1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:18,439 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. Last November, 4 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:22,520 Speaker 1: we did an episode on Cecilia Payne Gaposchkin, who a 5 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:25,439 Speaker 1: lot of people had asked for an episode on. She 6 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:29,000 Speaker 1: was the astronomer whose discovery that the stars are made 7 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:33,520 Speaker 1: primarily of hydrogen and helium really fundamentally shifted our understanding 8 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:36,159 Speaker 1: of the universe and what's in it. And one of 9 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:38,800 Speaker 1: the names that kept coming up when working on that 10 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:42,400 Speaker 1: episode was any Jump Cannon, who's time at the Harvard 11 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:48,000 Speaker 1: Observatory overlapped with Cecilia Pangaposhkins. I really wanted to do 12 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:50,239 Speaker 1: an episode on her, but I also didn't want to 13 00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:55,240 Speaker 1: have like two astronomers working at the exact same facility, 14 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:57,280 Speaker 1: partly at the same time, like right in a row. 15 00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:01,720 Speaker 1: So any Jump Canon has been described as doing for 16 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:06,479 Speaker 1: stars what carl Annaeus did for organisms. The massive Star 17 00:01:06,560 --> 00:01:09,880 Speaker 1: Catalog that she compiled became an incredible resource in the 18 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:13,720 Speaker 1: field of astronomy. The numbers that are used in that 19 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:17,360 Speaker 1: are still used to identify a lot of stars today. 20 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:21,440 Speaker 1: So consequently Annie Jump Canon became known both as the 21 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:26,280 Speaker 1: most famous woman astronomer of her day and also as 22 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:29,640 Speaker 1: the census taker of the Sky. I put her on 23 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:31,880 Speaker 1: the list for a future episode back when I worked 24 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:34,920 Speaker 1: on the one on Cecilia Panka Paschikin, but I kept 25 00:01:34,959 --> 00:01:37,080 Speaker 1: putting it off just a little more to have a 26 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:40,120 Speaker 1: little space between two topics that have a lot overlap. 27 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:44,440 Speaker 1: So Annie Jumpcannon was born on December eleven, eighteen sixty three, 28 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 1: in Dover, Delaware. Her father, Wilson Lee Cannon, had apprenticed 29 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:51,440 Speaker 1: as a ship's carpenter before building up his own lumber 30 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:55,960 Speaker 1: and ship building businesses and also buying a prosperous farm. 31 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:58,760 Speaker 1: He also served as a state senator, and according to 32 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:02,640 Speaker 1: his obituary in the Mornington, Delaware Morning News, he changed 33 00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:06,520 Speaker 1: parties from Democrat to Republican after refusing to vote in 34 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:10,519 Speaker 1: support of Delaware seceding from the Union in eighteen sixty one. 35 00:02:11,040 --> 00:02:14,840 Speaker 1: Before marrying Annie's mother, Wilson had four children with his 36 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:18,919 Speaker 1: first wife, Anne Scott, who died in eighteen fifty nine. 37 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:22,920 Speaker 1: He married Mary Elizabeth Jump in eighteen sixty two, and 38 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:26,600 Speaker 1: Annie was their first child together. Annie also had two 39 00:02:26,600 --> 00:02:31,440 Speaker 1: younger brothers, Wilson Jr. And Barrett. Annie's mother was interested 40 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:34,000 Speaker 1: in the night sky, and she passed that interest on 41 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:37,320 Speaker 1: to her daughter. They made a simple observatory in the 42 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:41,320 Speaker 1: attic where Mary tont Annie to identify the constellations reading 43 00:02:41,320 --> 00:02:45,120 Speaker 1: an astronomical guide book by candle light. This apparently caused 44 00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:48,800 Speaker 1: Annie's father some distress. Later in her life, she said, 45 00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:51,800 Speaker 1: quote father was more interested in the safety of the 46 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:54,600 Speaker 1: house than in the movement of the stars. It was 47 00:02:54,639 --> 00:02:57,000 Speaker 1: always with a sigh of relief he breathed when my 48 00:02:57,080 --> 00:03:01,080 Speaker 1: evening vigil was over and the house was burned. The 49 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:05,160 Speaker 1: family also had a candelabra that was decorated with dangling 50 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:09,160 Speaker 1: glass prisms that made rainbows on the walls, which Annie 51 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:12,280 Speaker 1: just loved to look at when she grew up. And 52 00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:15,720 Speaker 1: he kept this candelabra in her own helm And at 53 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:19,960 Speaker 1: one point she wrote, quote, stars and prisms. How prophetic 54 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:23,520 Speaker 1: was this baby amusement to the profession that was destined 55 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:27,280 Speaker 1: to fill my life. In eighteen eighty, Annie graduated from 56 00:03:27,280 --> 00:03:31,440 Speaker 1: a Methodist preparatory school called Wilmington Conference Academy that is 57 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:34,680 Speaker 1: now Wesley College and became part of Delaware State University. 58 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:39,160 Speaker 1: On July one, After graduating, she went on to college 59 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:42,920 Speaker 1: at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. It was still fairly unusual 60 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:44,880 Speaker 1: at this point for a woman to go to college. 61 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:48,080 Speaker 1: The movement for higher education for women in the US 62 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:51,920 Speaker 1: was really just evolving. Wellesley had itself been chartered in 63 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:55,800 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy, and it opened just five years before Annie enrolled. 64 00:03:56,760 --> 00:04:00,440 Speaker 1: One of her professors there was physicist and a ronomer, 65 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:05,720 Speaker 1: Sarah Francis Whiting. Whiting had graduated from Ingham University, which 66 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:09,440 Speaker 1: was the first chartered university for women in the United States. 67 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:13,040 Speaker 1: She had graduated in eighteen sixty five, and in addition 68 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:16,839 Speaker 1: to teaching, she dedicated herself to opening doors for women 69 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:20,360 Speaker 1: in the sciences. To that end, she established a physics 70 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:23,920 Speaker 1: laboratory at Wellesley, which was the first such lab at 71 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:27,760 Speaker 1: a woman's college in the United States. After any jump 72 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:32,200 Speaker 1: Cannons time at Wellesley, Whiting also convinced a trustee to 73 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:36,400 Speaker 1: buy a telescope and established an observatory at the college. 