Maria Mitchell In Her Own Words

Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • February 23, 2015

Feb 4 {1871}


My dear Sally,

 

Anne Maria wants thee to give or lend her that cameo pin. She thinks that she would like to wear it. I have been to Phil{Adelphia} again, and to Baltimore and really enjoyed it. I found in Baltimore some very nice schools. I met the family of Ephraim Gardner at one of my lectures.


Of course I have made some money, but I have charged too little. So, now, just as I have no applications, I have raised my price. It is a very easy thing to do, as for an audience of 250 I do not need to raise my voice at all.


I feel very independent at Vassar because I find that even at the rate II have charged in lecturing, it pays better, a great deal than Vassar. Of course it is not a desirable business. I stood for the first time in Baltimore and found it just as easy.


Anne Maria (or Annie Maria as her family called her) was the only child of William Forster Mitchell and his wife Charlotte Dow Mitchell. She was, of course, named for two of her aunts. The cameo Maria refers to in this letter to her eldest sister is a cameo Maria acquired in Italy on her 1858 trip. She purchased it for her mother. This cameo has descended through the Mitchell family – Annie Maria’s line – and is still in the family. It was loaned to me for an exhibition I created on Maria and Nantucket women in 2007. Obviously, Sally did loan – or in this case did give –it to Annie Maria.

 

No matter where Maria went, she met someone from Nantucket – the same story continues today for Nantucketers – even halfway across the world. What I find interesting is her discussion of increasing her fees for lectures – Maria was never paid an equal amount to that of the male professors at Vassar during her tenure and it was a constant source of battles for her. But obviously, the lecture circuit helped to pay the bills.


JNLF

Recent Posts

PEACE

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • January 5, 2026
As Walt Whitman once wrote, “Peace is always beautiful.” Peace can mean many different things. I have used this Whitman quote above before – my Father loved Whitman. And when I quote Whitman, it makes me feel like my Father is here. Maria and her father, William, were close. In fact, even with a large family of twelve people, the Mitchells were all close. My family is close as well, though we have our moments as most, if not all, families do. As we bring to a close another difficult year in which the world and its people continue to struggle, take a moment to be thankful and to find and give peace. May you always find peace in yourself and peace with others. May our world become more peaceful and may we all learn that this small space we inhabit is shared and meant for everyone. In the echoes of one of my favorite Maria Mitchell quotes, your small step, your small gesture to another or towards helping something happen, can make a difference – more than you think. I’ll end with another quote – and a poem I have used the last few years – that is fitting and that also reminds me of another Whitman poem. JNLF In Memoriam, [Ring out, wild bells] Alfred, Lord Tennyson - 1809-1892  Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky, The flying cloud, the frosty light: The year is dying in the night; Ring out, wild bells, and let him die. Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow: The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true. Ring out the grief that saps the mind For those that here we see no more; Ring out the feud of rich and poor, Ring in redress to all mankind. Ring out a slowly dying cause, And ancient forms of party strife; Ring in the nobler modes of life, With sweeter manners, purer laws. Ring out the want, the care, the sin, The faithless coldness of the times; Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes But ring the fuller minstrel in. Ring out false pride in place and blood, The civic slander and the spite; Ring in the love of truth and right, Ring in the common love of good. Ring out old shapes of foul disease; Ring out the narrowing lust of gold; Ring out the thousand wars of old, Ring in the thousand years of peace. Ring in the valiant man and free, The larger heart, the kindlier hand; Ring out the darkness of the land, Ring in the Christ that is to be.

Keep Calm and Bird On: January 2026

January 1, 2026
“If you don’t look, you don’t see. You have to go and look.” -Edith Andrews

Maria Mitchell In Her Own Words

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • December 15, 2025
[1855] On the 12 th [December] at 8 o’clock, I found a comet in Cetus. It is probably that seen by Bruhns in Berlin on Nov. 12. It is round and bright and moved so rapidly that in an hour I was certain of its change of place. From 8 to 10 ½ it had moved about half the diameter of my field of view. I tho’t it varied in its light but of this I am not quite certain, as I at times changed from one instrument to another, and I cannot be certain that my eye was not somewhat affected by the size of different powers, so as to affect my judgement. I would give a good deal for it to be my own possession, because it would convince me that I was not declining in vigor.  This comet, unlike her won comet of October 1, 1847, is fairly fast moving – it would take many calculations and much time for her comet to illustrate its movement – beyond just the appearance of its “tail.” Maria had made earlier comments in the month about if being a hard year – the hardest of her life. The loss of friends, her mother’s illness. But this, with other matters, buoyed her spirit and she talked about her “blessings.” This comet was one seen by Maria only eight years after her comet discovery so it seems interesting that she feels she is slipping and not as “vigorous” – she is only thirty-seven years old at this date. JNLF
Show More