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Margot Lee Shetterly Quotes

Powerful Margot Lee Shetterly for Daily Growth

About Margot Lee Shetterly

Margot Lee Shetterly is an acclaimed American historian and author, renowned for her work on African-American history and science. Born in Hampton, Virginia in 1974, Shetterly was raised in a family deeply rooted in the rich cultural and intellectual legacy of the city's historic black community. Her father, an engineer, and mother, a nurse, instilled in her a strong sense of curiosity and a deep respect for education. Shetterly's formative years were spent amidst the NASA Langley Research Center, which played a significant role in shaping her interests. The stories of the African-American 'computers,' mathematicians who played pivotal roles in America's space program, sparked her fascination and eventually became the subject of her groundbreaking work. In 2016, Shetterly published "Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race." This compelling narrative about a group of black female mathematicians at NASA during the early years of the U.S. space program was adapted into an award-winning film in 2016. The book became a bestseller, spending over two years on the New York Times Best Sellers list and was translated into more than 30 languages. Shetterly's work extends beyond Hidden Figures. She has been a contributing writer for National Geographic and her articles have appeared in The New York Times and Time Magazine. In 2018, she published "T-Minus: The Countdown to a Secret Space Mission," another thought-provoking exploration of the untold stories of African-American scientists and engineers who played crucial roles in NASA's success. Shetterly continues to illuminate overlooked chapters of American history, using her platform to celebrate the achievements of underrepresented groups and inspire future generations.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"In order to move forward, we must remember our past."

This quote by Margot Lee Shetterly emphasizes the importance of historical awareness in shaping our future. Understanding our past helps us recognize patterns, learn from mistakes, and preserve what is valuable. By remembering our history, we can make informed decisions, avoid repeating errors, and build a more equitable and progressive society. It's not about dwelling on the past but using it as a foundation for growth and progress.

"We cannot erase history, but we can reinterpret it."

This quote suggests that we cannot undo past events or experiences (history), but we do have the power to reevaluate and reshape our understanding of them. Reinterpreting history means critically examining past events through a more inclusive, informed, or nuanced perspective, which can lead to a more accurate and just representation of the past. By doing so, we can learn from history in a way that helps us navigate the present and build a better future.

"Greatness is not a matter of circumstance, but a matter of choice."

This quote implies that achieving greatness isn't contingent upon external factors or circumstances, but rather it is a result of personal choices. It suggests that each individual has the power to make choices that lead them towards greatness, regardless of their starting point or circumstances. The key is taking responsibility for those choices and striving towards self-improvement and excellence.

"The story I wanted to tell was about the women and men who did extraordinary things every day."

This quote emphasizes that Margot Lee Shetterly's narrative focuses on ordinary individuals who perform extraordinary deeds daily. It highlights the significance of recognizing the everyday heroism found in people, particularly those unsung heroes often overlooked in the midst of grander narratives.

"Their achievements were part of a larger struggle - a battle for freedom, equality, and justice."

This quote emphasizes that individual accomplishments are deeply intertwined with the broader societal struggle towards freedom, equality, and justice. It suggests that these individuals' successes were not isolated events but significant milestones in a larger movement aiming to overcome oppression and establish a more equitable society.

Every time you go to an airport and get on a plane, you are basically taking advantage of the work that was done at Langley. Between World War I and World War II, they did just tremendous amount of fundamental research into basically making airplanes safer, making them more stable.

- Margot Lee Shetterly

World War I, Plane, Safer, Airplane

During World War II, hundreds of thousands of people actually - and among them many African-American - migrated to the Hampton Roads area because of the job boom that was happening. It was a place where you could get stable war jobs.

- Margot Lee Shetterly

Boom, Thousands Of People, African-American

I started to think of 'Hidden Figures' as the first part of a mid-century African-American trilogy.

- Margot Lee Shetterly

Think, Hidden, Figures, African-American

How do we fill the need for technology workers, people who have computer skills and math and science skills? How do we get a more diverse science workforce? These are all issues - I would look at these documents that were from the '50s and '60s and '70s, and you'd swear they were written two weeks ago because the issues are the same.

- Margot Lee Shetterly

Issues, Documents, Weeks, Two Weeks

I remember 'The Norfolk Journal and Guide,' which is a black newspaper that still exists, but it was really influential, as you can imagine, in the Forties, Fifties, and Sixties. But all of their archives are online and digitized, and it was a really great resource.

- Margot Lee Shetterly

Newspaper, I Remember, Journal

Katherine Johnson actually integrated the public university in West Virginia. And Mary Jackson had to petition state courts to be allowed to attend an all-white college to get the qualifications needed to become an engineer. At every turn, these women were involved in the Second World War, the Cold War, the civil rights movement.

