELL, 

Mr. BENNET, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. KAINE, Mr. CARPER, Mr. 

MORAN, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. HOEVEN, Mr. WICKER, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. 

MURPHY, Mr. MARKEY, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. WARNER, Mrs. MURRAY, 

Ms. SMITH, Mr. UDALL, and Ms. SINEMA) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To award Congressional Gold Medals to Katherine Johnson 

and Dr. Christine Darden, to posthumously award Congressional Gold Medals to Dorothy Vaughan and Mary 

Jackson, and to award a Congressional Gold Medal to 

honor all of the women who contributed to the success 


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of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

during the Space Race. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hidden Figures Con5 gressional Gold Medal Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) In 1935, the National Advisory Committee 

9 for Aeronautics (referred to in this section as 

10 ‘‘NACA’’) hired 5 women to serve as the first ‘‘com11 puter pool’’ at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical 

12 Laboratory where those women took on work mak13 ing calculations that male engineers had made pre14 viously. 

15 (2) During the 1940s, NACA began recruiting 

16 African-American women to work as computers and 

17 initially separated those women from their White 

18 counterparts in a group known as the ‘‘West Area 

19 Computers’’ where the women were restricted to seg20 regated dining and bathroom facilities. 

21 (3) Katherine Johnson was born on August 26, 

22 1918, in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. 

23 (4) In 1953, Katherine Johnson began her ca24 reer in aeronautics as a computer in the segregated 


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1 West Area Computing unit described in paragraph 

2 (2). 

3 (5) As a member of the Flight Research Divi4 sion, Katherine Johnson analyzed data from flight 

5 tests. After NACA was reformulated into the Na6 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration (re7 ferred to in this section as ‘‘NASA’’), Katherine 

8 Johnson— 

9 (A) calculated the trajectory for Alan 

10 Shepard’s Freedom 7 mission in 1961, which 

11 was the first human spaceflight by an indi12 vidual from the United States; 

13 (B) co-authored a report that provided the 

14 equations for describing orbital spaceflight with 

15 a specified landing point, which made her the 

16 first woman to be recognized as an author of a 

17 report from the Flight Research Division; 

18 (C) was asked to verify the calculations 

19 when electronic computers at NASA were used 

20 to calculate the orbit for John Glenn’s Friend21 ship 7 mission; and 

22 (D) provided calculations for NASA 

23 throughout her career, including for the Apollo 

24 missions. 


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1 (6) Katherine Johnson retired from NASA in 

2 1986. 

3 (7) Dr. Christine Darden was born on Sep4 tember 10, 1942, in Monroe, North Carolina. 

5 (8) In 1962, Dr. Christine Darden graduated 

6 from Hampton Institute with a B.S. in Mathematics 

7 and a teaching credential. 

8 (9) Dr. Christine Darden attended Virginia 

9 State University where she studied aerosol physics 

10 and earned an M.S. in Applied Mathematics. 

11 (10) Dr. Christine Darden began her career in 

12 aeronautics in 1967 as a data analyst at NASA’s 

13 Langley Research Center (referred to in this section 

14 as ‘‘Langley’’) before being promoted to aerospace 

15 engineer in 1973. Her work in this position resulted 

16 in the production of low-boom sonic effects, which 

17 revolutionized aerodynamics design. 

18 (11) Dr. Christine Darden completed her edu19 cation by earning a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineer20 ing from George Washington University in 1983. 

21 (12) While working at NASA, Dr. Christine 

22 Darden— 

23 (A) was appointed to be the leader of the 

24 Sonic Boom Team, which worked on designs to 


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1 minimize the effects of sonic booms by testing 

2 wing and nose designs for supersonic aircraft; 

3 (B) wrote more than 50 articles on aero4 nautics design; and 

5 (C) became the first African American to 

6 be promoted to a position in the Senior Execu7 tive Service at Langley. 

8 (13) Dorothy Vaughan was born on September 

9 20, 1910, in Kansas City, Missouri. 

10 (14) Dorothy Vaughan began working for 

11 NACA in 1943. Dorothy Vaughan— 

12 (A) started at NACA as a member of the 

13 West Area Computing unit; 

14 (B) was promoted to be the head of the 

15 West Area Computing unit, becoming NACA’s 

16 first African-American supervisor, a position 

17 that she held for 9 years; and 

18 (C) became an expert programmer in 

19 FORTRAN as a member of NASA’s Analysis 

20 and Computation Division. 

21 (15) Dorothy Vaughan retired from NASA in 

22 1971 and died on November 10, 2008. 

