In the 1960s, an important group of women known as “human computers” worked for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) by using mathematics and science to help make important missions possible. Those women were unknown to history for many years. That was until last year, when the film “Hidden Figures” was released, showcasing the work that these women did in the 1960s. Dr. Sandra K. Johnson said she had a similar story to the women portrayed in the “Hidden Figures” film at last Tuesday evening’s lecture.

Brendon Jones / Equinox Staff

In the Keene State College Alumni Center in front of a full audience, Johnson said she first became interested in mathematics at a young age when she was in school, but the thing that she said got her the most interested in mathematics and science was an offer she got while she was in high school.

Johnson said, “One day, I received a letter from an engineering summer institute for college students and for high school students to spend a summer on a college campus. This particular college was Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.”

She then said she decided to apply for the opportunity and was accepted. Johnson said that is when she fell in love with engineering and knew that it was what she was born to do.

Johnson then spoke about the way she was treated in graduate school as an African American.

“When I did go to grad school, I did get some pushback primarily from some students which was an issue because most of the work that we needed to do required you to work in groups, so I had some challenges there, but I did find some good groups to work with. Some of the professors during graduate school as well and some students made comments regarding how I look, but I had already spent four years as an undergraduate and I was a little older, more mature, wiser and knew how to handle it,” Johnson said.

After graduate school, Johnson went on to have a successful and professional career in engineering. Johnson said she worked for International Business Machines for over 26 years, worked on several major projects including creating over 40 issued and pending patents.

Johnson said, “I was on the design team that built this prototype machine that eventually became the machine the IBM Deep Blue Team used to defeat the world chess champion, so I was excited about that.” Johnson said that was one of her proudest accomplishments.

With Johnson’s personality throughout the evening while telling her story, she ended her lecture by saying, “One thing I love to share is to encourage and inspire people to, first of all, find their purpose and destiny, whatever it may be. For me, it was when I was in high school and ended up going to the engineering summer institute and knew this is what I was born to do. So find your purpose and destiny. You will know what it is when you find it and pursue that. That is when you are going to be the most successful and the happiest ever and there are some side effects to that, like better health mentally and physically.”

The audience had positive reactions to the speaker. Assistant Professor of Mathematics Karen Stanish said, “I thought that what she said was wonderful and inspirational. I enjoyed hearing about obstacles that she went through and how she overcame them.

One student, junior Emily McLaughlin said, “The presentation was very inspiring. I enjoyed her talking about her thoughts and going through school from her perspective.”

Associate Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion for the Diversity and Multiculturalism Office at KSC Dottie Morris said it is very important to have speakers such as Johnson here on campus. Morris said, “I thought that it was important to bring her in for a couple reasons. One, because she is quite an accomplished engineer as you heard from some of the things that she has done. I wanted people to hear, especially younger women, about her accomplishments. I asked her to talk about some of her role models so they can see that there has been a tradition of women in the science fields who are hidden from our, maybe, traditional books that we read. The second reason I wanted to bring her in was because she was an African American woman, so adding another dimension to that is important because I think a lot of African Americans are taught or led to believe that they’re incapable of being good at mathematics or science.”

Morris then said the following day in her class, several students mentioned that they felt inspired by the presentation that Johnson gave.

Colby Dubal can be contacted at cdubal@kscequinox.com

One day in a German library changed Jennifer Teege’s entire life and her sense of identity.

It was in the psychology section of the library on a normal day that she discovered a family secret that had been kept for years. Her grandfather was a Nazi.

The lecture first began with a statement from one of the staff members of the Cohen Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Dr. Hank Knight who said, “This year for our 20th annual Holocaust Memorial Lecture we are going to have a story that is a little bit different than normal. We are having someone speaking that’s grandfather was a Nazi. Sometimes the most important history is the most difficult to address.” Dr. Knight then introduced Jennifer Teege to the stage to tell her story.

“If you saw me somewhere, what would be the first thing you would think of me?” Teege asked as she began her lecture on Monday in the Mabel Brown Room. “Certainly you would not think I am a German and especially not that you would think I am the granddaughter of a Nazi.”

Teege said that she is the daughter of a German mother and a Nigerian father. “At a young age I was put into an orphan institution. My parents split before I was even born and I became an orphan,” Teege said. Teege said she was adopted by a white German family at a young age and continued to stay in touch with her mother and grandmother until she was seven-years-old.

For the next several years, Teege said that she lived a pretty normal life having her foster parents taking care of her. Teege then showed the audience photographs of her in first day of school outfits and other pictures of when she was a young girl.

Then came a day in her life that she said changed her whole view of herself and her family. Teege said this led to asking herself many questions about who her family really is.

Teege said that that she noticed a book in which the title translates to “I Have To Love My Father Don’t I” by Matthias Kessler. A woman on the cover of the book caught her eye, Teege said, so she decided to look at the book a little more.

In the book, she noticed a photograph of a woman that looked just like her biological grandmother. To do some more investigating, Teege said that she looked in the back of the book and found information that matched her birth certificate. Teege said that this was the moment she realized the book was about her biological mother. The book was about a man named Amon Goeth who was a Nazi during World War II and in the book Teege’s mother questions how she can love her father despite the horrible actions that he made, Teege said.

