In Celebration of Black History Month

Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • February 18, 2015

The steamship ISLAND HOME. Photograph courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association.

Frankly, every month (read day) should be Black History Month and every month (read day, again) should be Women’s History Month. In my travels through island history, and particularly island women’s history, I have never ceased to be amazed by the remarkable people who have called Nantucket home. Maria Mitchell would want you to know about each and every person – likely saying they did more than she. One woman who has fallen through the cracks is Hannah Cook Boston. Many are familiar with the name Absalom Boston. Among many of Boston’s accomplishments, he was the well-known black captain of the all-black-crewed whaleship Industry, as well as a successful businessman, abolitionist, and one of the founders of the African Meetinghouse and School. Twice widowed, Boston married Hannah Cook in 1827 a woman with whom I would like you to be familiar. Born in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, in 1795, Hannah Cook Boston instantly became a mother to Absalom’s three children. Hannah was an equal partner in her marriage, just as all Nantucket women were. She became the mother of five children, helped with the creation and running of the African Meetinghouse, and supported her husband in his work with desegregation of the island schools. When Absalom died in 1855, he left Hannah a sizable estate. However, over a short time, the estate dwindled to almost nothing because of the economic downturn on the island due to many things, including the Great Fire of 1846, the demise of whaling, and the Gold Rush, which lured so many away from Nantucket.

Faced with having to find a means to support herself, Hannah looked for work outside the home. Unlike many other black island women however, Hannah did not become a domestic servant. Instead, she went to sea – following in the footsteps of her own family and her husband – by becoming the stewardess on the steamship Island Home, the first female steamship stewardess in fact. She was not serving a family, but working for the Nantucket Steamboat Company – taking care of its female passengers in the Ladies Cabin. Hannah passed away in 1857 after only a short time serving on board the steamer, but her taking this position encouraged other island women to follow suit, for several others were later employed as stewardesses on Nantucket steamships.


Now here is another thing, Maria Mitchell traveled on board the Island Home in 1857. She likely knew Hannah already but even more exciting to me is that Hannah likely was the stewardess during Maria Mitchell’s trip – the beginning of Maria’s trip to the southern United States and later Europe as a young lady’s chaperone. Now, how interesting is that?!


JNLF

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Nantucket Sorosis

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • February 9, 2026
On August 6, 1872, the first meeting of the Nantucket Sorosis Club took place at the home of Sarah Cathcart on Main Street. Originally founded in New York in 1868, several of its founding members were Nantucket women such as Maria Mitchell and Reverend Phebe Coffin Hanaford, and the club appropriately found its way to Nantucket where Hanaford first publicly announced its inaugural meeting from the pulpit of the Unitarian Church. Its purpose: the “intellectual improvement of its members, by means of written essays, select readings, recitations and discussions upon the current questions of the day.” It was Hanaford and Nantucket summer resident Rebecca Morse – members of the New York Sorosis – who developed the idea of founding a Nantucket Sorosis. Like the sewing circles founded earlier in the nineteenth century, the development of a Sorosis on Nantucket may have been in part to aid women not only during a period of economic decline on the island, but to help those women who found that they were now losing their jobs as whalemen returned to the island for good and tried to “reclaim” the jobs of men. It was also a logical club to have for women on the island – given the history of their playing such an integral role in all aspects of island life. Two other island women involved with the Nantucket Sorosis Club were Eliza Starbuck Barney and the Reverend Louise S. Baker. The main Sorosis club came about as a reaction by female journalists barred from attending and reporting on Charles Dickens’ first public lecture in the United States in New York City. They quickly came together to created forms of support for one another in their field, expanding to include women working in a variety of other fields – science among them. Thus, Maria Mitchell was one of the founding members when the first official meeting was held at Delmonico’s in NYC. With a thirteen-article constitution, the Nantucket Sorosis had a board of directors with officers being elected annually. The club hosted lecturers and orators, discussed social and political issues – particularly those of woman suffrage – and also discussed art, literature, travel, and current events. The Nantucket Sorosis lasted approximately thirty years. Little is known about who was involved outside of key players and when exactly the group folded and why, but the last printed material that can be located dates to 1903, and by that time most of the Nantucket Sorosis members were in their seventies and eighties. JNLF

Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association NSF-REU Interns Attend 247th American Astronomical Society Meeting