23 (16) Mary Jackson was born on April 9, 1921, 

24 in Hampton, Virginia. 


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1 (17) Mary Jackson started her career at NACA 

2 in 1951, working as a computer as a member of the 

3 West Area Computing unit. 

4 (18) After petitioning the city of Hampton to 

5 allow her to take graduate-level courses in math and 

6 physics at night at the all-White Hampton High 

7 School, Mary Jackson was able to complete the re8 quired training to become an engineer, making her 

9 NASA’s first female African-American engineer. 

10 (19) Mary Jackson— 

11 (A) while at NACA and NASA— 

12 (i) worked in the Theoretical Aero13 dynamics Branch of the Subsonic-Tran14 sonic Aerodynamics Division at Langley 

15 where she analyzed wind tunnel and air16 craft flight data; and 

17 (ii) published a dozen technical papers 

18 that focused on the boundary layer of air 

19 around airplanes; and 

20 (B) after 21 years working as an engineer 

21 at NASA, transitioned to a new job as 

22 Langley’s Federal Women’s Program Manager 

23 where she worked to improve the prospects of 

24 NASA’s female mathematicians, engineers, and 

25 scientists. 


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1 (20) Mary Jackson retired from NASA in 1985 

2 and died in 2005. 

3 (21) These 4 women, along with the other Afri4 can-American women in NASA’s West Area Com5 puting unit, were integral to the success of the early 

6 space program. The stories of these 4 women exem7 plify the experiences of hundreds of women who 

8 worked as computers, mathematicians, and engi9 neers at NACA beginning in the 1930s and the 

10 handmade calculations that they made played an in11 tegral role in— 

12 (A) aircraft testing during World War II; 

13 (B) supersonic flight research; 

14 (C) sending the Voyager probes to explore 

15 the solar system; and 

16 (D) the United States landing the first 

17 man on the lunar surface. 

18 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDALS. 

19 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

20 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem21 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

22 for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of 5 gold med23 als of appropriate design as follows: 


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1 (1) One gold medal to Katherine Johnson in 

2 recognition of her service to the United States as a 

3 mathematician. 

4 (2) One gold medal to Dr. Christine Darden for 

5 her service to the United States as an aeronautical 

6 engineer. 

7 (3) In recognition of their service to the United 

8 States during the Space Race— 

9 (A) 1 gold medal commemorating the life 

10 of Dorothy Vaughan; and 

11 (B) 1 gold medal commemorating the life 

12 of Mary Jackson. 

13 (4) One gold medal in recognition of all women 

14 who served as computers, mathematicians, and engi15 neers at the National Advisory Committee for Aero16 nautics and the National Aeronautics and Space Ad17 ministration between the 1930s and the 1970s (re18 ferred to in this section as ‘‘recognized women’’). 

19 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purpose of the 

20 awards under subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treas21 ury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall strike 

22 each gold medal described in that subsection with suitable 

23 emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by 

24 the Secretary. 


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1 (c) TRANSFER OF CERTAIN MEDALS AFTER PRES2 ENTATION.— 

3 (1) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—After the award of the 

5 gold medal commemorating the life of Dorothy 

6 Vaughan under subsection (a)(3)(A) and the 

7 award of the gold medal in recognition of recog8 nized women under subsection (a)(4), those 

9 medals shall be given to the Smithsonian Insti10 tution where the medals shall be— 

11 (i) available for display, as appro12 priate; and 

13 (ii) made available for research. 

14 (B) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense 

15 of Congress that the Smithsonian Institution 

16 should make the gold medals received under 

17 subparagraph (A) available for— 

18 (i) display, particularly at the Na19 tional Museum of African American His20 tory and Culture; or 

21 (ii) loan, as appropriate, so that the 

22 medals may be displayed elsewhere. 

23 (2) TRANSFER TO FAMILY.—After the award of 

24 the gold medal in honor of Mary Jackson under subVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Mar 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S590.IS S590

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1 section (a)(3)(B), the medal shall be given to her 

2 granddaughter, Wanda Jackson. 

3 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

4 Under regulations that the Secretary may promul5 gate, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

6 bronze of the gold medals struck under this Act, at a price 

7 sufficient to cover the cost of the medals, including labor, 

8 materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 

9 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

10 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck under 

11 this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 

12 of title 31, United States Code. 

13 (b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 

14 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 

15 struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 

16 items. 

17 SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF 

18 SALE. 

19 (a) AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS.—There is 

20 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

21 Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec22 essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck under 

23 this Act. 

24 (b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—Amounts received from the 

25 sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 


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1 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 

2 Enterprise Fund. 

Æ 


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