Our First Astronomer’s Family

Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • June 15, 2015

In mid-May, the great nephew and great-niece of our first MMA Astronomer and Director of the Observatory, Margaret Harwood, came to Nantucket for a visit. They had not been here since she was our astronomer and then they were young teenagers. I gave them a tour of the Observatory and chatted with them about what I knew of Miss Harwood – known as Marnie to her family and close friends – and they regaled me with some stories of their own. It was a nice visit and it was amazing to see just how strong genes are – Miss Harwood’s nephew looks just like her! At the end of his visit, Miss Harwood’s nephew pulled an envelope from his pocket and presented to me a sterling silver bracelet that belonged to her and which will now become a part of the MMA collection. I suspect it was given to her upon her retirement – I need to go back and look in the annual reports to see. Engraved on the small plate is: M. Harwood/ Observatory/ Nantucket, Mass. Coupled with her Radcliffe Graduate Chapter Medal and all her papers, astronomical glass plates, and other pieces, this makes a wonderful collection to better represent Miss Harwood, her time at MMA, and all she did fir this organization and Nantucket. Thank you to her nephew and niece!


JNLF

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