University of Pennsylvania. Flower and Cook Observatory.
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In 1897, the University of Pennsylvania formally dedicated its observatory on a 100-acre farm bequeathed by Mr. Reese Wall Flower, whose great uncle, George Graham, had been an astronomer in London. The initial establishment consisted of three buildings on the Flower farm in Upper Darby and was equipped with an 18" aperture Warner and Swasey refractor. One of the three buildings, devoted to precise positioning and time observations of stars, also contained several astronomical clocks, a prism transit, a meridian circle and later, also a zenith telescope.
Meanwhile, Gustavus Wynne Cook, an avid amateur astronomer and wealthy Philadelphia businessman, established an observatory in his own home. When he moved to an estate in Wynnewood during the depression, he constructed two buildings to accommodate his hobby. Equipped with a 28.5" reflector (J.W. Fecker Company), a unique 15" siderostat refractor, and a wide assortment of camera and telescopes, his installation became one of the best equipped amateur observatories in the world. When Mr. Cook died in 1940, he left all his astronomical instruments to the University of Pennsylvania.
In the late 1940s, Charles P. Olivier, then Chairman of the Astronomy Department and Director of the Flower Observatory, urged the University administration to purchase a plot of land in Willistown Township, Chester County, bounded by Providence Road and Warren Avenue. The Flower Observatory site was abandoned, its equipment stored and the proceeds from the sale to be used for the construction of a new observatory at the site near Providence Road.
In 1954, simultaneous with the completion of the new Physical Science Building (later called the David Rittenhouse Laboratory), an on-campus observatory was established on the rooftop of the building. In 1956, a new off-campus Flower and Cook Observatory was finally constructed with funds from the sale of the Flower Observatory property.
From the description of Records, 1875-1987. (University of Pennsylvania). WorldCat record id: 122614742
Role | Title | Holding Repository | |
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creatorOf | University of Pennsylvania. Flower and Cook Observatory. Records, 1875-1987. | University of Pennsylvania, Archives & Records Center |
Filters:
Relation | Name |
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associatedWith | Alexander, R. Stanley. |
associatedWith | Cook, Gustavus Wynne. |
associatedWith | Flower, Reese Wall. |
associatedWith | Irwin, J. B. |
associatedWith | Marshall, Roy K. |
associatedWith | O'Connell, D. K. |
associatedWith | Olivier, Charles P. |
associatedWith | Tabor, L. P. |
associatedWith | University of Pennsylvania. College of Arts and Sciences. Physics and Astronomy. |
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Active 1875
Active 1987
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University of Pennsylvania. Flower and Cook Observatory.
University of Pennsylvania. Flower and Cook Observatory. | Title |
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