2026 SESSION

ENROLLED

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 296

Commending Margot Lee Shetterly.

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, March 10, 2026

Agreed to by the Senate, March 12, 2026

WHEREAS, Margot Lee Shetterly is a native of Hampton, resident of Charlottesville, and the acclaimed author of Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Who Helped Win the Space Race; and

WHEREAS, Margot Lee Shetterly's Hidden Figures chronicles the lives of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson, Black women who were mathematicians at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) during the time of segregation; and

WHEREAS, Hidden Figures reached number one on The New York Times Non-Fiction Best Sellers list and was awarded Best Nonfiction Book at the NAACP Image Awards in 2017; and

WHEREAS, Margot Lee Shetterly grew up in Hampton, where her father worked at NASA's Langley Research Center, giving her early exposure to the individuals and stories that would later go into Hidden Figures; and

WHEREAS, Margot Lee Shetterly worked closely with Katherine Johnson and her family and conducted many hours of archival research to tell a rich, compelling, and factual story in Hidden Figures; and

WHEREAS, Margot Lee Shetterly served as executive producer for the Hollywood film Hidden Figures, which was adapted from her book and starred Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monáe; the film received three nominations for the 89th Academy Awards in 2017; and

WHEREAS, Margot Lee Shetterly founded The Human Computer Project, an initiative to document the untold stories of women who worked as mathematicians, scientists, engineers, and computers at NACA and NASA between the 1930s and 1980s; and

WHEREAS, through her efforts to recognize noteworthy Virginians and their meaningful contributions to NACA, NASA, and the nation, Margot Lee Shetterly has brought great pride to the Commonwealth; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend Margot Lee Shetterly for her accomplishments with Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Who Helped Win the Space Race; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Margot Lee Shetterly as an expression of the General Assembly's admiration for her achievements in literature, film, and historical research.