Hidden Figures Congressional Gold Medal Act

IC 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 590 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 29, 2019 Referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Com- mittee on House Administration, for a period to be subsequently deter- mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned AN ACT To award Congressional Gold Medals to Katherine Johnson and Dr. Christine Darden, to posthumously award Con- gressional Gold Medals to Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, and to award a Congressional Gold Medal to honor all of the women who contributed to the success of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration during the Space Race. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:12 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\S590.RFH S590 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 S 590 RFH Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hidden Figures Con- 4 gressional Gold Medal Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) In 1935, the National Advisory Committee 8 for Aeronautics (referred to in this section as 9 ‘‘NACA’’) hired 5 women to serve as the first ‘‘com- 10 puter pool’’ at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical 11 Laboratory where those women took on work mak- 12 ing calculations that male engineers had made pre- 13 viously. 14 (2) During the 1940s, NACA began recruiting 15 African-American women to work as computers and 16 initially separated those women from their White 17 counterparts in a group known as the ‘‘West Area 18 Computers’’ where the women were restricted to seg- 19 regated dining and bathroom facilities. 20 (3) Katherine Johnson was born on August 26, 21 1918, in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. 22 (4) In 1953, Katherine Johnson began her ca- 23 reer in aeronautics as a computer in the segregated 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:12 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S590.RFH S590 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 S 590 RFH West Area Computing unit described in paragraph 1 (2). 2 (5) As a member of the Flight Research Divi- 3 sion, Katherine Johnson analyzed data from flight 4 tests. After NACA was reformulated into the Na- 5 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration (re- 6 ferred to in this section as ‘‘NASA’’), Katherine 7 Johnson— 8 (A) calculated the trajectory for Alan 9 Shepard’s Freedom 7 mission in 1961, which 10 was the first human spaceflight by an indi- 11 vidual from the United States; 12 (B) co-authored a report that provided the 13 equations for describing orbital spaceflight with 14 a specified landing point, which made her the 15 first woman to be recognized as an author of a 16 report from the Flight Research Division; 17 (C) was asked to verify the calculations 18 when electronic computers at NASA were used 19 to calculate the orbit for John Glenn’s Friend- 20 ship 7 mission; and 21 (D) provided calculations for NASA 22 throughout her career, including for the Apollo 23 missions. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:12 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S590.RFH S590 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 S 590 RFH (6) Katherine Johnson retired from NASA in 1 1986. 2 (7) Dr. Christine Darden was born on Sep- 3 tember 10, 1942, in Monroe, North Carolina. 4 (8) In 1962, Dr. Christine Darden graduated 5 from Hampton Institute with a B.S. in Mathematics 6 and a teaching credential. 7 (9) Dr. Christine Darden attended Virginia 8 State University where she studied aerosol physics 9 and earned an M.S. in Applied Mathematics. 10 (10) Dr. Christine Darden began her career in 11 aeronautics in 1967 as a data analyst at NASA’s 12 Langley Research Center (referred to in this section 13 as ‘‘Langley’’) before being promoted to aerospace 14 engineer in 1973. Her work in this position resulted 15 in the production of low-boom sonic effects, which 16 revolutionized aerodynamics design. 17 (11) Dr. Christine Darden completed her edu- 18 cation by earning a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineer- 19 ing from George Washington University in 1983. 20 (12) While working at NASA, Dr. Christine 21 Darden— 22 (A) was appointed to be the leader of the 23 Sonic Boom Team, which worked on designs to 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:12 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S590.RFH S590 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 S 590 RFH minimize the effects of sonic booms by testing 1 wing and nose designs for supersonic aircraft; 2 (B) wrote more than 50 articles on aero- 3 nautics design; and 4 (C) became the first African American to 5 be promoted to a position in the Senior Execu- 6 tive Service at Langley. 7 (13) Dorothy Vaughan was born on September 8 20, 1910, in Kansas City, Missouri. 9 (14) Dorothy Vaughan began working for 10 NACA in 1943. Dorothy Vaughan— 11 (A) started at NACA as a member of the 12 West Area Computing unit; 13 (B) was promoted to be the head of the 14 West Area Computing unit, becoming NACA’s 15 first African-American supervisor, a position 16 that she held for 9 years; and 17 (C) became an expert programmer in 18 FORTRAN as a member of NASA’s Analysis 19 and Computation Division. 20 (15) Dorothy Vaughan retired from NASA in 21 1971 and died on November 10, 2008. 22 (16) Mary Jackson was born on April 9, 1921, 23 in Hampton, Virginia. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:12 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S590.RFH S590 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 S 590 RFH (17) Mary Jackson started her career at NACA 1 in 1951, working as a computer as a member of the 2 West Area Computing unit. 3 (18) After petitioning the city of Hampton to 4 allow her to take graduate-level courses in math and 5 physics at night at the all-White Hampton High 6 School, Mary Jackson was able to complete the re- 7 quired training to become an engineer, making her 8 NASA’s first female African-American engineer. 