MARIA MITCHELL
NAME: Maria Mitchell
BIRTH DATE: August 1, 1818
BIRTH PLACE: Nantucket, Massachusetts
EDUCATION: Maria Mitchell attended Cyrus Peirce's School for Young Ladies. In
her younger years she was taught chiefly by her father. She was largely self-educated
afterward.
Maria was the third child of William and Lydia Mitchell, a
Quaker family with ten children.
On October 1, 1847 Maria Mitchell discovered a
telescopic comet, an accomplishment for which she received a gold medal from
King Frederick of Denmark. She was the first woman elected to the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of
Science, and the American Philosophical Society. She was a Professor of
Astronomy at Vassar College. She founded and was president of the American
Association for the Advancement of Women. She led one session of the Women's
Congress. Maria was given an honorary degree from Columbia College. A crater on
the moon was named for her. Posthumously, a tablet with her name was put in the
New York University Hall of Fame, her name was carved in a frieze at the Boston
Public Library, and she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.
DATE OF DEATH: June 28, 1889
PLACE OF DEATH: Lynn, Massachusetts
NAME: Maria Mitchell
BIRTH DATE: August 1, 1818
BIRTH PLACE: Nantucket, Massachusetts
EDUCATION: Maria Mitchell attended Cyrus Peirce's School for Young Ladies. In
her younger years she was taught chiefly by her father. She was largely self-educated
afterward.
Maria was the third child of William and Lydia Mitchell, a
Quaker family with ten children.
On October 1, 1847 Maria Mitchell discovered a
telescopic comet, an accomplishment for which she received a gold medal from
King Frederick of Denmark. She was the first woman elected to the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of
Science, and the American Philosophical Society. She was a Professor of
Astronomy at Vassar College. She founded and was president of the American
Association for the Advancement of Women. She led one session of the Women's
Congress. Maria was given an honorary degree from Columbia College. A crater on
the moon was named for her. Posthumously, a tablet with her name was put in the
New York University Hall of Fame, her name was carved in a frieze at the Boston
Public Library, and she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.
DATE OF DEATH: June 28, 1889
PLACE OF DEATH: Lynn, Massachusetts