Maria Mitchell In Her Own Words
Maria Mitchell, ca. 1865
May 7 {1858}. I think I am not well because I perceived myself to be spiteful and cross and do not rejoice in the good fortune of others. I hope I may not become envious as I become old; and envious old maid is more than an old maid simply . . . .
In May of 1858, Maria Mitchell was close to completing her year abroad in Europe. She would arrive back home on Nantucket in June 1858 to a mixture of emotions – joy for being back with her family but likely sadness that her time of travel had come to an end and she was returning to a bit of unknown. Her position at the Nantucket Atheneum she had resigned a year or so before her trip – in large part to care for her ailing mother. She returned to her work for the Nautical Almanac and caring for her mother, living at the family home above the Pacific Bank.
JNLF
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