Hidden Figures
I'll admit, I struggled with this book. It was a surface-level round-up of a very long history spanning decades of aeronautical and space history in Langley, Virginia. It was the author's first book, and it showed in her run-on sentences and difficulty in nailing down a cohesive narrative. It didn't help that I was trying to read the book in 5 and 10 minute chunks, and I was having trouble really getting into it.
That said, this is a really important book, and I'm glad I read it. I have yet to see the movie, but it's clear that it condensed the story dramatically, reducing some of it's effectiveness. This isn't the story of a handful of black women who, against all odds, contributed to America's space program. It's the story of generations of black families who were employed buy the Army and NASA. Hundreds of men and women who were able to put their engineering and mathematical talent to use building planes and later spaceships. An entire town that was buoyed by their careers and the way they helped each other and the next generation to break through barriers to pursue their dreams.
It's set against a fraught backdrop. The Civil Rights movement happens during this book. Even as these men and women put their advanced degrees to use to help the war effort, the state of Virginia shut down schools, denying their families education because they didn't want to integrate.
It's a depressing slice of American history, one that makes it more clear than anything I've learned yet why it took Japan bombing Pearl Harbor to convince us to enter WWII. It's also full of amazing men and women who worked around or simply ignored the obstacles that were put in their way, all in the name of pursuing their passions and providing for their families.
The writing of this book may be a bit rough, but the stories contained in it are so important. I'm glad Margot Lee Shetterly decided to record these histories and that the book became as successful as it has. It's clear that the movie took liberties in a number of ways, compressing the timeline, allowing the white characters to help rather than hinder the main characters, and softening the rougher bits out. It's clear that there's a lot of history that's been ignored, and I hope more of it makes it to the surface in such a mainstream way in the coming years.
That said, this is a really important book, and I'm glad I read it. I have yet to see the movie, but it's clear that it condensed the story dramatically, reducing some of it's effectiveness. This isn't the story of a handful of black women who, against all odds, contributed to America's space program. It's the story of generations of black families who were employed buy the Army and NASA. Hundreds of men and women who were able to put their engineering and mathematical talent to use building planes and later spaceships. An entire town that was buoyed by their careers and the way they helped each other and the next generation to break through barriers to pursue their dreams.
It's set against a fraught backdrop. The Civil Rights movement happens during this book. Even as these men and women put their advanced degrees to use to help the war effort, the state of Virginia shut down schools, denying their families education because they didn't want to integrate.
It's a depressing slice of American history, one that makes it more clear than anything I've learned yet why it took Japan bombing Pearl Harbor to convince us to enter WWII. It's also full of amazing men and women who worked around or simply ignored the obstacles that were put in their way, all in the name of pursuing their passions and providing for their families.
The writing of this book may be a bit rough, but the stories contained in it are so important. I'm glad Margot Lee Shetterly decided to record these histories and that the book became as successful as it has. It's clear that the movie took liberties in a number of ways, compressing the timeline, allowing the white characters to help rather than hinder the main characters, and softening the rougher bits out. It's clear that there's a lot of history that's been ignored, and I hope more of it makes it to the surface in such a mainstream way in the coming years.
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