NASA has renamed the street in front of its Washington, D.C., headquarters from “E Street SW” to “Hidden Figures Way” to honor the black female scientists featured in the book and movie “Hidden Figures.”
Scientists Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson were honored at the ceremony on Wednesday. Also honored were “all women who have dedicated their lives to honorably serving their country, advancing equality, and contributing to the United States space program,” according to a NASA statement. {mosads}
Family members of Johnson, Vaughan and Jackson, as well as NASA Administrator James Bridenstine, author Margot Lee Shetterly and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), attended the renaming ceremony Wednesday.
The D.C. Council unanimously voted in December to call a portion of the street Hidden Figures Way, according to NBC Washington.
“May this street, Hidden Figures Way, serve to remind us … of the standard that was set by these women with their commitment to science and their embodiment of the values of equality and justice,” Shetterly said at the ceremony.
Cruz called the dedication a “celebration of African American pioneers.”