74 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:39,279 Speaker 1: At the start of September of eighteen eighty two, while 75 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:42,840 Speaker 1: Cannon was studying at Wellesley, people started noticing a bright 76 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:45,719 Speaker 1: object in the sky. It was a comment and it 77 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:47,800 Speaker 1: came to be known as the Great Comment of eighteen 78 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:51,760 Speaker 1: eighty two. This was one of the brightest comments ever recorded, 79 00:04:51,880 --> 00:04:54,640 Speaker 1: visible at night for months, and even visible during the 80 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:58,080 Speaker 1: day when it was at its brightest. Professor Whiting got 81 00:04:58,160 --> 00:05:01,000 Speaker 1: Cannon and her other students up in the early morning hours, 82 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:04,760 Speaker 1: day after day to observe the comment and record its progress. 83 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:09,479 Speaker 1: After graduating from Wellesley in eight four, Cannon returned home 84 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:12,440 Speaker 1: to Dover, and over the next ten years she helped 85 00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:16,680 Speaker 1: keep the family home, tutored students, played the organ at 86 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:20,000 Speaker 1: the Methodist church that she and her family attended, and traveled, 87 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:24,320 Speaker 1: and at some point she also became ill. Most sources 88 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:29,160 Speaker 1: point to scarlet fever. It's not exactly clear when this happened, though, 89 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:32,880 Speaker 1: and some accounts she's described as still being at Wesley, 90 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:37,400 Speaker 1: and others this was later. Accounts also contradict on how 91 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:41,600 Speaker 1: this illness affected her. Some describe her as losing virtually 92 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:44,400 Speaker 1: all of her hearing, and others describe her as using 93 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:48,520 Speaker 1: a hearing aid to enjoy concerts, lectures, and theater. As 94 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:52,640 Speaker 1: practical hearing aids became available in the early twentieth century. 95 00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:55,480 Speaker 1: There may be some clarity about all this and her 96 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:58,760 Speaker 1: feelings about it. In Canon's journals and personal papers that 97 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:01,320 Speaker 1: are archived at Harvard, but at this point there's no 98 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:04,120 Speaker 1: book length biography of her that has really explored all 99 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:07,400 Speaker 1: of that. Yeah, there's also some nuance in how people 100 00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:11,360 Speaker 1: describe themselves in terms of deafness, depending on like the 101 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:15,000 Speaker 1: level of hearing that they do or don't have. Some 102 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:17,320 Speaker 1: of that evolved after she was living, and that's just 103 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:23,800 Speaker 1: just uh, some incongruity and how different accounts describe her 104 00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:26,760 Speaker 1: and how this affected her. One thing we do know 105 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:30,080 Speaker 1: for sure, though, is that Annie jump Canon loved to travel. 106 00:06:30,680 --> 00:06:33,800 Speaker 1: In two she took a tour of Europe with her 107 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:36,440 Speaker 1: friend Sarah Potter, who had been one of her classmates 108 00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:41,599 Speaker 1: at Wellesley. There are a lot of sources, like a 109 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:45,640 Speaker 1: lot a lot, that claimed that this trip was to 110 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:50,160 Speaker 1: see and photograph a solar eclipse, and while there was 111 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:53,760 Speaker 1: a total solar eclipse in April of eighteen ninety two, 112 00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:57,880 Speaker 1: it was not visible from Europe at all, was visible 113 00:06:57,920 --> 00:07:02,760 Speaker 1: from the South Pacific. The source for this discrepancy seems 114 00:07:02,839 --> 00:07:06,839 Speaker 1: to be an obituary that conflated this trip with several 115 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:10,440 Speaker 1: other trips around the US that Cannon did take to 116 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:15,280 Speaker 1: observe eclipses. Later on, Although Cannon did not see an 117 00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:17,600 Speaker 1: eclipse during this trip, she did take a lot of 118 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:20,560 Speaker 1: pictures with their camera that was a Blair camera, which 119 00:07:20,560 --> 00:07:23,840 Speaker 1: was a leather covered wooden box camera that used role film. 120 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:27,160 Speaker 1: Cameras like this were pretty new at the time. George 121 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:31,440 Speaker 1: Eastman had just patented his role film camera, and the 122 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:34,280 Speaker 1: camera in which first hit the market about three years later, 123 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:37,240 Speaker 1: was later found to infringe on some of the Kodak 124 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:42,320 Speaker 1: Company's patents. Cannon's trip to Europe overlapped the four hundredth 125 00:07:42,440 --> 00:07:46,960 Speaker 1: anniversary of Christopher Columbus's departure on his first voyage to 126 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:53,400 Speaker 1: the America's on August three, and by coincidence, Cannon was 127 00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:57,600 Speaker 1: in Genoa, Italy, where Columbus had been born, on that anniversary, 128 00:07:57,880 --> 00:08:00,080 Speaker 1: so he was having a big party and recognition in 129 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:04,240 Speaker 1: and after she returned to the United States, the World's 130 00:08:04,280 --> 00:08:09,840 Speaker 1: Columbian Exhibition started in Chicago, Ine with that world spare 131 00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:16,240 Speaker 1: also commemorating the fourth anniversary of Columbus's voyage. Cannon wrote 132 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:19,960 Speaker 1: a book called In the Footsteps of Columbus, which used 133 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:23,880 Speaker 1: words and pictures to not only document her trip, but 134 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:27,400 Speaker 1: also to describe how she used this camera and how 135 00:08:27,440 --> 00:08:31,760 Speaker 1: it performed there. The Blair Camera Company used this booklet 136 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:36,080 Speaker 1: as a souvenir during the World's Columbian Exposition. Cannon kicked 137 00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:38,559 Speaker 1: it off with a poem dedicating the book to her 138 00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:41,000 Speaker 1: camera at quote, in the hope that it may be 139 00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:44,439 Speaker 1: of service in proclaiming her good qualities throughout the length 140 00:08:44,480 --> 00:08:47,760 Speaker 1: and breadth of Columbia. The book also ended with the 141 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:51,280 Speaker 1: Blair Camera Company's addressed so that interested readers could write 142 00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:54,320 Speaker 1: for more information about the camera at in the company's 143 00:08:54,360 --> 00:08:58,959 Speaker 1: other camera models. It's also pretty celebratory of Columbus and 144 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:02,360 