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 con-
cerned 
A BILL 
To award Congressional Gold Medals to Katherine Johnson 
and Dr. Christine Darden, to posthumously award Con-
gressional 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 Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hidden Figures Con-
gressional 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 5 women to serve as the first ‘‘com-
puter pool’’ at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical 
Laboratory where those women took on work mak-
ing calculations that male engineers had made pre-
viously. 
(2) During the 1940s, NACA began recruiting 
African-American 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 seg-
regated 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 ca-
reer in aeronautics as a computer in the segregated 
West Area Computing unit described in paragraph 
(2). 
(5) As a member of the Flight Research Divi-
sion, Katherine Johnson analyzed data from flight 
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(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 edu-
cation by earning a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineer-
ing 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 aero-
nautics design; and 
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(C) became the first African American to 
be promoted to a position in the Senior Execu-
tive 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 
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physics at night at the all-White Hampton High 
School, Mary Jackson was able to complete the re-
quired 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 Aero-
dynamics Branch of the Subsonic-Tran-
sonic Aerodynamics Division at Langley 
where she analyzed wind tunnel and air-
craft flight data; and 
(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 4 women, along with the other Afri-
can-American women in NASA’s West Area Com-
puting unit, were integral to the success of the early 
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space program. The stories of these 4 women exem-
plify the experiences of hundreds of women who 
worked as computers, mathematicians, and engi-
neers 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 tem-
pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 
for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of 5 gold med-
als 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— 
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(A) 1 gold medal commemorating the life 
of Dorothy Vaughan; and 
(B) 1 gold medal commemorating the life 
of Mary Jackson. 
(4) One gold medal in recognition of all women 
who served as computers, mathematicians, and engi-
neers at the National Advisory Committee for Aero-
nautics and the National Aeronautics and Space Ad-
ministration between the 1930s and the 1970s (re-
ferred to in this section as ‘‘recognized women’’). 
(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purpose of the 
awards under subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treas-
ury (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 PRES-
ENTATION.— 
(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 recog-
nized women under subsection (a)(4), those 
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medals shall be given to the Smithsonian Insti-
tution where the medals shall be— 
(i) available for display, as appro-
priate; 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 Na-
tional Museum of African American His-
tory 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 sub-
section (a)(3)(B), the medal shall be given to her 
granddaughter, Wanda Jackson. 
SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 
Under regulations that the Secretary may promul-
gate, 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. 
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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 nec-
essary 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. 
Æ 
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