Maria Mitchell Vestal Street Observatory

Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • May 1, 2023

Well, now that you know that the large portion of the exterior has largely been conserved, I wanted to share an image of the historic interior of the MMO’s Astronomical Study. This was added in 1922 and was named by the MMA’s Board of Managers in memory of Eliza R. Mitchell. Mitchell served as the treasurer of the MMA from 1905-1918. The tall sum of $5,000 was given by the Hinchman family (Peleg Mitchell Jr’s descendants) and $1,500 more was raised by the MMA.


The Astronomical Study as it was, and still is referred to, was added to provide a warm working space and storage for the glass plates, which Margaret Harwood, was creating of the night skies. The MMO – the dome part – was unheated and Miss Harwood’s growing collection of plates needed a warmer climate for storage. And thus, the Study was built.


In the image, you can see not much has changed as far as the look of the space. The original woodwork workspaces still exist and there were multiple places for people to work on a myriad of projects. We still have those glass plate wood cases – they’re beautiful – and even the image of the Moon (with Maria Mitchell’s crater), the globe, the larger desk, even the light on the desk and the glass plate holder you see in the right foreground – a wood frame attached on the desk for looking at glass plates with a light behind it!


We will soon be applying for grants to remove the carpets and tile and reveal the original wood floor beneath, conserve the cases, desks and woodwork with its lovely 100+ year old varnish, and more. So stay tuned!


JNLF

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As we are now complete with the conservation of the historic Maria Mitchell Vestal Street Observatory (MMO), I thought it would be good to post a series of blogs concerning it history and activities, as well as some of the amazing people who have made it what it is over the last 100 plus years. Therefore, over the next few weeks, the focus will be on the MMO. And it is now open for tours – Monday through Saturday 11-1PM. Founded in 1902, the Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) had its beginnings in the Mitchell House where Maria Mitchell was born. Over the first few years, the preservation of the Mitchell House, family artifacts, and the collection and display of Nantucket’s native flora and fauna, as well as a small library, were the key components of the MMA. Special “Moon Evenings” were held on the lawn and people observed Nantucket’s night skies using several small telescopes, including William and Maria Mitchell’s two-and-three-quarter-inch Dollond telescope. The popular evenings led to the inevitable – a desire and need to expand based on the demands of the visitors to, and members of, the MMA. In 1906, Lydia Hinchman, a founder of the MMA and a family member, purchased the house and lot adjacent to the Mitchell House. The house – once the home of William Mitchell’s father and mother – was taken down. The MMA began a dialogue with the Harvard College Observatory and its director, Edward Pickering, Ph.D. The connection to Harvard was to become essential to the success of the beginning years of the Maria Mitchell Observatory and continued a legacy of friendship and work – Maria Mitchell and her father worked with the Bonds who once ran the observatory at Harvard and the families were close friends. Besides his assistance, Pickering asked a member of his staff, Annie Jump Cannon, to assist the MMA. This “provided an indispensable collaboration for Nantucket astronomy,” with Cannon spending two weeks on the island in 1906 and 1907 lecturing and teaching. While back at Harvard, she continued to teach the students on Nantucket by mail. Cannon would go on to be recognized as the leading woman astronomer of her generation and as the founder of the MMA’s Astronomy Department. JNLF
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