Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association's Biggest Event of the Season: The Stargazer Gala

Kelly Bernatzky • May 28, 2021

Join the Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) on August 5, 2021 for its annual fundraiser, The Stargazer Gala. This not-to-be-missed event will be hosted at a private home on Hulbert Avenue with stunning views of the sunset over Nantucket Sound. The Stargazer Gala will include food by Island Kitchen, dancing to the music of The Sultans, an auction, fun games, and stargazing with the MMA’s Director of Astronomy, Dr. Regina Jorgenson. The event will be held outdoors under a tent. The 2021 Stargazer Gala Co-Chairs are Carolyn Holt and Cheryl Woodford.

 

All proceeds and donations from the Stargazer Gala will be used to continue the MMA’s mission and programs. The Gala is the MMA’s largest fundraiser of the year and is vital to supporting the Aquarium, Open Nights at the Observatory, the Science Speaker Series, the historic programs run through the Mitchell House, and the many activities that the MMA offers to island residents and visitors. 

 

Reimagined based on the MMA’s Red Tie Soirée summer fundraiser, The Stargazer Gala will be a fun night of live music, dancing, and good food. Tickets are $350 a person and are available online at mariamitchell.org or by calling the MMA at 508-228-9198. Host committee and sponsorship opportunities (individual and business) are available on the website. 


The MMA would like to thank its wonderful Gala Co-Chairs, Carolyn Holt and Cheryl Woodford, our Event Committee, and our generous Stargazer Gala sponsors and host committee for making this event possible. 


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.

For Immediate Release

May 28 2021

Contact: Kelly Bernatzky, MMA Development Associate

kbernatzky@mariamitchell.org

Recent Posts

Maria Mitchell In Her Own Words

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • May 4, 2026
May 6, 1878 Between the clouds, Miss Spalding obtained 7 photographs of Mercury on the Sun. It is comfort to me to be able to plan and do a new kind of work. The large telescope worked better than usual, Clark having just been to the Observatory. Clark, as in Alvan Clark, a man who would become the premier telescope maker in America and who built Maria Mitchell’s 5-inch Alvan Clark refractor that she purchased from him (after working with him to build it per her specifications) with money gifted to her from “The Women of America” led by Elizabeth Peabody. More than likely, it is this telescope she is referring to as she did use it in the Vassar College Observatory with her students – and it is also taking center stage in photographs, along with her (first her father’s) Dolland telescope.  Maria had decided she would photograph the Sun on every clear day, and this was one of those results. She would use these images, with her students, to study sun spots and their changes. With her students, Maria would photograph the transit of Mercury as noted above. She would also photograph the transit of Venus a few years later with her students. JNLF

Spring Has Sprung!

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • April 27, 2026
And with it, some of the heirloom daffodils I purchased for the Mitchell House last fall. A place was recommended to me by two longtime friends of the MMA and gardeners extraordinaire. It is called Old House Gardens. I ordered a small amount as we now have a plethora of voles on Vestal Street – I believe I complained about them here last year. They won’t eat daffodils so I got a few of “Butter and Eggs” (1777) and “Conspicuus” (1869) as either of these could have appeared in William Mitchell’s gardens. They were not listed in a letter from John Quincy Adams that I have mentioned before. But, Adams was not here visiting the Mitchell family when the daffodils would have been in bloom. The one pictured here is “Butter and Eggs” not completely unfurled. JNLF

Maria Mitchell In Her Own Words

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • April 13, 2026
April 1878. The conference of Woman’s Congress officers met in Washington. Because we had one member in Washington we were invited to meet in that place. I went on at a great expense of time, money and strength . . . . We were in session at least nine hours. I think that more than half of that was used by Mrs. Spencer and Mrs. Sayles. The only motion which I carried through was to pay the Secretary $200 . . . In 1878, that was a long train(s) ride to Washington, DC from Poughkeepsie, NY and Vassar College. If Maria seems perturbed, I am sure she was. As president of the Association for the Advancement of Women, and thus the Congress, she had to be at the meeting. But it appears she did not get much say in the nine hour meeting. This was also a long trip to take when she had another, even longer trip coming up in July of 1878. In that month, she would travel with students and her sister, Phebe, out west to Colorado to view the eclipse and that train and wagon ride I am sure was weighing on her mind – not just the physical trip but making her way for an important eclipse viewing event. JNLF
Show More