Hidden Figures

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

PROLOGUE-CHAPTER 3

Reading Check

1. What industry was the largest in the world during World War II?

2. What important task took place at Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory?

3. What was Dorothy’s job before she became a mathematician?

4. What was Katherine’s degree in?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What inspired Shetterly to write this book?

2. What was the effect of Executive Order 8802 in 1941?

Why did Dorothy decide to take the job as a mathematician?

3. How did Katherine’s and Dorothy’s families know one another?

Paired Resource

“Executive Order 8802: Prohibition of Discrimination in the Defense Industry (1941)”

• This resource from the National Archives represents the full text of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s order to desegregate the defense industry during World War II.
• This text connects to the theme Racism in the United States.
• Why was this order significant? How did it pave the way for the events of this book? How did it fall short in other ways?

CHAPTERS 4-7

Reading Check

1. What was a “computer” at this time (1961)?

2. Who removed the segregation sign in the Langley cafeteria each time it reappeared?

3.