Speaker 1: of the Catholic con west of Muslim Spain. For example, 145 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:06,480 Speaker 1: Canna describes Columbus's appearance before Queen Isabella is happening after 146 00:09:06,600 --> 00:09:12,000 Speaker 1: quote the successful termination of this brilliant war. Uh A 147 00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:16,280 Speaker 1: little cringe, E little cringe. Yeah. Uh. There are various 148 00:09:16,280 --> 00:09:19,720 Speaker 1: cringeing bits in this book, But it kind of cracks 149 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:22,000 Speaker 1: me up that before she became one of the most 150 00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:26,320 Speaker 1: famous astronomers living at the time, she basically wrote an 151 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:29,760 Speaker 1: ad for this camera company in the form of a booklet, 152 00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:35,520 Speaker 1: which you can still read online today. Not long after 153 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:38,600 Speaker 1: Annie Jumpcannon returned to the United States. From this trip, 154 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:42,080 Speaker 1: her mother died at the age of fifty four, and 155 00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:47,439 Speaker 1: Annie was absolutely bereft. She described herself as feeling completely 156 00:09:47,559 --> 00:09:50,840 Speaker 1: lost and just looking for some kind of purpose to 157 00:09:50,920 --> 00:09:54,160 Speaker 1: her life. This seems to be what prompted her to 158 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:58,240 Speaker 1: go back to school. She returned to Wellesley in and 159 00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:01,240 Speaker 1: she studied X rays with Sarah Francis Whiting and also 160 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:06,320 Speaker 1: worked as a teaching assistant in physics. In Cannon entered 161 00:10:06,400 --> 00:10:09,280 Speaker 1: Radcliffe College, which had been chartered the year before, is 162 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:13,280 Speaker 1: Harvard's coordinate college for women. She started out as a 163 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:16,800 Speaker 1: special student in astronomy. And this is actually a good 164 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:27,480 Speaker 1: point to take a quick sponsor break. Before we talk 165 00:10:27,559 --> 00:10:30,680 Speaker 1: about Antie Jump Cannon's time at Harvard, we need to 166 00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:33,160 Speaker 1: back up a little bit and talk about what she 167 00:10:33,280 --> 00:10:37,240 Speaker 1: was doing and who else was working there. Physicist and 168 00:10:37,280 --> 00:10:42,599 Speaker 1: astronomer Edward Charles Pickering became director of Harvard College Observatory 169 00:10:42,679 --> 00:10:46,920 Speaker 1: in eighteen seventy six. In eighteen seventy nine, he hired 170 00:10:46,920 --> 00:10:50,000 Speaker 1: a woman named William Nutt Fleming, known as Mina, to 171 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:53,760 Speaker 1: work as a maid in his home. She had emigrated 172 00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:56,520 Speaker 1: to the United States with her husband, and she needed 173 00:10:56,559 --> 00:10:59,280 Speaker 1: to find work because he had abandoned her while she 174 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:03,160 Speaker 1: was pregnant. Pickering and his wife quickly realized that Fleming 175 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:05,760 Speaker 1: was very bright. She had worked as a school teacher 176 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:08,800 Speaker 1: in Scotland before getting married, so he made her a 177 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:12,600 Speaker 1: part time copyist and computer at the Observatory, a role 178 00:11:12,640 --> 00:11:15,320 Speaker 1: that she filled until returning to Scotland to give birth 179 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:18,800 Speaker 1: to her son. She returned to Cambridge and a full 180 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:22,640 Speaker 1: time role at the observatory in one leaving her son 181 00:11:22,760 --> 00:11:25,440 Speaker 1: with her mother and grandmother until he was about seven. 182 00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:30,240 Speaker 1: There's a very widely circulated story that Pickering got so 183 00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:34,080 Speaker 1: fed up with the men at the Observatory doing a 184 00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:37,360 Speaker 1: bad job at their work that he said something like 185 00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:39,880 Speaker 1: even my maid could do this better than you, and 186 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:44,840 Speaker 1: than just sort of spontaneously hired Fleming to do this. 187 00:11:44,920 --> 00:11:49,679 Speaker 1: And it seems a little more nuanced than that, right I. 188 00:11:49,679 --> 00:11:53,040 Speaker 1: I um, I have this moment of appreciation for like, 189 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:56,240 Speaker 1: thank goodness, someone recognized that this woman was very smart 190 00:11:56,280 --> 00:12:00,440 Speaker 1: and they could actually use her in another role. Yeah, 191 00:12:00,600 --> 00:12:04,400 Speaker 1: doesn't always happen, no, uh. And at this point, I mean, 192 00:12:04,440 --> 00:12:07,679 Speaker 1: there's other other stuff relating to gender and sexism here 193 00:12:07,679 --> 00:12:10,320 Speaker 1: for sure that we're going to get into. At this point, 194 00:12:10,360 --> 00:12:14,760 Speaker 1: Pickering's budget at the observatory was extremely thin, and one 195 00:12:14,800 --> 00:12:17,000 Speaker 1: of the things that he was trying to do was 196 00:12:17,080 --> 00:12:22,240 Speaker 1: to identify the light cycles of about two hundred variable stars, 197 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:25,800 Speaker 1: and this was a really time consuming prospect. It wasn't 198 00:12:25,880 --> 00:12:30,600 Speaker 1: particularly difficult work, but it did mean that somebody had 199 00:12:30,640 --> 00:12:36,480 Speaker 1: to regularly observe and record the stars apparent brightness over time. 200 00:12:36,559 --> 00:12:40,040 Speaker 1: It's like a long term project for each star. Since 201 00:12:40,080 --> 00:12:42,600 Speaker 1: Pickering didn't have the budget to pay a staff to 202 00:12:42,679 --> 00:12:46,640 Speaker 1: do this, he called on amateur astronomers to volunteer their time, 203 00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:50,920 Speaker 1: and he focused on women volunteers, especially on women who 204 00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:54,040 Speaker 1: had graduated from the newly established women's colleges in the 205 00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:58,560 Speaker 1: United States. He thought women were particularly suited for this work, 206 00:12:58,679 --> 00:13:01,560 Speaker 1: especially since it could be done from home, and he 207 00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:05,000 Speaker 1: also thought that developing a group of women astronomical observers 208 00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:09,319 Speaker 1: would help dispell stereotypes and criticisms of women's higher education. 209 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:14,360 Speaker 1: At the same time, astronomers at the Harvard Observatory were 210 00:13:14,400 --> 00:13:20,760 Speaker 1: also studying and analyzing stellar spectra. Physician and amateur astronomer 211 00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:24,679 Speaker 1: Henry Draper had been the first person to photograph a 212 00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:29,160 Speaker 1: star's spectrum in eighteen seventy two. These were recorded on 213 00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:32,959 Speaker 1: some glass plates as a series of black and gray lines, 214 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:38,040 Speaker 1: almost like a barcode. Each element produces its own unique 215 00:13:38,040 --> 00:13:42,439 Speaker 1: spectrum when it's heated up, and these stellar spectra corresponded 216 00:13:42,480 --> 00:13:46,600 Speaker 1: with the spectra of different elements. But when Draper started 217 00:13:46,640 --> 00:13:51,000 Speaker 1: making these photographs, people didn't yet understand why that was, 218 00:13:51,640 --> 00:13:56,079 Speaker 1: and they interpreted these stellar spectra as representing which elements 219 00:13:56,160 --> 00:14:00,200 Speaker 1: were contained in each particular star. Draper died to in 220 00:14:00,240 --> 00:14:03,200 Speaker 1: eight two at the age of forty five, and his wife, 221 00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:07,400 Speaker 1: Anna Palmer Draper, decided to continue his work and his memory. 