Maria Mitchell In Her Own Words
Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • December 13, 2024
Observatory – Dec. 5, 1873
President Raymond,
A plaster cast of the head of Mary Somerville by the sculptor Moe Donald, has been received as a donation to the Observatory. It is not only a beautiful ornament in itself, but it has the additional value of being the gift of another remarkable woman Frances Power Cobbe of London. I have supposed that some other notice should be taken of it, beside the unofficial letter which I shall write to Miss Cobbe.
Maria Mitchell
Mary Somerville, as I have mentioned before, was one of Maria Mitchell’s heroes. On her first trip to Europe in the 1850s, Maria met Somerville. While she made comments regarding this in her journal, I can only image how she truly felt in her presence – something words on paper might not convey. This plaster cast remained in a position of prominence in the observatory during the remainder of Maria’s time at Vassar.
She met Frances Power Cobbe, the donor of this bust, on her second trip to Europe in the summer of 1873. Maria had a letter to deliver from Julia Ward Howe and also wished to leave Power Cobbe with a pamphlet regarding Vassar College – fundraising I am sure! She was worried she would not be at home but she was and Power Cobbe knew who Maria was straight away – she had been told Maria was in London! After some initial misinformation, Maria came to know that Power Cobbe was indeed a powerful force among the Suffragettes.
JNLF
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Feb. 15, 1853. I think Dr. Hall (in his “Life of Mary Ware”) does wrong when he attempts to encourage the use of the needle. It seems to me that the needle is the chain of woman, and has fettered her more than the laws of the country. Once emancipate her from the “stitch, stitch, stitch,” the industry of which would be commendable if it served any purpose except the gratification of her vanity, and she would have time for studies which would engross as the needle never can. I would as soon put a girl alone into a closet to meditate as give her only the society of the needle. The art of sewing, so far as men learn it, is well enough; that is, to enable a person to take the stitches, and, if necessary, to make her own garments in a strong manner; but the dressmaker should no more be a universal character than the carpenter. I believe MM’s words are self-explanatory, no commentary needed on my part. JNLF
NANTUCKET, MA—– The Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) and Nantucket Lights are pleased to release the Nantucket Sky Quality Monitoring Project (SQM) report by Dark Sky Consulting , LLC. The joint program, launched in 2022, involves collecting night-sky brightness data from around Nantucket Island from citizen-scientists using handheld Unihedron Sky Quality Meters (SQMs) as measurement devices to study light pollution. Observations were made from June 2022 to November 2024 at eight sites (Nantucket Town; Madaket Beach; Nantucket Elementary School; Nantucket Memorial Airport; Altar Rock; 'Sconset; Wauwinet; and Surfside Beach), a ninth site (Cisco Beach) was added in August 2024, for which only three months of data are available. These efforts establish a baseline for assessing the effectiveness of actions to mitigate light pollution going forward. The distributions separate into two broad populations (high development: Nantucket Town; Nantucket Elementary School; and Nantucket Airport) and low/no development: (Madaket; Sconset; Wauwinet’; Surfside Beach; Cisco Beach; and Altar Rock). The darkest readings among the latter tend to occur in spring and summer. For high-development sites, the width of the distribution increases distinctly in summer and its mean shifts toward brighter values. We interpret this as due to an increased population on the island during the summer season. The group follows the data collection procedure recommended by DarkSky International. Readings are taken under conditions intended to minimize interference from environmental influences. For example, reading does not commence until the end of astronomical twilight, which occurs about 90 minutes after sunset. Observers are encouraged to report only data taken under conditions of clear skies, which is sometimes not possible due to the vagaries of Nantucket weather. Additionally, they avoid obtaining data when the Moon is above the horizon to limit the contaminating effect of its light. Readings are taken after the conclusion of astronomical twilight during the week between the last-quarter and new Moon phases. Analysis of the night-sky brightness measurements since 2022 show that the data are broadly valid and reproducible, and that outlier values can largely be explained by the influence of environmental conditions. Distributions of measurements across various cuts (location, year) are normal as expected for random sampling of the assumed underlying “populations” of night-sky brightness values. And there is not a great deal of night-sky brightness variation from one year to the next, either on a per-site basis or island-wide. From this, we can broadly conclude that light emissions on Nantucket have, in recent years, increased only at a very slow rate. The Nantucket Dark Sky Monitoring Project continues to be monitored, and data is being collected and analyzed. You can find more detailed information on the Nantucket Island Night Sky Quality Report here: Nantucket-Report-FINAL-250123.pdf Nantucket-Annex-FINAL-250123.pdf The Maria Mitchell Association was founded in 1902 to preserve the legacy of Nantucket native astronomer, naturalist, librarian, and educator, Maria Mitchell. After she discovered a comet in 1847, Mitchell’s international fame led to many achievements and awards, including an appointment as the first female professor of astronomy at Vassar College. Maria Mitchell believed in “learning by doing” and today that philosophy is reflected in the MMA’s mission statement, programs, research projects, and other activities. 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 ###
We are still quietly working away. Now that the paint and plaster repairs are done, the woodwork and shelving has been conserved, and the floor has been redone in the Astronomical Study, we have turned to the concrete floors. These are being worked on by Evita Caune of Riptide Finishes – she had done Hinchman House’s cellar floor and those in the Research Center. The Observatory cellar floor is coming along and she is also working on the Pillar Room – so named because tit houses the pillar that supports the telescope in the Dome Room. If there was an original finish on any of the three concrete floors – the Pillar Room, the Dome Room, the cellar under the Astronomical Study – it is gone. They applied many layers of paint that eroded and chipped with time. I do now know why the Pillar Room had a red floor at one point (took me long enough) – probably to match the red tile they put on the original wood floor in the Astronomical Study. Evita is giving us a nice clean coating in the Pillar Room and the cellar and we may have a bit more fun with the floor in the Dome Room – all of this is reversible which comes from a conservation perspective. All the interior conservation work was funded by the Community Preservation Act – as was the exterior conservation. One note – the Astronomical Study’s original floor was a total loss as far as finish is concerned. I may have noted this before. It was truly sad. The original wood floor was covered in multiple layers – tarpaper glued to the wood. Then a layer of red tile (tested and was safe), then another layer of tarpaper and glues. Then foam padding and a 1980s blue wall-to-wall carpet – they liked that carpet so much it used to be in the Astronomer’s Cottage too! We thought the tar paper beneath the tiles would be easily removed from the wood. It was not. It had basically melted and seeped into the floor so we have to lightly sand the floor and then refinish it. That was quite sad – but at least we have the original wood floor intact. JNLF