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Middlesex native will be part of ‘Hidden Figures’ panel discussion

Middlesex County native Pearl Estelle Amy Smith will be one of two black female mathematicians interviewed during a program titled “Hidden No More: Pioneering African American Women Mathematicians Tell Their Stories” at 3 p.m. Sunday at Ebenezer Baptist Church, 216 West Leigh Street, Richmond. It is free and open to the public.

Smith, a 1948 graduate of St. Clare Walker High School, received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics and statistics from Virginia State College before being hired in the early 1960s as one of the first black mathematicians at Dahlgren Naval Base in King George. She worked there for over 30 years and continues to reside in King George, although she has relatives still in Middlesex.

Sponsored by the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, the program will feature Richmond Times-Dispatch journalist Michael Paul Williams as the interviewer.

Also being interviewed will be Dr. Christine Mann Darden, a mechanical engineer who was employed at NASA for more than 40 years. Darden was mentioned in the book “Hidden Figures” on which the recent film with the same title was based.

For more information, call 804-780-9093.