Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association Summer 2023 Programs and Events are Live for Registration

June 14, 2023

NANTUCKET, MA—The Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association (MMA), your portal to Nantucket’s natural world, announced its schedule for another summer full of science education, research, and exploration of the sky, land, and sea of Nantucket Island through its award-winning Discovery Camp, robust summer programs, events, and the reopening of its properties.

 

On Monday, June 12, 2023, the MMA will reopen its Aquarium (28 Washington Street), Hinchman House Natural Science Museum (7 Milk Street), and Historic Mitchell House (1 Vestal Street). These properties will be open Monday-Friday from 10AM-4PM and Saturdays from 10AM-1PM. Tours (self-guided, except at the Mitchell House where visitors take guided tours) are available on a rolling basis throughout the day and do not require a reservation. An all-MMA properties pass ($22 Adult, $12 Children) provides admission to each property and can be purchased in-person upon entering the properties. A single entry to the Historic Mitchell House is available for $10 Adult, $8 Children. In addition to entry at the three properties, the property pass provides admission to a Stargazing Open Night, which must be registered for in advance online. Admission to all MMA properties is free for MMA Members.

 

Stargazing Open Nights at Loines Observatory (59 Milk Street Ext.) will begin on Monday, June 12and are offered on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays at 9PM and 9:45PM and the admissions is part of the MMA site pass ($22 Adult, $12 Children, free for Members, and free for those already holding an all-MMA properties pass). You must register for Open Nights in advance online at: www.mariamitchell.org/calendar for these 45-minute Observatory programs. The MMA Astronomy staff will lead constellation tours and guide visitors through viewing stations inside and outside the observatory domes. Participants will have a chance to view astronomical objects through our historic 8-inch Alvan Clark refractor and our modern 24-inch research telescope. Get a chance to view the Moon, planets, star clusters, nebulae, and even other galaxies!

 

Summer 2023 Program offerings, across our sites, include: Maria Mitchell and the Daring Daughters of Nantucket, Four Centuries Domestic Tour, Family Sailor’s Valentines, Preserving Monuments of our Ancestors, Oika for Earthlings, Ravenous Reptiles, Nature Story Hour, Bug Bonanza, Saturday Science, Feeding Frenzy, Beach Biology Field Trip, Marine Ecology Field Trip, Night Marine Ecology Field Trip, Marine Story Hour, Owl Prowl, Nantucket Bird Walk, Earth Story Walk, Full Moon Walk, Nature Based Meditation, Sunrise Beach Meditation, Sunrise Yoga Flow and others. These programs will be offered throughout the summer and are now open for registration. New program offerings this year include Oika for Artists, Big History/James Webb Space Telescope, Full Moon Walk, Nature Based Meditation, Sunrise Beach Meditation, Sunrise Yoga Flow, and our Free community Birding with Ginger Andrews. For the full schedule of programs and registration information, please visit www.mariamitchell.org/calendar

 

Other events and program offerings this year include the Maria Mitchell Birthday Party Open House on August 1, Astrophotography with Charity Grace Mofsen, the Horseshoe Crab Solstice Walk, Horseshoe Crab Community Science Surveys, Green Crab Surveys, the Celestial Stakeout at Loines Observatory, Green Crab Week’s Green Crab Derby, and our complete Artist-In-Residence program with individual special workshops and events.

 

Our informative and popular Science Speaker Series, a complimentary bi-monthly lecture series, will continue throughout the summer from 7-8PM and will be presented via Zoom. The summer lineup will feature over a dozen scientists from Nantucket and beyond. A special thank you to our lead sponsor Bank of America, in addition to the White Elephant Hotels and Resorts and Cisco Brewers of Nantucket who also make this program accessible to all.

 

The MMA’s award-winning Discovery Camp kicks off on June 20th. Offered weekly for children ages 5-16, this summer there are ten weeks of our popular camps such as “Animal Signs & Senses,” “Amazing Adaptations,” “Coastal Resiliency and Nantucket Ecology,” “Cosmic & Climate Connections,” “Junior Historians - A walk through Nantucket,” and, “Junior Astronomers – Reaches of the Universe.” Visit https://www.mariamitchell.org/camp-programs to check availability and to register.

 

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 female 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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For Immediate Release

June 6, 2023

Contact: Jonelle Gurley,

jgurley@mariamitchell.org

Recent Posts

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

A Swatch of Fabric

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • December 9, 2025
Another re-blog. I came across this recently while looking through my computer files. I want to re-blog it in memory of Jean Hughes, an incredibly gifted islander, who was directly influential in the lives of so many island children and those in need. She was the Coffin School Trustee’s President for many years and I had the honor to serve as a trustee under her. She passed away in the summer of 2025. Jeanie loaned me this from her family collections as she thought I would enjoy it. She knew me better than I thought she did. With love. 1830s Chinese silk to be exact. It literally floated into my lap as I sat reading a letter.  A letter from a young Nantucket girl to her grandparents. A young girl who just several years before had moved from tiny Nantucket Island to San Francisco with her mother to join her father. He had moved for better work and a better life. Nantucket was in an economic decline. Reading this treasure trove of letters – loaned to me by a friend who is a descendant of these people I mention – was like spying on them. Now, when I read Mitchell family letters and writing it is slightly different for me. Having worked in the Mitchell House for so long, I feel like they are a part of my family. This batch of letters was different however. I felt like they know I read their letters – as if they were looking over my shoulder or sitting on the other side of the room aghast. I felt like they thought no one ever would – or at the very least an outsider – read this correspondence. The worse letter one was the son writing to his mother upon receipt of her letter telling him of his father’s death. That was hard. Made harder because he thought his father was fine – he was as of the last letter a month or two before. Made harder as I lost my own Father a little over a year ago. I knew how he felt – but cannot imagine receiving a letter that is about a month old telling one of such horrible news. He had not seen his father in several years. I could speak to my Father, visited him monthly, and was there with him. That was not an easy letter to read. The silk fabric piece is quite beautiful – and still pristine – as if it was just folded into the letter yesterday. She wanted to share with her grandparents the dress that her cousin had brought to her directly from Hong Kong. A cousin, who was likely pregnant – or “sick” as was written but it was obvious what “sick” meant (yes, pregnancy was looked at as an illness in a way – and there were high rates of infant and mother mortality during and immediately following birth). The cousin had travelled back and forth to Hong Kong on the China Trade with her husband it seems but due to the pregnancy had to be put off with family or others until the baby was born. This was a common practice for the wives of whale captains who might go to sea with their husbands. They were put off with other whaling families or missionaries in far off ports so that they could have their baby where others could help. Sometimes they were put off months in advance. And, did you know that Nantucket whale wives were the FIRST to go to sea with their captains husbands? They set the trend – after all, we were the whaling capital of the world. At least, until we lost that title for multiple reasons. I digress. The other piece that leads one to realize that money was to be had – at least for the cousin – is that she didn’t bring fabric – she brought the dress already made in Hong Kong. Yes, it would have been less costly there than in the United States but it shows there was extra money for spending. And, there was enough excess fabric inside the dress for this young girl to cut off a piece of it and send it to her grandparents. Making them feel as if they were a part of her daily life – and making her feel that way too. So far from home. On the other side of the continent with Nantucket Sound in the midst, to boot. JNLF

Keep Calm and Bird On: December 2025

December 1, 2025
“If you don’t look, you don’t see. You have to go and look.” -Edith Andrews
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