222 00:14:07,679 --> 00:14:11,160 Speaker 1: This included donating his collection of glass plates to Harvard, 223 00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:14,880 Speaker 1: as well as providing funding for the work. Unlike the 224 00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:18,360 Speaker 1: observation of variable stars, which volunteers could do from home, 225 00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:22,240 Speaker 1: analyzing these plates had to be done at the observatory. 226 00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:24,960 Speaker 1: They were far too delicate and hard to replace to 227 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:28,840 Speaker 1: be removed. Pickering was so afraid of the plate collection 228 00:14:28,880 --> 00:14:31,840 Speaker 1: being destroyed in a fire that he had a specially built, 229 00:14:31,880 --> 00:14:36,080 Speaker 1: purportedly fireproof building just known as the Brick Building, built 230 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:40,640 Speaker 1: to house this work. Pickering again focused on hiring women 231 00:14:40,720 --> 00:14:44,200 Speaker 1: to work with these glass plates. By eighteen eighty six, 232 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:47,160 Speaker 1: he had a staff of fourteen women who all worked 233 00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:50,560 Speaker 1: under the supervision of William in a Fleming. Sometimes these 234 00:14:50,600 --> 00:14:55,520 Speaker 1: were known by the pretty disparaging nickname of Pickering's harem. 235 00:14:55,560 --> 00:14:58,160 Speaker 1: And in general there was a division of labor at 236 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:01,920 Speaker 1: the observatory that was based on gender. It wasn't considered 237 00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:06,640 Speaker 1: appropriate for women to work during the night. I will 238 00:15:06,680 --> 00:15:11,160 Speaker 1: say it was specifically not considered appropriate for like college 239 00:15:11,320 --> 00:15:15,360 Speaker 1: educated in middle and upperclass white women to work during 240 00:15:15,360 --> 00:15:17,800 Speaker 1: the night. There were plenty of women generally that we're 241 00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:21,880 Speaker 1: working during the night. Uh, there were concerns that they 242 00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:25,440 Speaker 1: were too delicate for the cold and the late hours involved, 243 00:15:25,480 --> 00:15:28,960 Speaker 1: and also concerns about the delicacy of the equipment as well. 244 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:34,440 Speaker 1: So for the most part, men were making observations through telescopes, 245 00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:38,720 Speaker 1: recording data and taking pictures of the stars using the 246 00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:43,280 Speaker 1: observatory's equipment, and then women were cataloging these findings and 247 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:46,800 Speaker 1: analyzing the data at a pay rate of twenty five 248 00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:49,200 Speaker 1: cents an hour, which was about half of what the 249 00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:52,680 Speaker 1: men were making. When Annie jump Cannon's booklet on her 250 00:15:52,720 --> 00:15:55,920 Speaker 1: trip to Spain and her camera at Camera was being 251 00:15:56,040 --> 00:15:59,320 Speaker 1: used as a souvenir at the World's Columbian Exposition, Mina 252 00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:03,120 Speaker 1: Fleming was there giving an address on women's work in astronomy. 253 00:16:03,280 --> 00:16:06,760 Speaker 1: She said, in part, quote photography as applied to astronomy 254 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:09,120 Speaker 1: is one of the greatest advances which has been made 255 00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:12,560 Speaker 1: in this the oldest of sciences. And this same advance 256 00:16:12,600 --> 00:16:15,840 Speaker 1: has opened up a comparatively extensive field for women's work 257 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:19,640 Speaker 1: in this department. And then she ended this address by saying, quote, 258 00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:23,880 Speaker 1: while we cannot maintain that in everything woman is man's equal, 259 00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:27,880 Speaker 1: yet in many things her patience, perseverance, and method make 260 00:16:27,960 --> 00:16:31,760 Speaker 1: her his superior. Therefore, let us hope that in astronomy, 261 00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:34,880 Speaker 1: which now affords a large field for women's work and skill, 262 00:16:35,400 --> 00:16:38,880 Speaker 1: she may, as has been the case in several other sciences, 263 00:16:38,920 --> 00:16:42,960 Speaker 1: at least prove herself his equal. So this idea that 264 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:46,520 Speaker 1: there was women's work to be done in astronomy that 265 00:16:46,600 --> 00:16:50,320 Speaker 1: was well established by the time Annie Jump Cannon started 266 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:54,760 Speaker 1: her study of the subject at Rackliffe. Essentially, especially in 267 00:16:54,800 --> 00:16:58,000 Speaker 1: the late nineteenth century, women came to these roles with 268 00:16:58,080 --> 00:17:01,480 Speaker 1: the range of education and experience rants everything from an 269 00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:04,920 Speaker 1: interest in astronomy and a knack for math to an 270 00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:09,719 Speaker 1: advanced degree in the subject. This was typically very detailed, 271 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:15,159 Speaker 1: also very repetitive. Work involving making calculations and analyzing data, 272 00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:19,520 Speaker 1: and keeping and organizing records. Women were thought to be 273 00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:23,240 Speaker 1: particularly suited for this, thanks to the perceived traits that 274 00:17:23,359 --> 00:17:27,440 Speaker 1: Fleming described in her address, but for most women there 275 00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:30,639 Speaker 1: also was not a lot of opportunity to advance in 276 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:34,960 Speaker 1: these jobs, at least not beyond supervising other women in 277 00:17:35,080 --> 00:17:39,240 Speaker 1: similar roles. It was almost taken for granted that women 278 00:17:39,320 --> 00:17:42,239 Speaker 1: who were hired to work in astronomy would stay at 279 00:17:42,240 --> 00:17:45,600 Speaker 1: their jobs until they got married or until they retired, 280 00:17:45,960 --> 00:17:49,760 Speaker 1: whichever one came first. Annie Jump Cannon started working at 281 00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:54,480 Speaker 1: the Harvard Observatory as an unpaid assistant in eight This 282 00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:59,119 Speaker 1: assistant ship typically went to an exceptional astronomy student at Radcliffe. 283 00:17:59,520 --> 00:18:02,359 Speaker 1: The year but four, it had gone to Henrietta Swan Levitt, 284 00:18:02,359 --> 00:18:05,719 Speaker 1: whose discovery of the relationship between the luminosity and period 285 00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:09,919 Speaker 1: of stars called Sephard variables allowed other astronomers to estimate 286 00:18:09,960 --> 00:18:14,080 Speaker 1: stellar distances. Like Cannon, Levitt had lost much of her 287 00:18:14,119 --> 00:18:16,800 Speaker 1: hearing after an illness not long after she finished her 288 00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:21,119 Speaker 1: bachelor's degree. Anti Jump Cannon worked at the Harvard Observatory 289 00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:25,040 Speaker 1: for the next forty five years. During that time, she 290 00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:30,680 Speaker 1: discovered at least three hundred variable stars and five novae. 291 00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:34,240 Speaker 1: The work she's best known for is developing the stellar 292 00:18:34,359 --> 00:18:37,640 Speaker 1: classification scheme that is still in use today, and then 293 00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:42,639 Speaker 1: using that scheme to classify more than three hundred thousand stars. 