My Remarkable Journey: A Memoir

The remarkable woman at heart of the smash New York Times bestseller and Oscar-winning film Hidden Figures tells the full story of her life in this inspirational memoir, including what it took to work at NASA, help land the first man on the moon, and live through a century of turmoil and change.

In 2015, at the age of 97, Katherine Johnson became a global celebrity. President Barack Obama awarded her the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom—the nation’s highest civilian honor—for her pioneering work as a mathematician on NASA’s first flights into space. Her contributions to America’s space program were celebrated in a blockbuster and Academy-award nominated movie.

In this memoir, Katherine shares her personal journey from child prodigy in the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia to NASA human computer. In her life after retirement, she served as a beacon of light for her family and community alike. Her story, a key part of space race history, is centered around the basic tenets of her life—no one is better than you, education is paramount, and asking questions can break barriers. The memoir captures the many facets of this unique woman: the curious “daddy’s girl,” pioneering professional, and sage elder.

This multidimensional portrait is also the record of a century of American Black history that reveals the influential role educators at segregated schools and Historically Black Colleges and Universities played in nurturing the dreams of trailblazers like Katherine. The author pays homage to her mentor—the African American professor who inspired her to become a research mathematician despite having his own dream crushed by racism.

Infused with the uplifting wisdom of a woman who handled great fame with genuine humility and great tragedy with enduring hope, My Remarkable Journey ultimately brings into focus a determined woman who navigated tough racial terrain with soft-spoken grace—and the unrelenting grit required to make history and inspire future generations of women in STEM.

• A Witness to History: Katherine Johnson’s life spanned a century of change, from the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia to the front lines of the Civil Rights movement and the race to the moon.
• Pioneering Mathematician: Discover the inside story of the ‘human computer’ whose calculations were critical for NASA’s first flights into space, including the Apollo 11 moon landing.
• The Power of Education: A powerful tribute to the teachers and Historically Black Colleges and Universities that nurtured the dreams of future trailblazers against all odds.
• Uplifting Life Lessons: Infused with wisdom and humility, Katherine’s story is a guide to breaking barriers, handling fame with grace, and leading with quiet determination.