Jon Buttram News Today

The school is dropping the name of a Confederate soldier to honor 'Hidden Figure' Katherine Johnson.

In 2016, Katherine Johnson, the Black NASA mathematician whose effort helped launch astronauts into outer space, was depicted in the Oscar-nominated film

Lanier Middle School school no longer has Confederacy name ties. It's now Katherine Johnson Middle School, a tribute to NASA’s late mathematician.

A Virginia school board held a naming ceremony where they removed the name of a Confederate soldier from a middle school and replaced it with Katherine Johnson — the NASA legend.

A Virginia middle school that was once named after a Confederate soldier has been renamed in honor of Black NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson.

A Virginia middle school that was once named after a Confederate soldier has been renamed in honor of Black NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson.

A Virginia middle school that was once named after a Confederate soldier has been renamed in honor of African American NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson. The former Sidney Lanier Middle School in Fairfax County held a renaming ceremony Friday. Lanier was a prominent American poet and private in the Confederate army.

Lanier Middle School will now be called Katherine Johnson Middle School.