I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1396 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 27, 2019 

Ms. JOHNSON of Texas (for herself and Mr. LUCAS) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in 

addition to the Committee on House Administration, for a period to be 

subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 

of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

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 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hidden Figures Con3 gressional Gold Medal Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) In 1935, the National Advisory Committee 

7 for Aeronautics (referred to in this section as 

8 ‘‘NACA’’) hired 5 women to serve as the first ‘‘com9 puter pool’’ at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical 

10 Laboratory where those women took on work mak11 ing calculations that male engineers had made pre12 viously. 

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

14 African-American women to work as computers and 

15 initially separated those women from their White 

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

17 Computers’’ where the women were restricted to seg18 regated dining and bathroom facilities. 

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

20 1918, in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. 

21 (4) In 1953, Katherine Johnson began her ca22 reer in aeronautics as a computer in the segregated 

23 West Area Computing unit described in paragraph 

24 (2). 

25 (5) As a member of the Flight Research Divi26 sion, Katherine Johnson analyzed data from flight 


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1 tests. After NACA was reformulated into the Na2 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration (re3 ferred to in this section as ‘‘NASA’’), Katherine 

4 Johnson— 

5 (A) calculated the trajectory for Alan 

6 Shepard’s Freedom 7 mission in 1961, which 

7 was the first human spaceflight by an indi8 vidual from the United States; 

9 (B) coauthored a report that provided the 

10 equations for describing orbital spaceflight with 

11 a specified landing point, which made her the 

12 first woman to be recognized as an author of a 

13 report from the Flight Research Division; 

14 (C) was asked to verify the calculations 

15 when electronic computers at NASA were used 

16 to calculate the orbit for John Glenn’s Friend17 ship 7 mission; and 

18 (D) provided calculations for NASA 

19 throughout her career, including for the Apollo 

20 missions. 

21 (6) Katherine Johnson retired from NASA in 

22 1986. 

23 (7) Dr. Christine Darden was born on Sep24 tember 10, 1942, in Monroe, North Carolina. 


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

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

3 and a teaching credential. 

4 (9) Dr. Christine Darden attended Virginia 

5 State University where she studied aerosol physics 

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

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

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

9 Langley Research Center (referred to in this section 

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

11 engineer in 1973. Her work in this position resulted 

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

13 revolutionized aerodynamics design. 

14 (11) Dr. Christine Darden completed her edu15 cation by earning a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineer16 ing from George Washington University in 1983. 

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

18 Darden— 

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

20 Sonic Boom Team, which worked on designs to 

21 minimize the effects of sonic booms by testing 

22 wing and nose designs for supersonic aircraft; 

23 (B) wrote more than 50 articles on aero24 nautics design; and 


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1 (C) became the first African American to 

2 be promoted to a position in the Senior Execu3 tive Service at Langley. 

4 (13) Dorothy Vaughan was born on September 

5 20, 1910, in Kansas City, Missouri. 

6 (14) Dorothy Vaughan began working for 

7 NACA in 1943. Dorothy Vaughan— 

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

9 West Area Computing unit; 

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

11 West Area Computing unit, becoming NACA’s 

12 first African-American supervisor, a position 

13 that she held for 9 years; and 

14 (C) became an expert programmer in 

15 FORTRAN as a member of NASA’s Analysis 

16 and Computation Division. 

17 (15) Dorothy Vaughan retired from NASA in 

18 1971 and died on November 10, 2008. 

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

20 in Hampton, Virginia. 

21 (17) Mary Jackson started her career at NACA 

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

23 West Area Computing unit. 

24 (18) After petitioning the City of Hampton to 

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


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1 physics at night at the all-White Hampton High 

2 School, Mary Jackson was able to complete the re3 quired training to become an engineer, making her 

4 NASA’s first female African-American engineer. 

5 (19) Mary Jackson— 

6 (A) while at NACA and NASA— 

7 (i) worked in the Theoretical Aero8 dynamics Branch of the Subsonic-Tran9 sonic Aerodynamics Division at Langley 

10 where she analyzed wind tunnel and air11 craft flight data; and 

12 (ii) published a dozen technical papers 

13 that focused on the boundary layer of air 

14 around airplanes; and 

15 (B) after 21 years working as an engineer 

16 at NASA, transitioned to a new job as 

17 Langley’s Federal Women’s Program Manager 

18 where she worked to improve the prospects of 

19 NASA’s female mathematicians, engineers, and 

20 scientists. 

21 (20) Mary Jackson retired from NASA in 1985 

22 and died in 2005. 

23 (21) These 4 women, along with the other Afri24 can-American women in NASA’s West Area Com25 puting unit, were integral to the success of the early 


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1 space program. The stories of these 4 women exem2 plify the experiences of hundreds of women who 

3 worked as computers, mathematicians, and engi4 neers at NACA beginning in the 1930s and their 

5 handmade calculations played an integral role in— 

6 (A) aircraft testing during World War II; 

7 (B) supersonic flight research; 

8 (C) sending the Voyager probes to explore 

9 the solar system; and 

10 (D) the United States landing the first 

11 man on the lunar surface. 

12 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDALS. 

13 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

14 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem15 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

16 for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of 5 gold med17 als of appropriate design as follows: 

18 (1) One gold medal to Katherine Johnson in 

19 recognition of her service to the United States as a 

20 mathematician. 

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

22 her service to the United States as an aeronautical 

23 engineer. 

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

25 States during the Space Race— 


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1 (A) 1 gold medal commemorating the life 

2 of Dorothy Vaughan; and 

3 (B) 1 gold medal commemorating the life 

4 of Mary Jackson. 

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

6 who served as computers, mathematicians, and engi7 neers at the National Advisory Committee for Aero8 nautics and the National Aeronautics and Space Ad9 ministration between the 1930s and the 1970s (re10 ferred to in this section as ‘‘recognized women’’). 

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

12 awards under subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treas13 ury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall strike 

14 each gold medal described in that subsection with suitable 

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

16 the Secretary. 

17 (c) TRANSFER OF CERTAIN MEDALS AFTER PRES18 ENTATION.— 

19 (1) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 

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

21 gold medal commemorating the life of Dorothy 

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

23 award of the gold medal in recognition of recog24 nized women under subsection (a)(4), those 


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1 medals shall be given to the Smithsonian Insti2 tution where the medals shall be— 

3 (i) available for display, as appro4 priate; and 

5 (ii) made available for research. 

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

7 of Congress that the Smithsonian Institution 

8 should make the gold medals received under 

9 subparagraph (A) available for— 

10 (i) display, particularly at the Na11 tional Museum of African American His12 tory and Culture; or 

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

14 medals may be displayed elsewhere. 

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

16 the gold medal in honor of Mary Jackson under sub17 section (a)(3)(B), the medal shall be given to her 

18 granddaughter, Wanda Jackson. 

19 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

20 Under regulations that the Secretary may promul21 gate, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

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

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

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


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1 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

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

3 this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 

4 of title 31, United States Code. 

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

6 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 

7 struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 

8 items. 

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

10 SALE. 

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

12 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

13 Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec14 essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck under 

15 this Act. 

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

17 sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 

18 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 

19 Enterprise Fund. 

Æ 


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