H. R. 1396 

One Hundred Sixteenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE FIRST SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Thursday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and nineteen 

An Act 

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. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hidden Figures Congressional 

Gold Medal Act’’. 

SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

Congress finds the following: 

(1) In 1935, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (referred to in this section as ‘‘NACA’’) hired five women 

to serve as the first ‘‘computer pool’’ at the Langley Memorial 

Aeronautical Laboratory where those women took on work 

making calculations that male engineers had made previously. 

(2) During the 1940s, NACA began recruiting AfricanAmerican women to work as computers and initially separated 

those women from their White counterparts in a group known 

as the ‘‘West Area Computers’’ where the women were restricted 

to segregated dining and bathroom facilities. 

(3) Katherine Johnson was born on August 26, 1918, in 

White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. 

(4) In 1953, Katherine Johnson began her career in aeronautics as a computer in the segregated West Area Computing 

unit described in paragraph (2). 

(5) As a member of the Flight Research Division, Katherine 

Johnson analyzed data from flight tests. After NACA was 

reformulated into the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (referred to in this section as ‘‘NASA’’), Katherine Johnson— 

(A) calculated the trajectory for Alan Shepard’s 

Freedom 7 mission in 1961, which was the first human 

spaceflight by an individual from the United States; 

(B) coauthored a report that provided the equations 

for describing orbital spaceflight with a specified landing 

point, which made her the first woman to be recognized 

as an author of a report from the Flight Research Division; 

(C) was asked to verify the calculations when electronic 

computers at NASA were used to calculate the orbit for 

John Glenn’s Friendship 7 mission; and 
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(D) provided calculations for NASA throughout her 

career, including for the Apollo missions. 

(6) Katherine Johnson retired from NASA in 1986. 

(7) Dr. Christine Darden was born on September 10, 1942, 

in Monroe, North Carolina. 

(8) In 1962, Dr. Christine Darden graduated from Hampton 

Institute with a B.S. in Mathematics and a teaching credential. 

(9) Dr. Christine Darden attended Virginia State University 

where she studied aerosol physics and earned an M.S. in 

Applied Mathematics. 

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

in 1967 as a data analyst at NASA’s Langley Research Center 

(referred to in this section as ‘‘Langley’’) before being promoted 

to aerospace engineer in 1973. Her work in this position 

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

revolutionized aerodynamics design. 

(11) Dr. Christine Darden completed her education by 

earning a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from George Washington University in 1983. 

(12) While working at NASA, Dr. Christine Darden— 

(A) was appointed to be the leader of the Sonic Boom 

Team, which worked on designs to minimize the effects 

of sonic booms by testing wing and nose designs for supersonic aircraft; 

(B) wrote more than 50 articles on aeronautics design; 

and 

(C) became the first African American to be promoted 

to a position in the Senior Executive Service at Langley. 

(13) Dorothy Vaughan was born on September 20, 1910, 

in Kansas City, Missouri. 

(14) Dorothy Vaughan began working for NACA in 1943. 

Dorothy Vaughan— 

(A) started at NACA as a member of the West Area 

Computing unit; 

(B) was promoted to be the head of the West Area 

Computing unit, becoming NACA’s first African-American 

supervisor, a position that she held for 9 years; and 

(C) became an expert programmer in FORTRAN as 

a member of NASA’s Analysis and Computation Division. 

(15) Dorothy Vaughan retired from NASA in 1971 and 

died on November 10, 2008. 

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

Virginia. 

(17) Mary Jackson started her career at NACA in 1951, 

working as a computer as a member of the West Area Computing unit. 

(18) After petitioning the City of Hampton to allow her 

to take graduate-level courses in math and physics at night 

at the all-White Hampton High School, Mary Jackson was 

able to complete the required training to become an engineer, 

making her NASA’s first female African-American engineer. 

(19) Mary Jackson— 

(A) while at NACA and NASA— 

(i) worked in the Theoretical Aerodynamics Branch 

of the Subsonic-Transonic Aerodynamics Division at 

Langley where she analyzed wind tunnel and aircraft 

flight data; and 
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(ii) published a dozen technical papers that focused 

on the boundary layer of air around airplanes; and 

(B) after 21 years working as an engineer at NASA, 

transitioned to a new job as Langley’s Federal Women’s 

Program Manager where she worked to improve the prospects of NASA’s female mathematicians, engineers, and 

scientists. 

(20) Mary Jackson retired from NASA in 1985 and died 

in 2005. 

(21) These four women, along with the other African-American women in NASA’s West Area Computing unit, were 

integral to the success of the early space program. The stories 

of these four women exemplify the experiences of hundreds 

of women who worked as computers, mathematicians, and engineers at NACA beginning in the 1930s and their handmade 

calculations played an integral role in— 

(A) aircraft testing during World War II; 

(B) supersonic flight research; 

(C) sending the Voyager probes to explore the solar 

system; and 

(D) the United States landing the first man on the 

lunar surface. 

SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDALS. 

(a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of the House 

of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate 

shall make appropriate arrangements for the presentation, on 

behalf of Congress, of five gold medals of appropriate design as 

follows: 

(1) One gold medal to Katherine Johnson in recognition 

of her service to the United States as a mathematician. 

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

to the United States as an aeronautical engineer. 

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

during the Space Race— 

(A) one gold medal commemorating the life of Dorothy 

Vaughan; and 

(B) one gold medal commemorating the life of Mary 

Jackson. 

(4) One gold medal in recognition of all women who served 

as computers, mathematicians, and engineers at the National 

Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration between the 1930s and the 

1970s (referred to in this section as ‘‘recognized women’’). 

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

under subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (referred to 

in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall strike each gold medal described 

in that subsection with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, 

to be determined by the Secretary. 

(c) TRANSFER OF CERTAIN MEDALS AFTER PRESENTATION.— 

(1) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— (A) IN GENERAL.—After the award of the gold medal 

commemorating the life of Dorothy Vaughan under subsection (a)(3)(A) and the award of the gold medal in recognition of recognized women under subsection (a)(4), those 

medals shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution where 

the medals shall be— 
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(i) available for display, as appropriate; and 

(ii) made available for research. 

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

that the Smithsonian Institution should make the gold 

medals received under subparagraph (A) available for— 

(i) display, particularly at the National Museum 

of African American History and Culture; or 

(ii) loan, as appropriate, so that the medals may 

be displayed elsewhere. 

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

medal in honor of Mary Jackson under subsection (a)(3)(B), 

the medal shall be given to her granddaughter, Wanda Jackson. 

SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

Under regulations that the Secretary may promulgate, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold medals 

struck under this Act, at a price sufficient to cover the cost of 

the medals, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and 

overhead expenses. 

SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

(a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck under this Act are 

national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United 

States Code. 

(b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 5134 and 

5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck under 

this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items. 

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

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

to be charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise 

Fund such amounts as may be necessary to pay for the costs 

of the medals struck under this Act. 

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

duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund. 

SEC. 7. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying 

with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined 

by reference to the latest statement titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of 

PAYGO Legislation’’ for this Act, submitted for printing in the 
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Congressional Record by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that such statement has been submitted prior 

to the vote on passage. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.