Teege said that she could not leave the library alone after realizing this new information. “I called my friend and told her to come pick me up. The whole way home I did not say a word. Then as soon as I got home I collapsed into my bed. The I read the entire book from cover to cover in just a couple hours.”

Teege found out from reading that her grandfather worked in the concentration camp and had dogs that were trained to attack those staying in the concentration camps. She said that her grandfather, Amon Goeth, was a major part in the treatment against the populace in the concentration camps, that he was hung for being a war criminal. Teege said that she suffered depression for the next eight to nine months after finding out about the family secret and told so few people, not even her best friends.

“You have to imagine, being almost 40-years-old. You have an identity and you find out that you have a different identity. It is a lot of you. I always had a close relationship with the Jewish community. I couldn’t believe that someone in the same family line could be capable of doing something so cruel and capable of doing evil,” Teege said.

Teege said that she then looked in the mirror to find similarities in herself to her grandfather and she did. Teege said between her nose and her mouth she sees a slight similarity. However, Teege said, “Just because you have a physical similarity does not mean you are alike.”

Teege said that she then wanted to travel to the city in Germany near where the camp was that her grandfather Amon Goeth worked at. Teege said that she brought flowers and thought about the victims. Teege said that this trip was the first time she felt a little sense of relief since finding out about the secret.

“One of the hardest parts about the new revelation was finding out that my grandmother, who was always good to me and I have good memories of, could love and marry someone who does such bad things. Humans are more than just one dimensional. I am not saying what she did was right, but it shows that she is a human,” Teege said.

She went on to say that one of the most disturbing parts to her was that after her grandfather was hung for being a war criminal, her grandmother still kept a photograph of him right next to her on her desk until the day that she died.

Teege said that she feels better now after the day she found out about the major family secret. Teege said she has spoken to many Holocaust survivors throughout the years and they are typically very interested in speaking with her. Teege said that she thinks the fact that she speaks Hebrew helps to make the Holocaust survivors feel more comfortable with talking to her.

Teege said today she is feeling worried about the direction the world is going in terms of leadership. “If I look at today, I see a rise of populist leaders, racism and extremism. The warning signs are here and it is time to speak up, Whenever I hear the phrase ‘America first’ I worry,” Teege said.

Teege then finished her speech with a statement that she repeated several times throughout the evening.

“We need to learn from the past, so that we don’t repeat it in the future,” Teege said.

Many KSC students that are a part of the Holocaust and Genocide Studies program attended the lecture. Senior Victoria Todesco said, “It was a really emotional story that I have never heard anything quite like it. It was crazy to hear about just how much something could affect her in such a major way even though she had never met her grandfather.”

Colby Dudal can be contacted at cdudal@kscequinox.com

The Keene State College Chamber Singers went from practicing in the Redfern Arts Center classrooms to performing in front of hundreds in German churches this past summer.

This past May, 15 students, who are members of the Chamber Singers, got the chance to go to Germany to perform both for and with the German public.

This was made possible because of a partnership between KSC and the city of Einbeck that brings together different cultures in a variety of ways.

Photo By Sandra Howard / KSC Choir Director

KSC Chamber Singers Director Dr. Sandra Howard said, “A group called VOICES came here from Germany in 2013 and by having a back-and-forth relationship and building connections, we were able to become the first group from Keene State College to travel to Einbeck.”

The group of students performed with some German groups while on the trip, names of the groups included VOICES, and Kantorei in historical German churches.

The group of performers included over 100 people which included both the KSC choir and German choir members.

Senior Choir Member Katrina Feraco said most of the songs were performed in German.

Feraco said the repertoire list included music from Johann Sebastian Bach and Heinrich Schültz.

Additionally, Feraco said the piece “Sleep” by Eric Whitacre got everyone in the audience crying.

“There were a lot of harmonies on that performance, and it was one of the songs to get the biggest reaction from the audience,” Feraco said.

The choir performed not only in German and English, but there was also a performance in French, according to KSC Senior and Chamber Singers Member Tim Peterson.

The students stayed in separate host homes, many of which were the homes of community musicians.

Howard said, “The hosts were very gracious to have us there. They provided us with not only food and shelter, but also got to show us what German family living is like.”

Some of the other opportunities the choir students had included the chance to teach private lessons and conduct for both high school and elementary school students.

Feraco led a song for high school students at Goethe-Schule, an international school in Germany.

Director Howard said, “KSC senior and Choir Member Matthew McGinnis got the chance to not only lead a song for the elementary school students, but also teach private lessons for voice.”

“The opportunity brought the choir closer and showed them what was most important about being in a choir,” Feraco said.

“The most important part about being in the choir is trust…No matter where you are, in a choir, the most important part is trust,” Feraco said

With the summer of 2017 in the past, Howard said she looks forward to the future relationship between KSC and Einbeck. “In October 2019, 35 musicians from Einbeck will visit Keene to perform with the choir, KSC choir, Keene High School choir, alumni and community members.”

Colby Dudal can be contacted at cdudal@kscequinox.com