- Margot Lee Shetterly

College, University, Attend, Qualifications

My dad joined Langley in 1964 as a co-op student and retired in 2004 an internationally respected climate scientist.

- Margot Lee Shetterly

Student, Dad, Joined, Internationally

Our next-door neighbour taught physics at Hampton University. Our church abounded with mathematicians. Supersonics experts held leadership positions in my mother's sorority, and electrical engineers sat on the board of my parents' college alumni associations.

- Margot Lee Shetterly

College, Associations, Held, Mathematicians

I knew a lot of black scientists, engineers, and mathematicians, and female mathematicians and engineers, women of all backgrounds. So this idea that anyone could be an engineer, a mathematician, or whatever, was something that I had grown up with and thought was really normal.

- Margot Lee Shetterly

Thought, Idea, Had, Mathematicians

It has been very rare to see a black woman as a protagonist. And also as three-dimensional people - mathematicians, mothers, wives, complicated people, not perfect.

- Margot Lee Shetterly

Woman, Been, Very, Mathematicians

A lot of times, we talk about black people as if being black is all they are. They get up, go to work... and are as complex and interesting and variable as any other group of people. We don't often capture that or write about it.

- Margot Lee Shetterly

Work, Interesting, Other, Variable

That's what 'Star Trek' was: We don't know how to make an ideal society, but we're going to portray that, and then we're going to work backward. I think that's why science fiction - despite the dystopian parts - comes out of this super ideal that, eventually, we will get to some better place where we actually live up to our ideals.

- Margot Lee Shetterly

Some, Fiction, I Think, Science Fiction

For too long, history has imposed a binary condition on its black citizens: either nameless or renowned, menial or exceptional, passive recipients of the forces of history or superheroes who acquire mythic status not just because of their deeds but because of their scarcity.

- Margot Lee Shetterly

Scarcity, Imposed, Acquire, Superheroes

Five of my father's seven siblings made their bones as engineers or technologists, and some of his best buddies - David Woods, Elijah Kent, Weldon Staton - carved out successful engineering careers at Langley.

- Margot Lee Shetterly

Father, Seven, Some, Buddies

We want the big stories, of course, of the great men, but there's as much drama and interest and lessons to be learned in actions that people like us take on a daily basis.

- Margot Lee Shetterly

Big, Stories, Daily Basis, Lessons

I was surprised how little I knew about the significant contributions to aviation that had happened right there in Hampton, Virginia.

- Margot Lee Shetterly

Aviation, Knew, About, Surprised

The success of 'Hidden Figures' proves that people are interested in, hungry for, stories about transcendent human experiences.

- Margot Lee Shetterly

Hidden, Stories, Figures, Transcendent

My dad worked with Mary Jackson very closely at one point. I knew Katherine Johnson as well. They were all part of this group of black engineers and scientists within this larger NASA community.

- Margot Lee Shetterly

Very, Larger, Dad, Engineers

I want to keep telling stories of ordinary people.

- Margot Lee Shetterly

Want, Stories, Telling, Ordinary People

Growing up in Hampton, the face of science was brown like mine.

- Margot Lee Shetterly

Growing, Face, Mine, Hampton

You can't change history. These things happened the way they did. What you can change is how you look at it and how you understand that it takes the good moments and it takes the difficult moments to move forward.

- Margot Lee Shetterly

Change, Forward, Move, Move Forward

As a callow 18-year-old leaving for college, I'd seen my home town as a mere launching pad for a life in worldlier locales, a place to be from rather than a place to be.

- Margot Lee Shetterly

College, Town, Rather, Pad

History happens as soon as I pick up my coffee cup - it happened 30 seconds ago. It's history.

- Margot Lee Shetterly

History, Soon, Happened, Seconds

A lot of times, when you have a story of minorities in America, it's always this super, oppositional thing. It's segregation, it's the racism, and those are the hard facts of the story.

- Margot Lee Shetterly

Racism, Always, Minorities, Segregation

I'm not a scientist or a mathematician.

- Margot Lee Shetterly

Scientist, Mathematician

The Russians had got a real head-start into space; America was playing catch-up.

- Margot Lee Shetterly

Real, Had, Playing, Russians

My dad worked at NASA his whole career; he's a research scientist.

- Margot Lee Shetterly

Career, NASA, Worked, Research

There is so much talent among our young people; I hope the women in 'Hidden Figures' inspire them.

- Margot Lee Shetterly

Young, Hidden, Figures, Inspire

You need to decide that you're going to use a story to enlighten and inspire people in the modern day.

- Margot Lee Shetterly

Modern, Need, Going, Inspire

I guess it's inevitable that I would become somebody who would write about scientists.

- Margot Lee Shetterly

Inevitable, Would, Guess, Scientists

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