294 00:18:43,240 --> 00:18:47,600 Speaker 1: Cannon star classification system built on the work of earlier astronomers. 295 00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:51,360 Speaker 1: The first system for classifying stars based on their spectra 296 00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:56,440 Speaker 1: was developed by Father Pietro Angelo Seki at the Vatican Observatory. 297 00:18:56,640 --> 00:19:00,600 Speaker 1: He sorted the stars into four classes. Class one included 298 00:19:00,640 --> 00:19:04,200 Speaker 1: white and blue stars whose spectra had evidence of hydrogen. 299 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:09,320 Speaker 1: Yellow stars were in class two, and their spectra showed iron, calcium, 300 00:19:09,359 --> 00:19:13,720 Speaker 1: and other elements. Red stars were in classes three and four, 301 00:19:14,119 --> 00:19:18,040 Speaker 1: depending on exactly what was shown in their spectra. While 302 00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:22,360 Speaker 1: working with Draper's glass plates and the newly created plates 303 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:25,840 Speaker 1: from the nighttime work at the Harvard Observatory, William and 304 00:19:25,840 --> 00:19:31,239 Speaker 1: of Fleming expanded this classification system using letters rather than 305 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:36,280 Speaker 1: Roman numerals. Her Draper College of Stellar Spectra was published 306 00:19:36,280 --> 00:19:40,000 Speaker 1: in the Annals of the Harvard Observatory in and it 307 00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:45,080 Speaker 1: sorted about ten thousand stars into fifteen different classes. Her 308 00:19:45,119 --> 00:19:49,520 Speaker 1: system ultimately grew to include the classes designated by the 309 00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:52,560 Speaker 1: letters A through Q, and it was based on the 310 00:19:52,640 --> 00:19:56,360 Speaker 1: strength of the stars hydrogen lines, so A type stars 311 00:19:56,400 --> 00:20:00,879 Speaker 1: had the most hydrogen, be the second most hyrogen, and 312 00:20:00,920 --> 00:20:06,040 Speaker 1: so on. Meanwhile, Antonio Marie, niece of Henry Draper, also 313 00:20:06,200 --> 00:20:10,199 Speaker 1: joined the observatory in and she created a system as well, 314 00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:15,960 Speaker 1: using Roman numerals one through two with three subdivisions. This 315 00:20:16,119 --> 00:20:19,520 Speaker 1: was clunky and Flemings and Marie's systems were just two 316 00:20:19,600 --> 00:20:22,919 Speaker 1: of many classification systems that were in use in the 317 00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:28,840 Speaker 1: world's observatories. Fleming was named Curator of Astronomical Photographs at 318 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:32,680 Speaker 1: Harvard at the end of eight and not long after that, 319 00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:38,280 Speaker 1: Cannon started streamlining and simplifying the two stellar classification systems 320 00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:41,639 Speaker 1: that were being used at the observatory. She kept some 321 00:20:41,720 --> 00:20:47,359 Speaker 1: of Fleming's alphabetical categories, combining or eliminating others while incorporating 322 00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:52,040 Speaker 1: some of Marie's ordering. Cannon placed class O, which sewed 323 00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:55,479 Speaker 1: strong helium lines, at the top of the list, and 324 00:20:55,560 --> 00:20:58,560 Speaker 1: from there she ordered the stars by their color from 325 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:02,879 Speaker 1: blue through white and yellow to orange and red, which 326 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:07,480 Speaker 1: also corresponded to their temperature from hottest to coldest. This 327 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:10,480 Speaker 1: became the basic version of the scheme that is still 328 00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:15,560 Speaker 1: used today, with the stars being in type O, B, A, F, G, K, 329 00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:22,359 Speaker 1: M plus P for planetary nebulas and Q for unusual stars. 330 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:25,639 Speaker 1: That's the mnemonic that's often said as ol be a 331 00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:30,919 Speaker 1: fine girl, kiss me. Cannon became extraordinarily skilled at classifying stars, 332 00:21:31,520 --> 00:21:34,000 Speaker 1: looking at the lines on glass plates through a loop. 333 00:21:34,359 --> 00:21:37,399 Speaker 1: She could classify about three stars a minute, which was 334 00:21:37,440 --> 00:21:39,760 Speaker 1: about as long as it took assistance to prepare the 335 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:43,399 Speaker 1: plate and write down her notes. As she described it quote, 336 00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:45,800 Speaker 1: it was almost as if the distant stars had really 337 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:49,280 Speaker 1: acquired speech and were able to tell of their constitution 338 00:21:49,359 --> 00:21:54,960 Speaker 1: and physical condition. Cannon's description of other astronomical phenomena were 339 00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:58,920 Speaker 1: similarly lyrical. Around the same time she was working out 340 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:02,600 Speaker 1: this classification system, she went to Virginia Beach to observe 341 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:07,520 Speaker 1: the May nine hundred total solar eclipse, and her words 342 00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:10,439 Speaker 1: quote under the falls of Niagara on the top of 343 00:22:10,520 --> 00:22:13,680 Speaker 1: Vesuvius had before seemed to me to be the times 344 00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:16,000 Speaker 1: of my life when I was nearest to the forces 345 00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:21,160 Speaker 1: of nature. But those experiences were nothing to this. One 346 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:25,679 Speaker 1: more thought came suddenly, just before totality, that the human 347 00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:30,439 Speaker 1: mind had, after all learned to predict this phenomenon. In 348 00:22:30,560 --> 00:22:33,840 Speaker 1: nineteen oh three, Cannon published a catalog of more than 349 00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:37,639 Speaker 1: twelve hundred variable stars, with a second volume following four 350 00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:42,320 Speaker 1: years later, and in the International Union for Cooperation in 351 00:22:42,400 --> 00:22:47,240 Speaker 1: Solar Research adopted Cannons classification system, known then as the 352 00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:52,120 Speaker 1: Harvard System, as its standard. The International Astronomical Union did 353 00:22:52,119 --> 00:22:56,639 Speaker 1: the same in nineteen Cannons roll with the observatory changed 354 00:22:56,680 --> 00:22:59,399 Speaker 1: in nineteen eleven, so we will get to that after 355 00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:12,080 Speaker 1: a quick sponsor break. Lamina Fleming died on nineteen eleven 356 00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:15,560 Speaker 1: at the age of fifty four, and any jump Cannon 357 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:19,320 Speaker 1: was the obvious choice to succeed her as the curator 358 00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:24,720 Speaker 1: of astronomical photographs at Harvard College Observatory, but this proved 359 00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:28,400 Speaker 1: to be controversial, even though Fleming had served in that 360 00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:32,360 Speaker 1: role for more than a decade. Harvard President Abbott Lawrence 361 00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:38,520 Speaker 1: Lowell called her hiring under his predecessor, Charles Elliott quote anomalous. 362 00:23:39,760 --> 00:23:43,159 Speaker 1: Lowell did not expect this anomaly to be repeated. He 363 00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:46,520 Speaker 1: was not expecting another woman to be hired to replace her, 364 00:23:47,320 --> 00:23:51,040 Speaker 1: so Pickering placed Cannon in this position anyway, although this 365 00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:55,320 Speaker 1: wasn't a formal appointment through the university, so that meant 366 00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:58,080 Speaker 1: her pay was lower than it would have been otherwise, 367 00:23:58,119 --> 00:24:01,800 Speaker 1: and her name was not listed in the Harvard directory. 