Mary Anna Draper

John White Alexander , Mary Anna Palmer Draper (1839–1914), 1888, New York Public Library

Mary Anna Draper , also known as Mary Anna Palmer Draper , (September 19, 1839 - December 8, 1914) was an American, best known for her work with her husband, Henry Draper , with astronomical photography and research. She helped found the Mount Wilson Observatory and created an award for astronomical research, the Henry Draper Medal from the National Academy of Sciences .

Life

Mary Anna Palmer was born in Stonington, Connecticut in 1839 to Mary Ann Suydam and Courtlandt Palmer. Her father was a businessman and real estate investor. At his death in 1874 he left her and her three brothers a great fortune.

In 1867 she married Henry Draper , a physician and professor of chemistry and physiology at New York City University , now New York University . He was particularly interested in astro spectroscopy and was an experienced amateur astronomer.

Career

Draper developed an interest in astronomy in her husband, and the couple made the first images of the spectrum of a star with a large telescope that Henry built in 1872 at his observatory near their summer home in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York . The couple traveled to Rawlins, Wyoming to observe a solar eclipse in 1878 . For fifteen years the Drapers worked together on observations, photographs and laboratory work. In doing so, she became an experienced technician.

After her husband's death in 1882, she donated her equipment to the Harvard College Observatory and donated the Henry Draper Memorial to fund the continuation of her research. Although she was no longer actively researching, she regularly visited the observatory to keep up with the progress of the research. The funds she donated enabled Edward Charles Pickering of the university to classify stars based on features found in photographs of the spectra of stars. Their influence led to women astronomers working at the observatory; among them Henrietta Swan Leavitt , whose work on Cepheids resulted in their being used as important galactic distance indicators.

She created a prize for astronomical research, the Henry Draper Medal , and helped found the Mount Wilson Observatory. She held scientific lectures and exhibitions in her home laboratory and stayed in New York City until her death from pneumonia in 1914 .

After her death, she bequeathed her extensive collection of Egyptian artifacts, classical antiques, tapestries, 22 miniature paintings and other works of art to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on her behalf. She also bequeathed a legacy for further research at Harvard Observatory.

Individual evidence

^ John Arthur Garraty (1920–2007), Mark Christopher Carnes (since 1950): American national biography . Ed .: American Council of Learned Societies. Oxford University Press, New York 1999, ISBN 0-19-520635-5 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Pamela Proffitt: Notable Women Scientists . Gale Group , 1999, ISBN 978-0-7876-3900-6 ( online ).
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie: Women in Science: Antiquity Through the Nineteenth Century: a Biographical Dictionary with Annotated Bibliography . MIT Press , 1986, ISBN 978-0-262-65038-0 , pp. 75 (English, online ).
^ ^A ^b J. B. Hearnshaw: The Analysis of Starlight: One Hundred and Fifty Years of Astronomical Spectroscopy . Ed .: CUP Archive . 1990, ISBN 978-0-521-39916-6 , pp. 105–106 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
^ ^A ^b Jenny Woodman: The Women 'Computers' Who Revolutionized Astronomy. In: The Atlantic. Retrieved December 3, 2016 .
↑ United States Congressional serial set . 1909, p. 57–62 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
↑ Metropolitan Museum of Art (Ed.): The Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art . 1915, p. 57, 83, 84, 94–97 ( limited preview in Google Book search).

Web links

Commons : Mary Anna Palmer Draper - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Mary Anna Palmer Draper , Harvard College Observatory History

personal data
SURNAME	Draper, Mary Anna
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Palmer Draper, Mary Anna
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American patroness
DATE OF BIRTH	September 19, 1839
DATE OF DEATH	December 8, 1914

[1] John Arthur Garraty (1920–2007), Mark Christopher Carnes (since 1950): American national biography . Ed .: American Council of Learned Societies. Oxford University Press, New York 1999, ISBN 0-19-520635-5 .

[Proffitt-2] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Pamela Proffitt: Notable Women Scientists . Gale Group , 1999, ISBN 978-0-7876-3900-6 ( online ).

[Ogilvie_p._75-3] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie: Women in Science: Antiquity Through the Nineteenth Century: a Biographical Dictionary with Annotated Bibliography . MIT Press , 1986, ISBN 978-0-262-65038-0 , pp. 75 (English, online ).

[Hearnshaw-4] A ^b J. B. Hearnshaw: The Analysis of Starlight: One Hundred and Fifty Years of Astronomical Spectroscopy . Ed .: CUP Archive . 1990, ISBN 978-0-521-39916-6 , pp. 105–106 ( limited preview in Google Book search).

[Woodman-5] A ^b Jenny Woodman: The Women 'Computers' Who Revolutionized Astronomy. In: The Atlantic. Retrieved December 3, 2016 .

[6] United States Congressional serial set . 1909, p. 57–62 ( limited preview in Google Book search).

[7] Metropolitan Museum of Art (Ed.): The Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art . 1915, p. 57, 83, 84, 94–97 ( limited preview in Google Book search).