WASHINGTON (WAVY) — The U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution on Friday to honor the late Katherine Johnson, the pioneering African American NASA engineer who died earlier this week at the age of 101.
The bill, sponsored by Virginia Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, recognizes Johnson for her trailblazing work at NASA.
“Katherine Johnson was essential to NASA’s success in the Space Race. But as an African-American woman working at Langley Research Center in the era of Jim Crow, she went unrecognized for decades. Thankfully this trailblazer lived to see the recognition she deserved – including a blockbuster movie, a Congressional Gold Medal, and a building named in her honor on the campus where she was once forced to use separate facilities because of the color of her skin,” Warner said.
She opened doors for women and people of color in the space industry, contributions brought to light in the 2016 movie “Hidden Figures.”
Her recent years were filled with awards, building dedications and more, including receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.