30 Facts About Challenger Astronaut, Ronald McNair

1. Remember that racist library? Well, it’s now named in McNair’s honor

In 2011, Lake City renamed the library that refused to lend 9-year-old Ronald books had a significant rebrand. 52 years after the cops arrived to find their suspect to be a polite little boy, the library became the Ronald McNair Life History Centre. The Centre houses a museum dedicated to the life of the astronaut and physicist. Today, the library where Ronald found inspiration and education against all odds inspires the next generation of scientists. It’s a sign of how much things have changed for the better, and a fitting last laugh for Ronald.

Where did we find this stuff? Here are our sources:

Clendinen, Dudley. “Astronaut Buried in Carolina; 35-Year ‘Mission’ is Complete.” New York Times, May 18, 1986.

Clendinen, Dudley. “Two Pathes to the Stars: Turnings and Triumphs; Ronald McNair.” New York Times, February 9, 1986.

Paul, Richard. We Could Not Fail: The First African Americans in the Space Program. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2015.

Smith, Bruce. “Hundreds Attend Memorial For Astronaut McNair With AM-Shuttle-Churches, Bjt.” Associated Press News, February 3, 1986.

Vaughan, Diane. The Challenger Launch Decision: Risky Technology, Culture and Deviance at NASA. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996

Williams, Scott. “Ronald E. McNair, Physicist of the African Diaspora.” Physicists of the African Diaspora.