Photographs from Dorothy Vaughan’s retirement party. Vaughan retired from NASA in 1971.
Dorothy Vaughan began her career at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory’s segregated “West Area Computing” unit and was promoted to lead the group, making her the NACA’s first black supervisor, and one of the NACA’s few female supervisors. In 1958, when the NACA made the transition to NASA, segregated facilities, including the West Computing office, were abolished and Vaughan joined the new Analysis and Computation Division (ACD).
Image Credit: Courtesy Vaughan FamilyCaption text: Margot Lee Shetterly