9 (19) Mary Jackson— 10 (A) while at NACA and NASA— 11 (i) worked in the Theoretical Aero- 12 dynamics Branch of the Subsonic-Tran- 13 sonic Aerodynamics Division at Langley 14 where she analyzed wind tunnel and air- 15 craft flight data; and 16 (ii) published a dozen technical papers 17 that focused on the boundary layer of air 18 around airplanes; and 19 (B) after 21 years working as an engineer 20 at NASA, transitioned to a new job as 21 Langley’s Federal Women’s Program Manager 22 where she worked to improve the prospects of 23 NASA’s female mathematicians, engineers, and 24 scientists. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:12 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S590.RFH S590 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 S 590 RFH (20) Mary Jackson retired from NASA in 1985 1 and died in 2005. 2 (21) These 4 women, along with the other Afri- 3 can-American women in NASA’s West Area Com- 4 puting unit, were integral to the success of the early 5 space program. The stories of these 4 women exem- 6 plify the experiences of hundreds of women who 7 worked as computers, mathematicians, and engi- 8 neers at NACA beginning in the 1930s and the 9 handmade calculations that they made played an in- 10 tegral role in— 11 (A) aircraft testing during World War II; 12 (B) supersonic flight research; 13 (C) sending the Voyager probes to explore 14 the solar system; and 15 (D) the United States landing the first 16 man on the lunar surface. 17 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDALS. 18 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 19 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem- 20 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 21 for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of 5 gold med- 22 als of appropriate design as follows: 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:12 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S590.RFH S590 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 S 590 RFH (1) One gold medal to Katherine Johnson in 1 recognition of her service to the United States as a 2 mathematician. 3 (2) One gold medal to Dr. Christine Darden for 4 her service to the United States as an aeronautical 5 engineer. 6 (3) In recognition of their service to the United 7 States during the Space Race— 8 (A) 1 gold medal commemorating the life 9 of Dorothy Vaughan; and 10 (B) 1 gold medal commemorating the life 11 of Mary Jackson. 12 (4) One gold medal in recognition of all women 13 who served as computers, mathematicians, and engi- 14 neers at the National Advisory Committee for Aero- 15 nautics and the National Aeronautics and Space Ad- 16 ministration between the 1930s and the 1970s (re- 17 ferred to in this section as ‘‘recognized women’’). 18 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purpose of the 19 awards under subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treas- 20 ury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall strike 21 each gold medal described in that subsection with suitable 22 emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by 23 the Secretary. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:12 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S590.RFH S590 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 S 590 RFH (c) TRANSFER OF CERTAIN MEDALS AFTER PRES- 1 ENTATION.— 2 (1) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 3 (A) IN GENERAL.—After the award of the 4 gold medal commemorating the life of Dorothy 5 Vaughan under subsection (a)(3)(A) and the 6 award of the gold medal in recognition of recog- 7 nized women under subsection (a)(4), those 8 medals shall be given to the Smithsonian Insti- 9 tution where the medals shall be— 10 (i) available for display, as appro- 11 priate; and 12 (ii) made available for research. 13 (B) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense 14 of Congress that the Smithsonian Institution 15 should make the gold medals received under 16 subparagraph (A) available for— 17 (i) display, particularly at the Na- 18 tional Museum of African American His- 19 tory and Culture; or 20 (ii) loan, as appropriate, so that the 21 medals may be displayed elsewhere. 22 (2) TRANSFER TO FAMILY.—After the award of 23 the gold medal in honor of Mary Jackson under sub- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:12 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S590.RFH S590 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 S 590 RFH section (a)(3)(B), the medal shall be given to her 1 granddaughter, Wanda Jackson. 2 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 3 Under regulations that the Secretary may promul- 4 gate, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 5 bronze of the gold medals struck under this Act, at a price 6 sufficient to cover the cost of the medals, including labor, 7 materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 8 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 9 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck under 10 this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 11 of title 31, United States Code. 12 (b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 13 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 14 struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 15 items. 16 SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF 17 SALE. 18 (a) AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS.—There is 19 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 20 Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec- 21 essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck under 22 this Act. 23 (b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—Amounts received from the 24 sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:12 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S590.RFH S590 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 S 590 RFH 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 1 Enterprise Fund. 2 Passed the Senate March 27, 2019. Attest: JULIE E. ADAMS, Secretary. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:12 Mar 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S590.RFH S590 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS