Hot Off the Press: The Daring Daughters of Nantucket Island

Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • January 21, 2015

Image courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association.

Well, I finally did it. After many, many requests and at the urging of many, I published a small book. It took me a little longer than I hoped but I have managed to take my master’s thesis and put it into something I hope will start a better conversation concerning Nantucket women and give them more credit than, “they had to do it.” As the curator of the Mitchell House, Archives and Special Collections, it’s pretty obvious what I am up to my ears in besides historic preservation, collections care, and outreach; I also eat, sleep, and breathe Nantucket history – women, Quakers, architecture, the history of the MMA, you name it, I am constantly reading, researching, and learning about it. Do I know everything? No – I learn something new every single day. But, in my travels with Nantucket women – thus far – I have come to some new conclusions and this became the basis of my master’s thesis and thus this small book I have created. I feel that I am bringing something new to the table and I hope this helps to open the discussion. I have a lot more research and writing to do – I have only barely scratched the surface here – but I felt it was time to get that conversation going.

 

Books are available at several places on island, including at the MMA Gift Shops, and by contacting me. A portion of the proceeds will go to a restricted fund for the Mitchell House for conservation proposes.


JNLF

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Margaret Harwood

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • July 21, 2025
The MMA found its first astronomer in Margaret Harwood, a 1907 Radcliffe graduate who worked in the Harvard Observatory. Her fellowship began in 1912 and over the first year, she researched, continued to conduct public lectures and open nights, and worked with students of all ages – including those in the public schools. She returned to Cambridge for the winter months where she continued to work at the Observatory. In 1915, she took her leave as was authorized by the fellowship and acquired her master’s degree in astronomy at Berkeley. She returned to Nantucket in 1916, accepting the position of Director of the Observatory. This made Harwood the first woman to head a small private observatory in the United States. Harwood continued her research, with a focus on variable asteroids, published results of her work in numerous publications, and continued to lecture and host open nights. She had assistance from others, including island carpenter and school teacher, Alvin E. Paddock. Harwood became a “first –class celestial photographer . . . accumulating a valuable set of Nantucket photographic plates of variable stars . . .” which are still part of the MMA collection and were the first in the world to be completely digitized. Over the course of her tenure, more than 3,600 plates of the night sky were taken – more than 2,100 by Harwood herself. In the 1950s, Harwood was the first woman to gain access to the Mount Wilson Observatory then the world’s leading observatory, where she was able to use the photographic instruments to further her research. Harwood is seen in the photograph here as she looks for Venus during midday in the MMO using the Cooke-Clark telescope, guided by Maria Mitchell’s own Alvan Clark. JNLF

Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association Welcomes Kike Calvo as Featured July Presenter.

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