Science Library Update

Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • February 1, 2016

Things are continuing to move along for the soon to be MMA Research Center formerly the Science Library. We have our demo permit from the Town but we are not really demolishing anything. We needed this permit in order to take down the circa 1992 plywood walls in the basement and the old ceiling tile system in the basement that covered the framing and joists. Now, you can see the wonderful nineteenth century framing and joist system! This is thanks to the hard work of carpenter Matt Anderson and his assistant Amos.


You may or not be familiar with the fact that the MMA’s administrative offices were once housed in the basement of the Library. When the old ca. 1950s Terrace Cottage was removed and the new Drake Cottage built, the administrative offices moved above ground, relocating to Drake.


On the back of one of the plywood boards that was removed, we found the note you see in one of the images by island carpenter, Paul Michetti, who noted the date and the weather when he installed the wall that helped to create two small office spaces in the basement of the Library. This is something that many island builders and carpenters just don’t do anymore. We did this at Mitchell House when we sistered in a small piece to the sill – noting the date and who was there. It’s a tradition – and also shows the next people to come along what was done and when and by whom.


Another thing you don’t see much at all anymore here on island is the gift to the tree gods and Mother Earth. When I was a child, once a house was framed and sheathed in plywood, the carpenters wood cut a live branch or very small tree and attach it for a time to the highest gable end of the building – acknowledging and thanking Mother Earth and the tree gods for supplying the wood that is building the house. I would assume it also acted as a blessing. Now everyone throws houses up so quickly that the time and love and respect for where that wood came from seems to be lost. I am happy to note that someone recently acknowledged the tree gods and Mother Earth at the barn-like structure that is going up on Prospect Street. I would like to see people make a return to this – expressing their gratitude.


Much of this plywood I mentioned above, and even the door, will be re-used for the work we are doing. This basement area will be collections storage – as it has been to some extent all these years – even with the administrative offices once sharing the space.


JNLF

Recent Posts

Maria Mitchell In Her Own Words

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • August 18, 2025
August 17{1857} Today we have been to the far-famed British museum. I carried as “open sesame” a paper given to me by Prof. Henry asking for me special attention from all societies with which the Smithsonian {is} connected . . . . The art of printing has brought us incalculable blessings, but as I looked at a neat manuscript book by Queen Elizabeth copied from another, as a present to her Father I could not help thinking that it was better than worsted work! On August 2, 1857, Maria Mitchell and the young woman she was accompanying as a chaperone, Prudence Smith, arrived in Liverpool England for their European tour. Maria Mitchell’s “open sesame” was a letter of introduction – she went with several. She would find that the doors were thrown open for America’s first woman astronomer – she was that well known in America and abroad. She would become quite close to Sir George Airy, the British Astronomer Royal, and his wife Richarda, as well as the astronomical Herschel family. JNLF

Maria Mitchell Vestal Street Observatory: Conserved, Refreshed, and Renewed

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • August 11, 2025
After many years on the making, we are happy to officially announce the re-opening of the Maria Mitchell Vestal Street Observatory – also fondly referred to as the MMO. As you may have seen on the Maria Mitchell’s Attic bog, this has truly been more than a multi-year labor of love. Way back in 2016, we began the first steps with a structural assessment by structural engineer, John Wathne of Structures-North. That, coupled with an earlier Conservation Assessment Program grant from Heritage Preservation and supported by the Institute for Museum and Library Services that allowed the MMA to hire architectural conservator, Michael Devonshire, began us on our path to conserve the historic MMO. Grants from the Community Preservation Act and the M. S. Worthington Foundation supported the conservation work on the 1908 Observatory and its 1922 Astronomical Study. Masonry and grout were repaired, rusted iron lintels over windows and doors were replaced with steel and work was completed to the “parapets.” This sounds simple – it was not – it was a multi- year project to work with the masonry and to create a matching grout. Wayne Morris, the mason, became a fixture on Vestal Street again – as he did all the masonry conservation and work on the exterior of the Research Center. Once the MMO’s exterior was weather tight and the interior masonry work completed, the rest of the crew moved in to conserve the plaster, re-paint, and conserve the original 1922 bookcases and woodwork in the Study. Paint was removed from the dome bringing it back to its original glory. Cement floors were cleaned and treated and electrical wiring was updated and new lighting put in the Study. A major renovation was also conducted concerning the “Seminar Room” – a 1987 addition to the west of the MMO – which was completed in 2024. This was funded in large part by Mitchell family descendant and former (now honorary) MMA Board Member, Richard Wolfe. New office spaces were created for astronomy staff, updates were made to the astronomy intern workspace and meeting space, and a new accessible bathroom was completed. We also owe a huge debt of gratitude to two other board members in this work, particularly with the Seminar Room – Elizabeth Markel and John Wise. We would like to thank everyone for their roles in making this long journey a success and for doing all of this important work. Thank you does not express it well enough – they have truly all been heroes of the MMO. We are beyond grateful. THANK YOU and WOW it all looks incredible! Wayne Morris, Mason John Wathne, Structures-North Consulting Engineers Wise Construction – John Wise, Pat Marks, “Chip” and Crew Elizabeth Markel, Elizabeth Markel Interiors Ellis and Schneider Electrical Benjamin Normand, Normand Residential Design W. B. Marden Plumbing, Robert and henry Butler, Mike Gillies, and Derek Kevin Wiggin and Crew, KW HVAC INC Pen Austin, plasterer Evita Caune, Riptide Finishes Brian Connor and Crew, Brian Connor Electric Inc. Adam Zanelli and Crew, Nantucket Heritage Painting Michael Devonshire James Lydon and Sons and Daughter Michael Stefanski, Seed to Stone Landscaping Matthew Anderson and Maxx Ray Michael Gault Pioneer Cleaning Brook Meerbergen, M.A. Supply / Green Mountain Window Co. Nantucket Networks Polygon Group JNLF

Glass Plate Photographic Collection

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • August 4, 2025
With the help of Edward Pickering from Harvard, the MMA was able to develop a research program and realized that a photographic telescope would be necessary. Funds were raised and by November 1913, a 7.5-inch photographic telescope was installed. Using Maria Mitchell’s 5-inch Alvan Clark telescope as a guide for the larger photographic telescope, the photographic telescope had a lens from Thomas Cooke and Sons of York, England and a cast-iron pier, mount, and clockwork by Alvan Clark & Sons in Cambridge, MA. The pier, mount, and clockwork are still present in the MMO – the pier and mount still utilized but by a 17-inch research telescope purchased with a grant from the National Science Foundation. The glass plates taken of the night sky at the MMO total more than 8,000 and they are still utilized for research. They capture a moment in the night sky that can never be captured again – just like a regular photograph. In order to capture the image of the night sky, exposures could last for as long as three hours or more. Glass plates were heavily used for researching variable stars. They also afforded opportunities for new discoveries that could go unnoticed when one looked through a telescope by eye. Glass plates are gelatin-coated dry plate negatives that first came into use in the 1870s. They were utilized well into the late twentieth century particularly because they did not shrink or deform like plastic film. At the MMA, we continued to take glass plates of the night sky until 1995 when we had the opportunity and funding to update to a CCD camera – charge-coupled devices. While the CCDs provided many improvements, they still did not have the detecting area and resolution of glass plates. Technology continues to evolve, and the MMA with it, as we work with new methods to capture the night sky photographically. JNLF
Show More