<P> According to an oral history archived by the National Visionary Leadership Project: </P> <P> At first she (Johnson) worked in a pool of women performing math calculations . Katherine has referred to the women in the pool as virtual "computers who wore skirts". Their main job was to read the data from the black boxes of planes and carry out other precise mathematical tasks . Then one day, Katherine (and a colleague) were temporarily assigned to help the all - male flight research team . Katherine's knowledge of analytic geometry helped make quick allies of male bosses and colleagues to the extent that, "they forgot to return me to the pool". While the racial and gender barriers were always there, Katherine says she ignored them . Katherine was assertive, asking to be included in editorial meetings (where no women had gone before). She simply told people she had done the work and that she belonged . </P> <P> From 1953 to 1958, Johnson worked as a "computer", analyzing topics such as gust alleviation for aircraft . Originally assigned to the West Area Computers section supervised by mathematician Dorothy Vaughan, Johnson was reassigned to the Guidance and Control Division of Langley's Flight Research Division . It was staffed by white male engineers . In keeping with state racial segregation laws, and federal workplace segregation introduced under President Woodrow Wilson in the early 20th century, Johnson and the other African - American women in the computing pool were required to work, eat, and use restrooms that were separate from those of their white peers . Their office was labeled as "Colored Computers". In an interview with WHRO - TV, Johnson stated that she "didn't feel the segregation at NASA, because everybody there was doing research . You had a mission and you worked on it, and it was important to you to do your job...and play bridge at lunch ." She added: "I didn't feel any segregation . I knew it was there, but I didn't feel it ." </P> <P> NACA disbanded the colored computing pool in 1958 when it was superseded by NASA, which adopted digital computers . The installation was desegregated . Society's discrimination against women had not yet ended, however . Johnson recalled that era: </P>

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