Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/765720
lives of these three black women, not only their lives at NASA, but also their lives in their communities. This was an opportunity to take the audience on a journey into black working and middle-class lives in the segregated south. I made up a back story for each character. I gave them a history, a past. That history informed every design decision that I made about them. We all do this, we tell the characters' stories in the design choices that we make. Katherine Johnson, warm, soft-spoken, recently widowed, modest; still living in the house that she shared with her husband. Her mother lives with her. The house hasn't changed very much since she and her husband bought it. Nothing is extravagant, everything is in its place, not fancy, but warm and loving. Katherine's house was found in the East End section of Atlanta. The original owner had lived in the house for almost fifty years and fortunately for us, had not changed very much. All the original wood moldings and cabinetry were still there. So we came in and wallpapered, painted, created art work for the children's room. "When I tell the story of Katherine Johnson, most people are surprised that they have never heard of her before. I hope that once the movie is released, everyone will celebrate the amazing accomplishments of all of the extraordinary women who worked at NASA during this historic time." Dorothy Vaughan…the elder of the group. The most settled and an established leader in her community. She's married to an undertaker, and if you are married to an undertaker, that means that you are rich. Dorothy's house is large and modern, a 1950s ranch-style home. She and her husband are very active in their community. This is where everyone comes to celebrate, discuss the issues of the day and to party on Saturday night. The location scouts spent weeks searching for this location. I had them look in the Collier Heights section of the city, a segregated housing development begun in 1948 as one of the first communities in the nation built exclusively by African-American planners for the growing Atlanta African-American middle class. The houses are large and beautiful and reflect the sense of pride that black folks had back then, as well as today. The chosen house came with a history: Martin Luther King had used this home as a meeting house to plan events during the civil rights years. There was history in the bricks, in the walls and in the air. It was perfect for Dorothy and perfect for the movie. Mary Jackson is spirited and restless, outspoken, youthful. So I used more color. Red. I didn't want the space to be too large. Ted and I decided to put her outside of the city, so we found a place near Monroe, GA. A man and his two sons lived there. It had a bit of a frat