LETTER: Autograph letter signed, "Maria Mitchell," to "Mr. Bowditch," sent from Vassar.
Mitchell, Maria. Autograph letter signed, to Mr. Bowditch, May 21, 1869; one leaf; discussing an article on eclipses.
Mitchell, the first American female astronomer, writes to the son of mathematician Nathaniel Bowditch, soliciting information. She writes, “My dear Mr. Bowditch, I am getting up an article on eclipses for the information of my students. I have looked in vain, among my books, for some article on the eclipse of 1806. Is there not a paper somewhere written by your father [i.e., Nathaniel Bowditch]? Can you give or lend me a copy?”
Maria Mitchell (1818-1889) was the first woman in America to earn a living as an astronomer. In 1847, she discovered a comet and was awarded a gold medal by the King of Denmark; the following year she was admitted to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She became the first person appointed to the astronomy faculty of Vassar College in 1865, and ran the observatory there.
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