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Hidden Figures - Margot Lee Shetterly

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MacLean oversaw the sale of the 770-<br />

acre property to the federal government<br />

for use by Langley Field, making it one<br />

of the largest air bases in the world.<br />

Under MacLean’s direction, the<br />

college also established a US naval<br />

training school, effectively turning the<br />

campus into an active military base.<br />

Military police manned all campus<br />

entrances, patrolling the comings and<br />

goings of everyone on the grounds. From<br />

around the country, more than a thousand<br />

black naval recruits were sent to the<br />

school to receive instruction in the repair<br />

of airplane and boat engines. The<br />

graduates then headed off to stateside<br />

service at bases like Maryland’s Naval<br />

Air Station Patuxent River, ground zero<br />

for the navy’s flight test activity. And<br />

Hampton was determined to be the

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