Question 1

True or false: Dorothy Vaughan was portrayed by Octavia Spencer in the film Hidden Figures.

Accepted Answer

True. Octavia Spencer played Vaughan, earning an Oscar nomination for her role. The film highlighted Vaughan's work at NASA during the Space Race.

Question 2

True or false: Vaughan's father was a prominent civil rights lawyer.

Accepted Answer

False. Her father was a chauffeur and her mother a homemaker. She grew up in a modest family and worked hard to earn scholarships for college.

Question 3

True or false: She was the first female supervisor of NASA's computing pool.

Accepted Answer

False. Vaughan was the first African American supervisor at NASA, but not the first female. She managed the West Area Computers, a segregated unit.

Question 4

True or false: Vaughan worked directly on the trajectory calculations for John Glenn's orbit.

Accepted Answer

False. That was Katherine Johnson. Vaughan focused on programming and managing the West Area Computers, not hands-on trajectory work for missions.

Question 5

True or false: Dorothy Vaughan was the first African American woman to work at NASA.

Accepted Answer

False. While a pioneer, she wasn't the first; several other Black women worked at NASA's Langley before her. Her leadership and expertise set her apart.

Question 6

True or false: Vaughan taught herself and her team FORTRAN before it was widely used.

Accepted Answer

True. She predicted the shift to electronic computing, learned FORTRAN on her own, and trained her West Area Computing staff, securing their relevance.

Question 7

True or false: Dorothy Vaughan was a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.

Accepted Answer

True. She joined Alpha Kappa Alpha, the first historically Black sorority, while at Wilberforce University. It connected her to a network of Black women scholars.

Question 8

True or false: She retired from NASA in 1971, just before the Apollo 14 mission.

Accepted Answer

True. Vaughan retired in 1971 after 28 years. She left as an expert in FORTRAN and computing, having contributed to the Scout launch vehicle program.

Dorothy Vaughan Trivia Questions