Character Relationship Map: Hidden Figures

Characters

• Dorothy Vaughan (played by Octavia Spencer) — protagonist

  Dorothy is Katherine and Mary’s colleague and the acting leader of the segregated West Area computing unit. Recognizing that the IBM 7090 threatens the human computers’ jobs, she teaches herself Fortr...

• Mary Jackson (played by Janelle Monáe) — supporting

  Mary works with Katherine and Dorothy as a human computer before joining the space capsule heat shield team. After identifying a design flaw, she pursues an engineering position, overcomes Vivian Mitc...

• Al Harrison (played by Kevin Costner) — supporting

  Al leads the Space Task Group to which Katherine is assigned. Initially focused on the pressure of the space race, he comes to recognize Katherine’s mathematical ability, includes her in high-level me...

• Vivian Mitchell (played by Kirsten Dunst) — supporting

  Vivian is the white supervisor overseeing the segregated West Area computing unit. She assigns Katherine to Al Harrison’s group because of Katherine’s analytic geometry skills, tells Mary that additio...

• John Glenn (played by Glen Powell) — supporting

  John is a Mercury 7 astronaut preparing for the launch whose mission depends on accurate calculations from the Langley team. He goes out of his way to greet the West Area women and later asks for Kath...

• Judge (played by Frank Hoyt Taylor) — minor
• Karl Zielinski (played by Olek Krupa) — minor

  Karl leads the space capsule heat shield team where Mary is assigned. After Mary identifies a design flaw, he encourages her to pursue an engineering position and supports her professional ambitions....

• Paul Stafford (played by Jim Parsons) — supporting

  Paul is the head engineer working with Katherine in Al Harrison’s Space Task Group. He is dismissive of her presence and later insists that her name be removed from technical reports, arguing that hum...

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Paul Stafford → John Glenn (Professional Mission Specialist) — Stafford contributes technical work to the mission team supporting Glenn.

  Stafford works as head engineer on the space program whose calculations and reports support Glenn's launch.

• Al Harrison → John Glenn (Professional Mission Leadership) — Harrison directs the technical operation supporting Glenn's mission.

  Harrison leads the Space Task Group during preparations for John Glenn's launch and allows the mathematician into mission control.

• Paul Stafford → Mary Jackson (Professional NASA Colleague) — They are connected through NASA's engineering and spaceflight work, though no direct collaboration is described.

  Stafford works in the Space Task Group while Mary works on the space capsule heat-shield team at the same research center.

• Al Harrison → Vivian Mitchell (Power Departmental Authority) — Mitchell controls the assignment while Harrison leads the technical group.

  Vivian Mitchell assigns the newly transferred mathematician to Al Harrison's Space Task Group.

• Mary Jackson → Judge (Power Petitioner And Decision Maker) — Mary persuades the judge to remove an educational barrier through a historical appeal.

  Mary petitions the court for permission to attend the all-white Hampton High School night classes and wins the judge's approval.

• Mary Jackson → Karl Zielinski (Professional Mentor And Protégé) — Zielinski recognizes Mary's technical ability and encourages her career advancement.

  Mary identifies a heat-shield design flaw, and her team leader Karl Zielinski encourages her to apply for a NASA engineering position.

• Dorothy Vaughan → Vivian Mitchell (Professional Supervisor And Subordinate) — Mitchell oversees Dorothy's unit but fails to recognize her leadership initially.

  Vivian Mitchell supervises the West Area group and tells Dorothy that there are no plans to assign a permanent supervisor for the colored group.

• Al Harrison → Paul Stafford (Professional Senior Colleague) — They occupy senior technical roles within the same space program.

  Al Harrison leads the Space Task Group, while Paul Stafford serves as its head engineer and directs reporting practices.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• John Glenn → Mary Jackson (related)
• John Glenn → Dorothy Vaughan (related)
• John Glenn → Mary Jackson (Social Supportive Colleague) — His public respect contrasts with the segregation surrounding the women.

  John Glenn personally greets the West Area women during his visit to Langley, including Mary as one of the unit's members.

• John Glenn → Dorothy Vaughan (Social Supportive Colleague) — Glenn's respectful gesture acknowledges the women whose calculations support the mission.

  John Glenn goes out of his way to greet the women of the West Area during his visit to Langley.

• Mary Jackson → Vivian Mitchell (Conflict Administrative Opponent) — Mitchell represents the institutional barrier preventing Mary's promotion.

  Mitchell tells Mary that additional courses are required for the engineering position despite Mary's mathematics and physical science degree.

• Dorothy Vaughan → Mary Jackson (Alliance Teammate) — They are African-American women colleagues who share the struggle against workplace segregation.

  The plot states that Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson work alongside each other in the segregated West Area computing unit.

Story Analysis

Three African-American women challenge segregation and institutional exclusion while helping NASA achieve a historic spaceflight.

Plot Progression

1. Hidden Labor at Langley — The West Area women perform segregated calculations while remaining excluded from the purpose and recognition of their work. New assignments expose both professional opportunity and institutional disc...
2. Education Against Barriers — Mary discovers that an engineering career requires access to segregated night classes. She takes the requirement to court and secures permission to continue her education.
3. Recognition Under Pressure — The space race intensifies after the Soviet launch, increasing the value of precise calculations. Workplace segregation and denied authorship force a direct confrontation with NASA's hierarchy.
4. Programming the Future — The IBM 7090 threatens the human computers' jobs. Dorothy learns Fortran, trains her coworkers, and converts technological disruption into collective promotion.
5. The Numbers Hold — A discrepancy threatens Glenn's launch, requiring trusted manual calculations and rapid decisions in mission control. The capsule lands safely, followed by recognition of the women's lasting achieveme...