368 00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:05,679 Speaker 1: As curator of Astronomical Photographs, Cannon took over work on 369 00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:09,359 Speaker 1: the Henry Draper Catalog of Stellar Spectra, building on the 370 00:24:09,359 --> 00:24:13,480 Speaker 1: earlier work of Mina Fleming and Antonio Marie. From nineteen 371 00:24:13,560 --> 00:24:17,520 Speaker 1: eighteen to nineteen twenty four, the Harvard College Observatory published 372 00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:20,800 Speaker 1: this directory in ten volumes under the names of both 373 00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:25,560 Speaker 1: Annie J. Cannon and Edward C. Pickering. Over those ten volumes, 374 00:24:25,600 --> 00:24:29,480 Speaker 1: the catalog described more than two hundred twenty five thousand stars, 375 00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:34,480 Speaker 1: including their spectra, their positions, and their magnitudes. Cecilia Payne 376 00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:39,200 Speaker 1: Gaposhkin would call this Cannon's greatest legacy to science. Cannon 377 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:42,120 Speaker 1: also maintained a card index that swelled to more than 378 00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:45,480 Speaker 1: seven hundred and fifty thousand stars, and a collection of 379 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:49,720 Speaker 1: verse about astronomy written by such poets as Milton Longfellow 380 00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:53,400 Speaker 1: and Emerson. Some of the plates in the Harvard Observatory 381 00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:58,399 Speaker 1: collection had been taken at Harvard's astronomical station in Arequipa, Peru. 382 00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:04,160 Speaker 1: Harvard operated this observatory as a pretty insular research station 383 00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:08,640 Speaker 1: from eighteen eighty nine to ninety seven, at which point 384 00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:11,480 Speaker 1: they packed it all up and relocated the whole facility 385 00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:15,439 Speaker 1: and all its equipment to South Africa. Cannon spent some 386 00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:19,280 Speaker 1: time at Arequipa in ninety two, when she was fifty eight, 387 00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:23,680 Speaker 1: observing and photographing the stars herself at night and walking 388 00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:26,880 Speaker 1: and exploring the area during the day. And a letter 389 00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:30,879 Speaker 1: back to Harlow Shapley, who had replaced Edward Pickering after 390 00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:34,680 Speaker 1: his death in nineteen nineteen, she wrote, quote, I expect 391 00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:37,560 Speaker 1: to be an athlete when I returned to Old Cambridge 392 00:25:37,640 --> 00:25:40,320 Speaker 1: for the running of the thirteen inch orchoirs, turning a 393 00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:44,439 Speaker 1: heavy dome, mounting ladders big and little, all sorts of 394 00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:48,720 Speaker 1: things which Mr Moonees declared I could not do, for 395 00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:52,240 Speaker 1: it was not woman's work. I can do it all, however, 396 00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:57,320 Speaker 1: except get good plates of faint spectra. This was just 397 00:25:57,440 --> 00:26:00,920 Speaker 1: one of many trips that Cannon took while working at Harvard. 398 00:26:01,119 --> 00:26:03,640 Speaker 1: In nine thirteen, she had taken some time off from 399 00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:07,720 Speaker 1: the observatory to go to Europe with her sister. In ninete, 400 00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:10,639 Speaker 1: she went to Catalina Island, California, to view a solar 401 00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:14,840 Speaker 1: eclipse with astronomers from Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, but 402 00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:18,320 Speaker 1: unfortunately the weather did not cooperate for that one. It 403 00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:21,240 Speaker 1: was not a wasted trip, though, since Cannon also toured 404 00:26:21,240 --> 00:26:26,120 Speaker 1: West Coast observatories and exchanged information with other astronomers while 405 00:26:26,119 --> 00:26:28,960 Speaker 1: she was out there. She took another trip to Poughkeepsie, 406 00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:31,760 Speaker 1: New York, to observe a solar eclipse in January, and 407 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:38,720 Speaker 1: she also attended every meeting of the International Astronomical Union 408 00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:41,600 Speaker 1: that was held during her career, with the exception of 409 00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:44,800 Speaker 1: the one in nineteen two. She had been invited to 410 00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:47,840 Speaker 1: it well in advance, but since it was being held 411 00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:51,560 Speaker 1: in Rome and she was at the time working in Peru, 412 00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:57,040 Speaker 1: it was just not feasible. She corresponded frequently with other attendees, though, 413 00:26:57,280 --> 00:27:01,520 Speaker 1: and discussions and potential revisions of her classification system were 414 00:27:01,560 --> 00:27:05,000 Speaker 1: on the agenda for that year's meeting. Cannon was also 415 00:27:05,080 --> 00:27:08,240 Speaker 1: being honored for her work as an astronomer. Her first 416 00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:12,160 Speaker 1: honorary doctorate came from the University of Delaware in nineteen eighteen. 417 00:27:13,040 --> 00:27:17,359 Speaker 1: Another followed from Groningen University in nineteen twenty one. In 418 00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:20,320 Speaker 1: ninety three, the League of Women Voters named her one 419 00:27:20,359 --> 00:27:23,879 Speaker 1: of the twelve Greatest American Women, and in nineteen twenty 420 00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:28,280 Speaker 1: five she was elected to the American Philosophical Society. Also 421 00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:30,600 Speaker 1: in nineteen twenty five, she became the first woman to 422 00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:34,359 Speaker 1: be awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Oxford. 423 00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:38,040 Speaker 1: She was awarded an honorary doctorate from Wellesley on May 424 00:27:38,080 --> 00:27:40,639 Speaker 1: twenty ninth of that year as well. She had to 425 00:27:40,640 --> 00:27:43,040 Speaker 1: delay a trip to England to attend the i AU 426 00:27:43,119 --> 00:27:46,040 Speaker 1: meeting being held in Cambridge so that she could accept 427 00:27:46,119 --> 00:27:50,240 Speaker 1: it in person. She was awarded honorary degrees from Oglethorpe 428 00:27:50,240 --> 00:27:53,959 Speaker 1: and Mount Holyoke in the nineteen thirties as well. In 429 00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:57,280 Speaker 1: some cases, though the honors that Cannon was awarded work 430 00:27:57,320 --> 00:28:00,760 Speaker 1: conditional or they didn't happen at all. She was made 431 00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:04,720 Speaker 1: an honorary member of the Royal Astronomical Society in nineteen 432 00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:09,040 Speaker 1: fourteen because women were not admitted as full members, and 433 00:28:09,119 --> 00:28:13,440 Speaker 1: in nineteen three the National Academy of Sciences started discussing 434 00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:18,040 Speaker 1: inducting more women into that academy, but Canon was passed 435 00:28:18,119 --> 00:28:22,879 Speaker 1: over because Raymond Pearl of Johns Hopkins objected to her deafness. 