Sen. Cruz Participates in Unveiling of the New ‘Hidden Figures Way’ Street Sign in Front of NASA’s Headquarters

HOUSTON, Texas - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), chairman of the Subcommittee on Aviation and Space, this week joined NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, Margot Lee Shetterly, author of Hidden Figures, Dr. Christine Darden, and the families of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson in a ceremony to unveil the new "Hidden Figures Way" street sign in front of NASA's headquarters. Sen. Cruz led efforts in the Senate to rename the street to honor Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson, who were featured in the movie Hidden Figures, and all women who have dedicated their lives to honorably serving their country, advancing equality, and contributing to the United States space program. He led these efforts with Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass), John Thune (R-S.D.), and former Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and with D.C. Chairman Phil Mendelson by introducing the bipartisan Hidden Figures Way Designation Act in 2018.

Several national news outlets covered Sen. Cruz's remarks at the unveiling of "Hidden Figures Way." Selected news coverage is below:

KDFW: (VIDEO) Sen. Cruz Participates in Unveiling of "Hidden Figures Way"
"NASA officially renamed a stretch of E Street outside it's DC headquarters today. It's now called ‘Hidden Figures Way' after the 2016 film which focused on NASA engineers who defied segregation to play an integral role in NASA's biggest accomplishments. Senator Cruz sponsored a bill to rename the street calling the women, ‘fearless pioneers'. ‘When little girls and little boys come to see NASA, they're going to look up and see that sign. And they're going to say, ‘Hidden Figures? What's that? What does that mean?' And that in turn is going to prompt a story. A story about the unlimited human potential of all of us.'"

Associated Press: Street outside NASA's DC office renamed for ‘Hidden Figures'
"The street outside of NASA's headquarters has been renamed ‘Hidden Figures Way' to honor the African American women who served as ‘human computers' in the effort to send humans to the moon. News outlets report dignitaries gathered Wednesday in Washington, D.C., to unveil the new street sign, including district officials, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and others. ‘Hidden Figures' author Margot Lee Shetterly and the families of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson also attended. Shetterly's 2016 book details the women's struggles as they crunched numbers at the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, in the pre-computer age. Johnson is now 100 years old and is the last of the three women still living. Cruz sponsored the Hidden Figures Way Designation Act."

Washington Post: The stars of ‘Hidden Figures' are now immortalized on street sign
"District officials joined the NASA administrator, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), and others Wednesday to rename the 300 block of E Street SW ‘Hidden Figures Way.' [...] Cruz filed the Hidden Figures Way Designation Act in August with three other senators and reached out to D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D). D.C. lawmakers passed the Hidden Figures Way Designation Act of 2018 in December to rename the street and ‘honor the historic women scientists and mathematicians who contributed to NASA's mission despite adversity.' [...] ‘Now, when children see the street sign, they'll ask what it means,' Cruz told the crowd gathered for the unveiling Wednesday. It's a story ‘about the unlimited human potential of all of us,' he said. ‘A story about women who helped take mankind to the moon, who helped conquer the greatest challenges of an era, and your story, and your mom's story, and your grandma's story are going to inspire generations after generations of kids and, in particular, little girls. Little girls who may be told at school they can't do something.'"

Reuters: No more female 'Hidden Figures' as NASA renames street
"NASA renamed the street block in front of its Washington D.C. headquarters ‘Hidden Figures Way' on Wednesday in honor of black women who have contributed to the U.S. space program. The work of three black mathematicians - Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson - at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration during the 1960s race to the moon was captured in the Oscar-nominated film ‘Hidden Figures.' ‘When little girls and little boys come to see NASA, they're going to look up and see that sign,' said Senator Ted Cruz, who cosponsored a bill to rename the block, at a ceremony where officials unveiled the new street signs. ‘This sign is a powerful testament that anyone who is telling a little girl or a little boy ‘You can't do something', is not telling the truth.'"

USA Today: Hidden Figures Way: Street in front of NASA headquarters renamed for pioneers
"The 300 block of E Street SW on Wednesday was officially renamed ‘Hidden Figures Way' to honor women who, in the words of NASA's current administrator, ‘at the time were not celebrated.' ‘Hidden Figures' is a 2016 novel written by Margot Lee Shetterly that was adapted into an Oscar-nominated film. Both focus on the lives of three African American women - Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson - who overcame racial and gender discrimination and ‘were essential to the success of early spaceflight.' The sign for the street was unveiled in a ceremony at 3rd and E streets SW. U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz, Ed Markey, John Thune and Bill Nelson in August introduced a bill to rename the street. The D.C. Council introduced a bill in September to rename the street and it was signed in January. Cruz was present for the unveiling, along with NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, Shetterly and D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson. [...] ‘A street sign is a piece of metal, that's under the wind, sun, rain, snow. But a street sign's a lot more than that,' Cruz said. ‘Because for years, and then decades, and then centuries, when little girls and little boys come to see NASA, they're going to look up and see that sign, and they're going to say ‘Hidden Figures? What's that? What does that mean?' And that, in turn, is going to prompt a story - a story about the unlimited human potential of all of us.'"

KPRC: (VIDEO) Sen. Cruz, NASA Honor "Hidden Figures Way"
"The former E St. Southwest outside NASA's DC headquarters has been renamed ‘Hidden Figures Way'. The name honors the three African American female mathematicians who helped send humans to the moon Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson. The book about the amazing women became a hit movie recently, ‘Hidden Figures' author Margot Lee Shetterly and the families of the three women also attended the event along with Texas Senator Ted Cruz."

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