Women Astronomers
“At Harvard College Observatory (now the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), women computers studied glass plate photographs of the night sky. Here they catalogued stars, identifying variables, interpreting stellar spectra, counting galaxies, and measuring the vast distances in space. Several of them made game-changing discoveries in astronomy and astrophysics. In these books, follow the early works of women like Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, who discovered that stars, and the whole universe, were made abundantly of hydrogen -- a discovery that earned her the first PhD in Astronomy from Harvard. Interested in historical women? Love astronomy?” Help the Smithsonian with Project Phaedra in which you will transcribe the work of the Harvard Observatory's women computers and see which stars shine the brightest.
How do I get started? Just go to the Smithsonian website and start transcribing right now.
How much time will this take? This is a low time commitment. Spend as much time as you want, one hour or many. You will be helping these national treasures to be searchable and discoverable by all!
How do I expand this narrative arc? If historical research or women’s rights are in your narrative arc, consider building on this interest with one of the following:
See our post on getting any historical research you may have done published in The Concord Review.
See our post about the National World War II Museum History Contest.
If your school offers the ability to do an independent study or writing projects, consider doing a research project on the lives of these amazing female computers. Note: these papers are Primary Sources for historical research purposes which makes any such research project even more impressive!
HOT TIP: This is a great little project to kick off or complement a general interest in history, women’s rights or astronomy. Make sure to build on this project with some larger and more time-intensive commitments in these interest areas.