Dorothy Vaughan

Hello! My name is Dorothy Vaughan. I was born a long, long time ago, in the year 1910. When I was a little girl, I loved numbers. Counting my toys and adding up my snacks was so much fun! Math was my favorite game. I loved numbers so much that when I grew up, I became a teacher. I wanted to show all my students that numbers are fun for everyone.

In 1943, I got a new job at a special place called NACA. At NACA, smart people learned how to make airplanes fly super fast and way up high. My job had a funny name. I was called a 'computer.' But I was not a machine with buttons! Back then, a computer was a person who was very good at math. I worked with my friends, a team of smart women, and we were all human computers. We used our brains and pencils to solve big number puzzles for the people building airplanes. I made sure all our answers were perfect.

One day, big new machines arrived. These were the first real computers with wires and lights! They were going to change everything. I was not scared of them. I thought, 'I can learn how to use that!' So, in the 1950s, I learned a special computer language called FORTRAN. It was like learning how to talk to the new machines. After I learned, I taught all my friends on my team, too. We all learned together and became the experts who made the big computer brains work.

I lived a long and happy life for 98 years. I always loved to learn new things, and I showed everyone that you should never be afraid to try something new. People remember me for being a leader who helped my team get ready for the future. And it all started because I loved to play with numbers!