February 5, 2026
NANTUCKET, MA—On the occasion of the 247th American Astronomical Society (AAS) Meeting, and the 179th anniversary year of the discovery of Maria Mitchell’s Comet, the 2025 astronomy interns from the Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association (MMA), journeyed to Phoenix, AZ, to represent the MMA and present their research. Building on the legacy of Maria Mitchell, the first female American astronomer, the MMA offers STEM research and education opportunities to interns from across the country via their paid internship programs. The MMA’s Maria Mitchell Observatory has operated a National Science Foundation funded Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program for decades. The REU is funded by a generous grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) which allows the MMA to bring six undergraduate students to Nantucket each summer. These talented and promising students are selected out of a pool of hundreds of applicants from across the United States. From January 4 – 8, 2026, the MMA’s most recent NSF-REU students presented their work at the winter AAS meeting on subjects ranging from the characteristics of dust around and between stars, to various aspects of supernova explosions. MMA Director of Astronomy, Dr. Jackie Milingo, attended the conference and presented each student with a bound volume of their collected research papers. “The MMA’s long-standing REU program has nurtured hundreds of budding scientists over many decades. It’s always inspiring to see these students shine and make the most of this extraordinary opportunity. We’re a small program with an outsized effect on not only these students, but the future of the scientific community.” The 2025 REU students and their respective presentations are listed below. The common theme of their research was dust. This dust is made of familiar elements like carbon, oxygen, silicon and iron is similar to grains of sand or ash. Even though these dust grains are a small part of our Galaxy, they are very important because they can block the light coming from everything astronomers study. Understanding this dust helps us to understand how it is formed and how it affects the light that must travel vast distances across our Milky Way to get to our telescopes. This past summer’s NSF-REU interns and their research presentations which they presented at the AAS are: Madison Gerard (University of Texas at Austin) : SN 2024abfl: An Absolutely Flat and Low-Luminosity Interacting Type II Supernova Kaylee Perez (Texas State University) : Exploring the Link Between Dust Extinction and Attenuation with Simulated Data LaurenBarkey (CaliforniaPoly Pomona) : Peek-a-Boo: Exploring the NEOWISE Lightcurves of RCoronae Borealis Stars Aiden Agostinelli (University of Montana) and Ben Radmore (University of Michigan) : When the Dust Settles: Late-Time MIRI Imaging of SN 2011ja Image: 2025 NSF-REU Interns, Madison Gerard, Lauren Barkey, Benjamin Radmore, Aidan Agostinelli, and Kaylee Perez with MMA Director of Astronomy, Dr. Jackie Milingo.  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 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. ###

Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association Welcomes Susan Vizurraga for February Science Speaker Series

February 4, 2026
NANTUCKET, MA— The Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) welcomes Susan Vizurraga for a discussion of her book Williamina Fleming, Astronomer, an imagined memoir. As one of the Harvard College Observatory’s (HCO) women computers Williamina Fleming led a fascinating life. She was, an immigrant, a working mother, and an astronomer and her story will be brought to light in this engaging presentation on the remarkable legacy of a woman who helped transform modern astronomy from behind the scenes. Through Fleming’s own imagined voice, Vizurraga explores Williamina’s journey from domestic servant to internationally respected scientist, her pivotal role in classifying stellar spectra, and her quiet perseverance in a male-dominated field. This talk celebrates Williamina Fleming not only for her scientific achievements, but also for her resilience, curiosity, and lasting impact on how we understand the stars. This free event will be held via Zoom on Wednesday, February 18, from 7–8 pm. Susan Vizurraga is the author of the historical fiction novel-in-verse Williamina Fleming, Astronomer, an imagined memoir based on the life of the real-life Scottish immigrant who began work as a maid, joined the HCO as one of many women computers, and became the discoverer and curator of stars. A former middle school teacher and university instructor, Vizurraga is the author of the picture books Our Old House (a Junior Library Guild Selection) and Miss Opal’s Auction (a multi-generational selection of the National Council for the Social Studies). She is a volunteer docent at the Georgia Museum of Art and a poll worker with her local elections board. She lives in rural southern Oconee County, Georgia. This event will be held via Zoom. Pre-registration is required. To register for the free, virtual event, use the registration link: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_SVlPAu9ITmmQll_E9aU3aw#/registration The Science Speaker Series is generously sponsored by the Maria Mitchell Association’s lead sponsor, Bank of America. 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 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. ###
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