Hello ,Another little-known story of women with amazing courage is about to hit the big screen.
Hidden Figures dramatizes the work of African American math
pioneers once known as "colored computers." The film will tell only three of the women's stories, as they unfold amid the Cold War space race in the Jim Crow South of the early 1960's. The women were the brains that powered Project Mercury and launched astronaut John Glenn into orbit. At NASA offices in Virginia, Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughn and Mary Jackson were segregated from white women, who were segregated from white men.
They broke through all race, gender and
professional barriers, doing their jobs so well, Glenn insisted they sign off on final calculations to prevent his space craft from exploding in a ball of fire as it whizzed through the atmosphere.
Played by Janelle Monáe,Taraji P. Henson and Olivia Spencer in the movie, these African American women's work became vital to some of the nation’s greatest achievements in space exploration.Thanks to Hopper Stone/20th
Century Fox for the photo.
Thanks to my sister Louise Baker in Atlanta, Georgia where the movie was filmed for bringing it to my attention. It won't be in theaters until January 2017, but the book Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly will be out this fall from HarperCollins. This may be the only book of its kind about World War II, not an overall history, not indepth on a particular aspect, but a collection of stories and photos highlighing individual vingettes, people and events cataloged by day of the
year.
I especially like how Norm brings readers
right into the scene, as on December 26, 1943 in the Battle of Cape Gloucester, located in the Bismark Archipelago in the Southwest Pacific.
Monsoons of up to 16 inches of rain fell in one day, flooding foxholes. Haskett writes from a soldier's viewpoint, "Wet uniforms never really dried...suffered continually from fungus infections...Mosquito-borne malaria...'little black ants, little red ants, big red ants...even the
caterpillars bite."
Or you might read about a particular soldier, like 20-year-old 2nd Lt. Audie Murphy who became the most decoratted soldier in U.S. history. Asked later in life how he felt about killing 240 men, the number somehow arrived at by the army, Audie said, "To begin with, I didn't kill that many; how the hell does anyone think it felt? It didn't feel either way; good or bad. Feeling wasn't a
luxury in the infantry."
This is the kind of book you read in snitches, thumbing through. Clicking actually. It's an e-book you can read on your computer, Kindle, tablet or phone, perfect if you're waiting for an appointment. Got five minutes at the dentist's office? Read about the Eight Air Force sending 700 heavy bombers and 800 escort fighters to bomb Berlin.The Eighth Air Force suffered fully half of the
U.S. Army Air Forces' casualties in the war.
This summer I'll be talking about The Feminine Face of Courage based on the WWII Military Nurses featured in Pure Grit. Both occasions are open to the public at no charge, although there will be limited seating at the July event. If you're in the neighborhood, I'd love to see you.
Wednesday, July 20 Spokane, WA Brookdale Senior Living on 57th and
Regal. 12:30pm - 2pm
Monday, August 1 Deming, WA Deming Public Library, 5044 Mt Baker Hwy 7pm
I'm looking forward to meeting students at the Salk Middle School Summer Reading Camp Friday, July 8, to explore the research process. Thanks for you time! Have you read a great book? Tell me about it. Have a burning question? Let me know. Until next week.... If you know someone who might enjoy my newsletter or books, please forward this e-mail. I will never spam you or sell your email address, you can unsubscribe below anytime with
a single mouse click. To find out more about my books, how I help students, teacher and librarians, visit my website at www.MaryCronkFarrell.com. My best, Mary
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