436 00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:26,760 Speaker 1: There has also been some discussion of whether Annie Jump 437 00:28:26,840 --> 00:28:29,879 Speaker 1: Canon or Henrietta sun Levitt should have been considered to 438 00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:33,800 Speaker 1: take Edward Pickering's place after his death, and while it's 439 00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:37,280 Speaker 1: true that neither was considered because of their sex, and 440 00:28:37,320 --> 00:28:39,560 Speaker 1: if their sex was not an issue, may not have 441 00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:42,720 Speaker 1: been because of their hearing loss, it also does not 442 00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:44,800 Speaker 1: appear that it was a role that either of them 443 00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:50,280 Speaker 1: considered for themselves. In ninete, Cecilia Payne, who would later 444 00:28:50,280 --> 00:28:55,520 Speaker 1: be Cecilia Payanka Poshkin, joined the Harvard College Observatory, and, 445 00:28:55,600 --> 00:28:58,840 Speaker 1: as we discussed in our episode on her, she built 446 00:28:58,840 --> 00:29:02,960 Speaker 1: on the cataloging classification work that Annie Jump Cannon and 447 00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:06,280 Speaker 1: other women at the university had done to conclude that 448 00:29:06,320 --> 00:29:09,240 Speaker 1: all the stars have about the same elements and about 449 00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:12,680 Speaker 1: the same proportions, and that the different elements that show 450 00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:15,840 Speaker 1: up in their spectral lines come from the star's temperature, 451 00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:21,280 Speaker 1: not their actual composition. In Cannon moved into a home 452 00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:25,200 Speaker 1: across from the observatory, which she nicknamed Star Cottage, which 453 00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:28,920 Speaker 1: is possibly the most charming thing ever. Her widowed half sister, 454 00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:31,800 Speaker 1: Ella Cannon Marshall, had been living with Canon before this 455 00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:34,720 Speaker 1: point and shared the home at Star Cottage as well. 456 00:29:35,600 --> 00:29:39,200 Speaker 1: Cannon hosted frequent visitors including children from the area who 457 00:29:39,240 --> 00:29:42,240 Speaker 1: she loved to entertain with parties. She also kept doing 458 00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:44,480 Speaker 1: all of the other things she loved, including going to 459 00:29:44,600 --> 00:29:48,680 Speaker 1: lectures and concerts and traveling, and she kept finding new 460 00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:52,840 Speaker 1: stars to classify, focusing on fainter and fainter stars as 461 00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:57,240 Speaker 1: technology made it possible to capture their spectra accurately. In 462 00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:02,000 Speaker 1: one Cannon was awarded the April Gold Medal for Discoveries 463 00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:05,680 Speaker 1: and Astronomical Physics from the National Academy of Sciences. She 464 00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:09,520 Speaker 1: was the first woman to be so awarded. In two, 465 00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:13,520 Speaker 1: she was one of two final recipients of the thousand 466 00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:18,280 Speaker 1: dollar Ellen Richards Research Prize that was awarded by the 467 00:30:18,360 --> 00:30:24,200 Speaker 1: Association to aid scientific research by women. Having granted this 468 00:30:24,280 --> 00:30:28,880 Speaker 1: award for this last time, the association then disbanded. Quote 469 00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:33,240 Speaker 1: since women are given opportunities in scientific research on equality 470 00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:42,120 Speaker 1: with men and gain recognition for their achievements. Okay, with 471 00:30:42,240 --> 00:30:46,360 Speaker 1: the benefit of hindsight, this is an extremely optimistic statement. 472 00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:50,040 Speaker 1: That's the kindest possible way to put it. Cannon decided 473 00:30:50,080 --> 00:30:52,760 Speaker 1: to use her prize money to endow the Anti J. 474 00:30:52,960 --> 00:30:57,080 Speaker 1: Cannon Prize, to be awarded through the American Astronomical Society. 475 00:30:57,080 --> 00:31:02,560 Speaker 1: In recognition of women astronomers. It first recipient was Cecilia Paanapashkin. 476 00:31:02,840 --> 00:31:04,880 Speaker 1: That was in nineteen thirty four, and it is still 477 00:31:04,920 --> 00:31:09,160 Speaker 1: awarded today in recognition of female astronomers from North America 478 00:31:09,400 --> 00:31:12,560 Speaker 1: in recognition for work done within five years of earning 479 00:31:12,600 --> 00:31:16,040 Speaker 1: their PhD. Among the many other pieces of this story 480 00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:21,000 Speaker 1: that strike me in various ways the fact that in 481 00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:26,240 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty two it was possible to endow an ongoing 482 00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:32,000 Speaker 1: award with a thousand dollars like she knew it was 483 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:33,720 Speaker 1: going to take some time for it to build up 484 00:31:33,840 --> 00:31:36,240 Speaker 1: enough interest to be able to sustain itself, but she 485 00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:38,960 Speaker 1: was also really hoping she would actually get to see 486 00:31:39,720 --> 00:31:44,280 Speaker 1: someone be awarded it during her lifetime. UH. And that 487 00:31:44,320 --> 00:31:47,880 Speaker 1: did happen, but at first it was not given out 488 00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:52,160 Speaker 1: all that regularly, and the prize was very small as 489 00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:56,600 Speaker 1: it was trying to sustain itself. UH. In nineteen thirty eight, 490 00:31:56,680 --> 00:32:00,640 Speaker 1: Cannon was named the William Cranch Bond astra Honomer and 491 00:32:00,760 --> 00:32:04,800 Speaker 1: Curator of Astronomical Photographs at Harvard, and at that same 492 00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:10,040 Speaker 1: time Cecilia Payne Gaposchkin was also named Phillips Astronomer, Although 493 00:32:10,040 --> 00:32:13,640 Speaker 1: this didn't really affect Cannon's role at the Observatory, and 494 00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:17,120 Speaker 1: it wasn't a teaching role, it did mean she was 495 00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:21,920 Speaker 1: finally officially a Harvard professor. It was also apparently still 496 00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:25,360 Speaker 1: pretty anomalous for a woman to be offered such a position, 497 00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:29,400 Speaker 1: because the certificate that she got was addressed Dear Sir 498 00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:34,640 Speaker 1: Annie Jump. Cannon retired from the Harvard Observatory two years 499 00:32:34,720 --> 00:32:38,320 Speaker 1: later in nineteen forty, but she kept working until shortly 500 00:32:38,360 --> 00:32:41,360 Speaker 1: before her death on April thirteenth, ninety one, at the 501 00:32:41,400 --> 00:32:45,960 Speaker 1: age of seventy seven. Obituaries written by other astronomers described 502 00:32:45,960 --> 00:32:48,920 Speaker 1: her as deeply beloved by her friends and colleagues, as 503 00:32:48,920 --> 00:32:51,719 Speaker 1: well as being truly dedicated to her work and just 504 00:32:51,840 --> 00:32:55,680 Speaker 1: masterful at it. Cecilia Payne Gaposchkin wrote, quote, it is 505 00:32:55,720 --> 00:32:59,480 Speaker 1: nearly impossible for us to imagine the astronomical world without her. 506 00:33:00,080 --> 00:33:02,400 Speaker 1: Of late years, she has been not only a vital 507 00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:06,520 Speaker 1: living person, she has been an institution already in our 508 00:33:06,520 --> 00:33:09,560 Speaker 1: school days. She was a legend. The scientific world has 509 00:33:09,600 --> 00:33:15,400 Speaker 1: lost something besides a great scientist. In nine a new 510 00:33:15,560 --> 00:33:18,680 Speaker 1: volume of the Henry Draper Catalog was published, and this 511 00:33:18,800 --> 00:33:22,120 Speaker 1: was the Annie J. Cannon Memorial volume, and it brought 512 00:33:22,120 --> 00:33:25,240 Speaker 1: the total number of stars detailed in the catalog to 513 00:33:26,440 --> 00:33:30,440 Speaker 1: nine thousand, eighty three. World War Two was underway by 514 00:33:30,440 --> 00:33:32,880 Speaker 1: the time Annie jump Canon died, and towards the end 515 00:33:32,920 --> 00:33:35,480 Speaker 1: of her life, she was quoted as saying, quote, in 516 00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:38,320 Speaker 1: these days of great trouble and unrest, it is good 517 00:33:38,360 --> 00:33:41,680 Speaker 1: to have something outside our own planet, something comforting to 518 00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:45,160 Speaker 1: troubled minds. Let people look to the stars for comfort 519 00:33:45,240 --> 00:33:49,719 Speaker 1: and find solace as others have. Hers is is a 520 00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:56,400 Speaker 1: one of those simultaneously uplifting and amazing and very frustrating stories. Yes, 521 00:33:57,200 --> 00:34:02,280 Speaker 1: that's all true. Uh. I have a bit of listener 522 00:34:02,360 --> 00:34:05,720 Speaker 1: mail to take us out. Uh. I'm sure we will 523 00:34:05,760 --> 00:34:08,479 Speaker 1: talk some more about our feelings about Annie jump Canon 524 00:34:08,480 --> 00:34:11,480 Speaker 1: and are behind the scenes on Friday. This is from Joanna. 525 00:34:11,680 --> 00:34:15,000 Speaker 1: Joanna writes, greetings from London. I'm a few weeks behind 526 00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:17,520 Speaker 1: on the podcast and today I listened to the episode 527 00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:20,759 Speaker 1: on Daphne de Mauria. I was so surprised to see 528 00:34:20,760 --> 00:34:23,759 Speaker 1: the episode on her, as I only recently learned her 529 00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:26,560 Speaker 1: name after visiting the town she used to live in 530 00:34:26,560 --> 00:34:31,000 Speaker 1: in Cornwall called Foi. My husband and I are Canadians 531 00:34:31,080 --> 00:34:33,960 Speaker 1: living in the UK for a temporary post, and we 532 00:34:34,000 --> 00:34:37,400 Speaker 1: went to foe because my husband's grandfather had a summer 533 00:34:37,440 --> 00:34:41,239 Speaker 1: cottage there. As we were walking around to find the 534 00:34:41,360 --> 00:34:44,440 Speaker 1: ferry to take us across the estuary, I came across 535 00:34:44,480 --> 00:34:48,240 Speaker 1: a large bird sculpture. Bird watching is one of my hobbies, 536 00:34:48,280 --> 00:34:50,560 Speaker 1: so naturally I was attracted to the sculpture and I 537 00:34:50,600 --> 00:34:56,000 Speaker 1: was surprised when I read the plaque. UH. The plaque 538 00:34:56,040 --> 00:34:59,319 Speaker 1: says Threstle's Rook with a Book. Rook with a Book 539 00:34:59,360 --> 00:35:04,320 Speaker 1: celebrates author Daphne du Maries legacy, inspiration and love of Foey, 540 00:35:04,320 --> 00:35:07,000 Speaker 1: where she lived, and then it goes on to talk 541 00:35:07,040 --> 00:35:11,160 Speaker 1: a bit more about Daphne to Maria. The email continues 542 00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:13,719 Speaker 1: while I enjoyed the movie The Birds. My brother is 543 00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:15,879 Speaker 1: the Hitchcock fan, and I wasn't sure if he knew 544 00:35:15,880 --> 00:35:18,239 Speaker 1: about it being based on du Maria's work, and this 545 00:35:18,400 --> 00:35:22,879 Speaker 1: seemingly random place in the world suddenly became known UH 546 00:35:23,160 --> 00:35:25,680 Speaker 1: in the last few months because of my husband's connection 547 00:35:25,719 --> 00:35:28,239 Speaker 1: to and fond memories of the town, and now this 548 00:35:28,400 --> 00:35:32,920 Speaker 1: connection one of my brother's favorite directors. I've attached a 549 00:35:32,920 --> 00:35:34,919 Speaker 1: photo of the sculpture, as well as a few other 550 00:35:34,960 --> 00:35:38,200 Speaker 1: photos of the area to give you an idea as 551 00:35:38,239 --> 00:35:40,040 Speaker 1: to why she might have loved it so much. I 552 00:35:40,160 --> 00:35:43,200 Speaker 1: sure did as an aside. I happened to visit the 553 00:35:43,200 --> 00:35:46,239 Speaker 1: place where The Birds was filmed at my brother's recommendation 554 00:35:46,320 --> 00:35:48,800 Speaker 1: when I was in the area on a work trip once. 555 00:35:49,200 --> 00:35:53,280 Speaker 1: The area does actually look similar to Foey, although perhaps 556 00:35:53,840 --> 00:35:57,400 Speaker 1: a bit more flat land. There apparently was a bookstore 557 00:35:57,400 --> 00:35:59,640 Speaker 1: that used to always keep all her works in stock, 558 00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:02,319 Speaker 1: but fortunately the couple that ran it retired to the 559 00:36:02,320 --> 00:36:04,160 Speaker 1: store is closed, and I don't know if the new 560 00:36:04,280 --> 00:36:06,920 Speaker 1: owners are keeping up that practice. I didn't get a 561 00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:08,640 Speaker 1: chance to go to the bookstore to find out, but 562 00:36:08,680 --> 00:36:10,920 Speaker 1: now that I've heard the episode, some of her novels 563 00:36:10,960 --> 00:36:13,319 Speaker 1: really intrigued me, and I'll look for some of the 564 00:36:13,360 --> 00:36:16,840 Speaker 1: titles to read. I always enjoy hearing letters from others 565 00:36:16,840 --> 00:36:18,759 Speaker 1: when they have these interesting connections, and I thought I 566 00:36:18,760 --> 00:36:21,320 Speaker 1: would share mine with you, as well as some photos, 567 00:36:21,440 --> 00:36:23,320 Speaker 1: just in case you'd be interested to see where she 568 00:36:23,400 --> 00:36:27,040 Speaker 1: lived for so long, at least the area. Many of 569 00:36:27,080 --> 00:36:29,280 Speaker 1: the homes on the hills are not open to the public, 570 00:36:29,320 --> 00:36:31,839 Speaker 1: as the staircases to reach them are locked, so I 571 00:36:31,719 --> 00:36:34,560 Speaker 1: imagine we couldn't really have seen her home anyway. Thanks 572 00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:37,200 Speaker 1: for your show. I always enjoy it and recommend it 573 00:36:37,200 --> 00:36:39,239 Speaker 1: to my high school students. Joanna, thank you so much 574 00:36:39,280 --> 00:36:43,160 Speaker 1: for this email and these pictures. Joanna, I don't think 575 00:36:43,160 --> 00:36:47,120 Speaker 1: we ever actually mentioned the name of the town of Foe, 576 00:36:47,239 --> 00:36:51,000 Speaker 1: but like that was sort of the central place. Uh 577 00:36:51,200 --> 00:36:54,600 Speaker 1: Menabilly was a couple of miles off from there. Um 578 00:36:54,640 --> 00:36:57,000 Speaker 1: one of the homes that that they lived in was 579 00:36:57,040 --> 00:37:00,280 Speaker 1: like sort of right across the river from the town Opper, 580 00:37:00,600 --> 00:37:03,960 Speaker 1: so that was sort of a focal point of her upbringing. 581 00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:10,400 Speaker 1: And these pictures, especially the bird statue, I can totally 582 00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:14,960 Speaker 1: see how that bird statue would immediately grab somebody's attention 583 00:37:15,440 --> 00:37:18,439 Speaker 1: because it is a statue of a bird um with 584 00:37:18,680 --> 00:37:23,359 Speaker 1: one sort of talent on a book um which you know, 585 00:37:23,600 --> 00:37:26,520 Speaker 1: from very far away. If you were not sure where 586 00:37:26,560 --> 00:37:28,919 Speaker 1: you were, you might think that it was some kind 587 00:37:28,960 --> 00:37:31,239 Speaker 1: of an Edgar Allen post statue, but it is not. 588 00:37:32,880 --> 00:37:35,680 Speaker 1: So thank you again for the email in the pictures. 589 00:37:36,080 --> 00:37:37,960 Speaker 1: If you would like to write to us about this 590 00:37:38,080 --> 00:37:41,040 Speaker 1: or any other podcast, we're at History Podcast that I 591 00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:43,840 Speaker 1: Heart Radio dot com and we're all over social media 592 00:37:43,880 --> 00:37:45,799 Speaker 1: at miss in History, so that's where you'll find our 593 00:37:45,840 --> 00:37:49,160 Speaker 1: Facebook and Twitter and Pinterest, and Instagram, and you can 594 00:37:49,160 --> 00:37:52,080 Speaker 1: subscribe to our show on the I heart radio app 595 00:37:52,120 --> 00:37:54,759 Speaker 1: and Apple podcasts and anywhere else that you like to 596 00:37:54,760 --> 00:38:02,440 Speaker 1: get your podcasts. Stuff you missed in History Class is 597 00:38:02,480 --> 00:38:05,680 Speaker 1: a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from 598 00:38:05,680 --> 00:38:09,040 Speaker 1: I heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 599 00:38:09,160 --> 00:38:11,160 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.