Project Gutenberg
@gutenberg_org@mastodon.social  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

Maria Mitchell: America’s First Woman Astronomer and Mentor to Women in Science

As Vassar College’s first astronomy professor, Maria Mitchell advanced opportunities for women in science and mentored a generation of students using one of the country’s finest observatories.

By Deb Warner

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/smithsonian-american-womens-history-museum/2025/08/08/maria-mitchell-americas-first-woman-astronomer-and-mentor-to-women-in-science/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial&lctg=93133550

Maria Mitchell at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/3377

#Astronomy#womenInStem

Postcard showing a woman sitting on the observing chair in front of a large refracting telescope. The accompanying text reads, “Prof. Maria Mitchell in the Observatory at Vassar College. June 1878.” The back is divided, with space for the address on the right and space for a message on the left. It is marked “Printed in Germany for Henry S. Wyer, Nantucket, Mass., U.S.A. No. 582” and indicates that a 1¢ stamp is required for domestic use and a 2¢ stamp for foreign use. Maria Mitchell (1818-1889) was America’s first woman astronomer, America’s first woman scientist of note, and the first professor of astronomy at Vassar College. Henry Sherman Wyer (1847-1920) was a photographer from Nantucket who published many of the earliest postcards of that island community. He was also active in the Nantucket Historical Society and the Maria Mitchell Association. While the photograph on this postcard was taken in 1878, the postcard was published between March 1, 1907, (when postcards with a divided back were first permitted in the U.S.) and 1917 (when the domestic postage for a postcard was raised to 2¢). https://www.si.edu/object/postcard:nmah_1372087
Postcard showing a woman sitting on the observing chair in front of a large refracting telescope. The accompanying text reads, “Prof. Maria Mitchell in the Observatory at Vassar College. June 1878.” The back is divided, with space for the address on the right and space for a message on the left. It is marked “Printed in Germany for Henry S. Wyer, Nantucket, Mass., U.S.A. No. 582” and indicates that a 1¢ stamp is required for domestic use and a 2¢ stamp for foreign use. Maria Mitchell (1818-1889) was America’s first woman astronomer, America’s first woman scientist of note, and the first professor of astronomy at Vassar College. Henry Sherman Wyer (1847-1920) was a photographer from Nantucket who published many of the earliest postcards of that island community. He was also active in the Nantucket Historical Society and the Maria Mitchell Association. While the photograph on this postcard was taken in 1878, the postcard was published between March 1, 1907, (when postcards with a divided back were first permitted in the U.S.) and 1917 (when the domestic postage for a postcard was raised to 2¢). https://www.si.edu/object/postcard:nmah_1372087
Postcard showing a woman sitting on the observing chair in front of a large refracting telescope. The accompanying text reads, “Prof. Maria Mitchell in the Observatory at Vassar College. June 1878.” The back is divided, with space for the address on the right and space for a message on the left. It is marked “Printed in Germany for Henry S. Wyer, Nantucket, Mass., U.S.A. No. 582” and indicates that a 1¢ stamp is required for domestic use and a 2¢ stamp for foreign use. Maria Mitchell (1818-1889) was America’s first woman astronomer, America’s first woman scientist of note, and the first professor of astronomy at Vassar College. Henry Sherman Wyer (1847-1920) was a photographer from Nantucket who published many of the earliest postcards of that island community. He was also active in the Nantucket Historical Society and the Maria Mitchell Association. While the photograph on this postcard was taken in 1878, the postcard was published between March 1, 1907, (when postcards with a divided back were first permitted in the U.S.) and 1917 (when the domestic postage for a postcard was raised to 2¢). https://www.si.edu/object/postcard:nmah_1372087