Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association Welcomes Richard Ward as Featured Guest for November Science Speaker Series

November 11, 2023

NANTUCKET, MA — The Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) announces that it will host Richard Ward as a featured presenter for its Science Speaker Series. His presentation “Don’t Click That Link!” will take place on Wednesday, November 29 at 7pm EST. It will be presented via Zoom. This event is free to all.


The Internet has brought amazing services to your living room and phone, from streaming music and movies, to online commerce and banking. At the same time, this brave new world has created an environment rich with bad actors, scams, attacks, breaches, data-spills, and more. There are a lot of threats out there, but being aware of which ones are real, which ones are myth, which ones are likely, and which are rare will help you navigate the Net more safely.


In this presentation, Richard Ward will discuss some of the common threats and work our way up to some very sophisticated attacks that have become part of the threat landscape. Richard Ward, B.S, Technical Fellow, leads the Enterprise and Security team for the Microsoft Windows and Devices Group. There, he oversees the engineering teams responsible for the security of the Windows platform, as well as the connection to the commercial customers and their requirements. Previously, he ran the Storage and Networking team for Windows; as well as the Windows Phone team, running the Developer Platform team; and the Windows Mobile Labs team, focused on incubation and prototyping of new technologies in the mobile space. Ward joined the Windows Mobile team after a long stay in Windows, where he headed the Core Architecture team. In that role, he focused on broad design issues such as state separation and management for both Windows components as well as applications. Ward also ran the security development team for Windows NT 3.5 and NT 4.0 and the core security group for Windows 2000. During this time, Ward wrote the first SSL and Kerberos implementations for Microsoft, and oversaw the evolution of the original NTLM authentication protocol. Ward joined Microsoft in 1989 as a security developer for the LAN Manager product line. Join Richard Ward for this Science Speaker Series Talk on Zoom. Pre-registration is required.


To register for this event, please follow the link below:

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_s0DY91xDQIquof-Cur7JfQ#/registration


This series is generously sponsored by our lead sponsor, Bank of America


The Maria Mitchell Association is a private non-profit organization. Founded in 1902, the MMA works to preserve the legacy of Nantucket native astronomer, naturalist, librarian, and educator, Maria Mitchell. The Maria Mitchell Association operates two observatories, a natural science museum, an aquarium, a research center, and preserves the historic birthplace of Maria Mitchell. A wide variety of science and history-related programming is offered throughout the year for people of all ages.


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For Immediate Release

November 11, 2023

Contact: Molly Mosscrop, Marketing Director

mmosscrop@mariamitchell.org

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By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • June 29, 2026
In April and early May, at long last, the Mitchell House roof was replaced. (I noted this in an earlier blog.) I had also noted that the roofwalk, given the condition it was in and its location – sitting on the ridge – had to be replaced. They had thought they could jack it up – as they have done with other walks – but the Blizzard of February 2026 that was ALL wind (83 MPH winds – read Category 1 Hurricane) and no real snow, made the walk impossible to treat in such a manner (read: crumble). So, after much discussion, review by our preservation easement holder, and permits, as well as some fundraising, we are replacing the roofwalk. The prior walk was not the original. The original blew off in a gale in the late nineteenth century, replaced at some point in the 1930s, and likely replaced again in the 1960s or 1970s. Then, since that time, it was heavily repaired. Its framing members were notched to accept the ridge boards (read: peak) of the roof and I think that may have been an original way to construct a walk. Makes perfect sense – and gives the walk more support and a lower profile. It was after all about putting out chimney fires and preventing roof fires. People copied what worked – and there have been a few others noted to be built in this manner still. It presents an issue though – because if you need to work on the ridge board or close to it – you cannot get to it easily – I guess you may be able to access it to some extent by lifting the deck boards of the walk. The new Mitchell House roofwalk will sit about six inches above the ridge – which will also allow air to circulate better over the ridge and the shakes in that area. That is the only thing that will really be different. It is protected by a preservation easement – as part of the Mitchell House’s easement – and frankly, even if we did not have an easement, we would not want it to look any different. So keep your eyes to the skies at 1 Vestal as we work to re-build the walk. With a special thank you to Barber and Sons and Lydon and Sons. JNLF

Maria Mitchell In Her Own Words

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • June 22, 2026
1875, June 20. A meeting of the Officers of Congress was called at the house of Mrs. Hanaford, 5 Summit Ave., Jersey City. The weather was intensely cold. I went to New York on the 19 th and stopped with my friend Mrs. Clapp, 100 W. 54 St . . . .It was a question who should preside. Mrs. Hanaford thought the Chairman of the Executive Committee should and I had been told that I should, etc. The question was decided by the non-arrival of the Chairman of Ex.Com. I called them to order at an hour after the time appointed. Of course I made many blunders, as I have never presided before, but I continued for 4 hours. We did a few good things . . . The thing most weighing on Maria’s mind at this meeting was the looseness of membership for the Congress. She felt people were not being vetted properly in some areas of the country and thus they may allow in “undesirables.” I would take this to mean women who were not entirely behind the cause of the Congress and the Association for the Advancement of Women. I am not surprised by her suspicions and likely she was correct – one could see naysayers gaining access to this group and trying to destroy it from the inside. The women’s rights movement would have many schisms within it as people disagreed and broke into smaller factions.  Another important thing to point out is that Mrs. Hanaford is Nantucket-born Phebe Coffin Hanaford. Raised a Quaker, like Maria, Coffin Hanaford would become the first woman Universalist minister in New England – among many other firsts. She grew up with Maria, attended and taught at the Coffin School here on Nantucket, and was a founding member of another women’s organization, Sorosis, which Maria was also a founding member of. It’s nice to see two sister Nantucketers continuing to work together as adults – far from home! JNLF

Pick A Picket

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • June 15, 2026
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