There are some pretty famous people from West Virginia, and, as a state, we’re pretty proud of them! Names as varied as Don Knotts, Brad Paisley, Jennifer Garner, Chuck Yeager, Mary Lou Retton, Homer Hickam, Michael W. Smith, and Kathy Mattea all called the Mountain State home. But did you know that White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia was Katherine Johnson’s childhood home? Let’s take a peek at this fascinating figure from history:

In White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia in 1918, a brand new baby girl who would make history was born. Her proud parents Joylette and Joshua Coleman named her little Creola Katherine.
Edward Beyer / Wikipedia
She was the youngest of four children and a mathematical genius from a young age. Even so, she was barred from the Greenbrier County public high schools because she was African American.
PumpkinSky / Wikipedia
Instead, little Katherine attended high school in nearby Kanawha County. She graduated at the tender age of just 14. She aced every single math class the school offered her, and when she attended West Virginia State College, the college had to add several new math courses just for her, By age 18, she had dual degrees in mathematics and French, and she then became the first African American woman to attend graduate school at WVU.
West Virginia State University / Facebook

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This amazing woman would become a wife, mother, research mathematician, NASA employee, human computer, and aerospace technologist.
NASA / Wikipedia
Katherine Johnson would go on to calculate the trajectory for the first American in space and verify the numbers generated by an electronic computer for John Glenn's historic orbit around Earth (by his special, specific request).
NASA / Wikipedia
She would later help with calculations for the Apollo 11 venture's trajectory to the moon. Her work allowed the crew of the Apollo 13 to return safely to Earth after their mission was aborted. She contributed to the space shuttle program, the Earth Resources Satellite, and even missions to Mars. Her life story was told in the book Hidden Figures, which would later become a hit film with the same name.
NASA/Aubrey Gemignami / Wikipedia
She fought for her place early in life and was honored, not only by her hometown, but also by the whole nation, at the end of it, and West Virginians are proud to claim her as one of our own.
Greenbrier County CVB

How long did Katherine Johnson live in West Virginia? She lived here for much of her early life, though she passed away in February 2020 in Virginia at the age of 101. Did you know that White Sulphur Springs was Katherine Johnson’s childhood home? Let us know!

If you’re proud to hail from West Virginia, why not show off some of that WV pride with the great gear from Wear Your Roots?

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White Sulphur Springs, WV 24986, USA