Block outside NASA HQ symbolically named “Hidden Figures Way”

On Wednesday, NASA officials will unveil new street signs and ceremonially dedicate the 300 block of E Street SW—where the space agency’s District headquarters is located—as “Hidden Figures Way,” in honor of the women who worked for NASA during much of the 20th century and were depicted in the 2016 American movie directed by Theodore Melfi.

The symbolic naming follows legislation floated last year by both the U.S. Senate and the D.C. Council; the local law was passed unanimously in December. The block is the latest District street to receive special signage marking historic people, groups, and institutions. Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson are among those being honored.

The ceremony is set to begin at 10 a.m., prior to a panel to be held at the National Air and Space Museum at 600 Independence Avenue SW at 12:45 p.m. Margot Lee Shetterly, the author of the book on which the “Hidden Figures” flick is based, and Christine Darden, one of NASA’s “human computers” during the Apollo era, are slated to participate on the panel.

Mayor Muriel Bowser, Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton are among the elected officials who have been invited to the dedication event. So are Sens. Ed Markey, John Thune, and Ted Cruz, and former Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, who co-introduced the congressional iteration of the legislation designating the block as “Hidden Figures Way.”