Oral History interview with Margaret W. Mayall, 1986 August 11 and September 12.

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Oral History interview with Margaret W. Mayall, 1986 August 11 and September 12.

In this interview, Mayall discusses her childhood and early interest in astronomy; undergraduate years at Swarthmore College; work at Harvard College Observatory in the 1920s; the role of women at Harvard College Observatory, and in astronomy in general; memories of Edward Pickering; and the relationship between the American Association of Variable Star Observers and Harvard College Observatory. Mayall details her work with Annie Jump Cannon, including Cannons's personality and work habits, her skills in socializing, her work with variable start and her relationship with Cecilia Payne. Other contacts discussed include Antonia Maury, Cecilia Payne, Harlow Shapley, Donald Menzel, Adelaide Ames, Solon Bailey, and McGeorge Bundy.

Transcript: 28 pages.

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 6862534

Related Entities

There are 11 Entities related to this resource.

Harvard College Observatory

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In 1839, the Harvard Corporation appointed William Cranch Bond the first Astronomical Observer to the University, thereby taking the first step in establishing the Harvard College Observatory, after which the first telescope was installed in 1847. Scholars and students had studied astronomy at Harvard since the seventeenth century, but it wasn’t until a large comet sparked public interest in 1843 that donors began donating funds to build an observatory. During the tenure of the Harvar...

Gaposchkin, Cecilia Helena Payne, 1900-1979

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Celilia Helena Payne Gaposchkin (1900-1979) taught astronomy at Harvard. She earned her AB at Newnham College, Cambridge University in 1923 and a Ph.D. from Radcliffe College in 1925. She began working at the Harvard Observatory in 1923. She was the Phillips Astronomer at the Harvard Observatory in 1938, Professor of Astronomy, 1956-1966, Chair of the Astronomy Department, 1956-1960 (the first female department Chair at Harvard) and Phillips Professor of Astronomy, Emerita, from 1967; at the tim...

Swarthmore college

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Founded by members of Baltimore, New York and Philadelphia Yearly Meetings of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), Swarthmore College was incorporated in 1864 under a charter from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The College opened in 1869 as an college and preparatory school, although the preparatory division was phased out in the 1880s. The Charter was amended in 1908 to remove any formal links to the Society of Friends. The College continues to operate as a liberal arts college with a...

Bailey, Solon I.

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Solon Irving Bailey (1854-1931), Phillips Professor of Astronomy at Harvard, spent forty four years with the Harvard College Observatory. Bailey was largely responsible for the successful establishment of Harvard's Boyden Station observatory in Arequipa, Peru. Bailey's pioneering photographic studies of globular clusters, variable stars, nebulae, and galactic clusters provided the basis from which other astronomers were able to determine the size of the Milky Way and other galaxies. ...

Gingerich, Owen

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American association of variable star observers

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Mayall, Margaret W. (Margaret Walton)

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Margaret Walton Mayall (1902-). Astronomer. Education: Swarthmore College, A.B., 1925; Radcliffe College, A.M., 1928. Professional experience: Harvard College Observatory (1924-1943,1946-1954); Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1943-1946); American Association of Variable Star Observers, Director (1949-). Research interests: Spectroscopy, variable stars, photometry. From the description of Oral History interview with Margaret W. Mayall, 1986 August 11 and September 12. (Unknown)...

Shapley, Harlow, 1885-1972

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6pn96xk (person)

Astronomer (galaxies, photometry, spectroscopy) and administrator. Astronomer, Mount Wilson Observatory, 1914-1921; director, Harvard Observatory, 1921-1952; on the astronomy faculty at Harvard from 1952. From the description of Papers [microform], 1910-1923. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 80523781 Harlow Shapley (1885-1972) was an astronomer. Shapley served as director of the Harvard College Observatory and was a professor at Harvard University, eventually he became the Pai...

Menzel, Donald H. (Donald Howard,), 1901-1976.

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Menzel died in 1976. From the description of Autobiography, 1974. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 80630339 Donald Howard Menzel was an astrophysicist. From the description of Papers concerning UFOs, 1952-1976. (American Philosophical Society Library). WorldCat record id: 122523365 From the description of Autobiography, September 1974. (American Philosophical Society Library). WorldCat record id: 122624215 From the guide to the Papers concerning U...

Pickering, Edward C. (Edward Charles), 1846-1919

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w61837m0 (person)

Epithet: Director, Harvard Astronomical Observatory British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000000342.0x0000b9 Pickering (Harvard, S.B., 1865) taught astronomy at Harvard and was director of the Harvard College Observatory. From the description of Papers of Edward Charles Pickering, 1850-1918 (inclusive). (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 76972845 ...

Ames, Adelaide.

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