West Area Computing

…its West Area Computing unit—the West Computers, comprising African American female mathematicians—and Jackson’s supervisor was Dorothy Vaughan. The women provided data that were later essential to the early success of the U.S. space program. At the time, NACA was segregated, with Black employees required to use separate bathrooms and dining…

…Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA)’s West Area Computing unit, a group of African American women who manually performed complex mathematical calculations for the program’s engineers. The women, known as the West Computers, analyzed test data and provided mathematical computations that were essential to the success of the early U.S. space…

The West Computers, as the women were known, provided data that were later essential to the success of the early U.S. space program. At the time, NACA was segregrated, and black employees were forced to use separate bathrooms and dining facilities. Despite these conditions, Vaughan was…