Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association Celebrates the 175th Anniversary of Maria Mitchell’s Comet Discovery

Erin Holdgate • September 15, 2022

Nantucket, MA – The Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) announces the upcoming 175th anniversary of Maria Mitchell’s discovery, a comet that was subsequently named C1847V1, on October 1. The MMA staff is marking this anniversary with a limited-edition baseball cap with the name of the comet, which will be available for purchase online, as well as a private party for donors and members at the Loines Observatory on the anniversary evening of Maria Mitchell’s discovery.

 

On the evening of October 1, 1847, Maria Mitchell (1818-1889) climbed to the rooftop of the Mitchell family home, then located at the Pacific Bank where her father, William Mitchell, was cashier. This was her nightly regimen, but it was not to be an ordinary night. On that cool evening, Maria swept her telescope across the sky and noticed something that did not belong. It was her comet. Confirmation from her father and then their friends, the Bonds at the Harvard College Observatory, led Maria to be awarded a gold medal from the King of Denmark for her discovery, setting her on a path that changed the trajectory of her life forever. From professor of astronomy at Vassar College, to lifelong friendships with the great scientists and thinkers of the nineteenth century, to a legacy that not just influenced the path for women, but for all of us in the sciences, even today.

 

Maria Mitchell was born to Quaker parents on Nantucket, on August 1, 1818. The Quaker tradition taught that both boys and girls should be educated and Maria received an education at local schools and from her father’s schools and at home. Her father was a great influence on her life; Maria developed her love of astronomy from his instruction on astronomy, mathematics, surveying, and navigation. At age 12, Maria helped her father to calculate the position of their home by observing a solar eclipse. By 14, ship captains trusted her to rate their ships’ chronometers for their long whaling voyages. Maria pursued her love of learning as a young woman, becoming the Nantucket Atheneum’s first librarian. She and her father continued to acquire astronomical equipment and conduct observations, working for the US Coast Survey among other entities.

 

“Maria Mitchell grew up in a unique community in which she witnessed women standing up and speaking in front of Quaker meeting, women making financial decisions for their families, and large numbers of women working outside their homes,” says MMA Deputy Director and Curator of the Mitchell House, Archives, and Special Collections, Jascin Leonardo Finger. “Witnessing this, and having the support of her Quaker parents, Maria Mitchell helped to forge a path for women in education and women in the sciences that not only influenced her generation and that of her students, but the generations that came afterwards including into the present day.”

 

The MMA was founded by some of Maria Mitchell’s former students, family members, and admirers in 1902. Today, the organization bearing her name strives to continue her legacy through preservation of her birthplace and papers, astronomical and natural science research, and interactive, hands-on educational programs for all ages.

 

Located on the island of Nantucket, Massachusetts, the MMA creates opportunities for all to develop a life-long passion for science through education, research, and first-hand exploration of the sky, land, and sea of Nantucket Island. It serves both visitors and seasonal and year-round residents. Now celebrating over a century of discovery, the MMA is dedicated to opening up the universe to curious minds, and allowing people to see what before was unseen.

 

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

September 15, 2022

Contact: Erin Holdgate, Marketing Director

eholdgate@mariamitchell.org

Recent Posts

Maria Mitchell In Her Own Words

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • July 6, 2026
July 15. {1863} My dear Sally . . . I think Mitchell is all right in his algebra. He can’t stand an examination in Trig but I don’t believe he will have a rigorous one. Father has seen the Prof. and will give him a letter to them.  If you can’t be honest with your sibling, who can you be honest with? Apparently, Sally Mitchell Barney’s son, William Mitchell Barney – known as Mitchell as his cousin William Mitchell Barney was known as Willie (how is that for honoring your father?!) – was visiting his aunt Maria and his grandfather, William Mitchell, at their home in Lynn, MA. Sally still lived on Nantucket and I suspect Mitchell was not only visiting but getting some much needed help with his mathematics by his aunt Maria. As always, she is brutally honest – he won’t pass a test in trigonometry (but, neither would I!). JNLF

Top O’ the Ridge!

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
Show More