Wikipedia

Vera Gushee

Vera Marie Gushee (February 7, 1894 – October 27, 1937) was an American astronomer and a professor at Smith College.

Vera Gushee
Vera Gushee, from the 1916 yearbook of Smith College
BornFebruary 7, 1894
Cincinnatus, New York, U.S.
DiedOctober 27, 1937 (age 43)
New York, New York, U.S.
Occupation(s)Astronomer, college professor

Early life and education

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Gushee was born in Cincinnatus, New York, the daughter of Walter E. Gushee and Helen M. Hatch Gushee. Both of her parents were from Maine; her father was a school superintendent in Massachusetts.[1] She graduated from Smith College, and earned a master's degree at the University of Chicago.[2][3] She did not pursue a doctoral degree, explaining in 1933 that "The efforts I have made deliberately are towards a greater broadening of my intellectual background than I could get by aiming toward a Ph.D. in Astronomy."[4]

Career

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Gushee was an assistant professor of astronomy at Smith College in the 1920s.[5] She also taught at Wellesley College,[6][7] and lectured at Harvard University.[4][8] She attended the American Astronomical Society meeting in 1920.[9] She was part of a team of astronomers who photographed a total solar eclipse in 1918, from Matheson, Colorado.[7][10]

At Smith College, Gushee played harp with the Phaneian Harp Ensemble.[11] She spent some summers teaching at the Music Box, an arts school in Cummington, Massachusetts, which was founded by her Smith College friend Katherine Frazier.[12] She also raised funds for Frazier's school.[13]

Publications

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  • "Simple observations with a small telescope" (1918)[14]
  • "A home-made telescope" (1918)[15]
  • "A study of proper motions in the cluster NGC 663" (1919)[16]
  • "Orbit of β GC 8933" (1925, with Margaret L. Furrey)[17]
  • "Thomas Wright of Durham, Astronomer" (1941; published posthumously)[18]

Personal life

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Gushee died in 1937, at the age of 43, in New York City.[3] Her photograph, and a replica of one of her dresses, was part of an exhibit at the University of Chicago Library in 2023, titled "Capturing the Stars: The Untold History of Women at Yerkes Observatory".[19][20]

References

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  1. ^ "The Verb 'To Read'". The Boston Globe. 1906-01-28. p. 44. Retrieved 2024-04-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ University of Chicago Alumni Council (1920). Alumni Directory, the University of Chicago, 1919. University of Chicago Press. p. 138.
  3. ^ a b "Vera Gushee". Science Through Time: The Legacy of the Van Vleck Observatory Visitors. Retrieved 2024-04-28.
  4. ^ a b Hurd, H. E. (1943). "A Memorial to Miss Vera M. Gushee". Popular Astronomy. 51: 169. Bibcode:1943PA.....51..169H.
  5. ^ President, Smith College (1925). Annual Report. p. 46.
  6. ^ "Cummington". The North Adams Transcript. 1930-04-07. p. 9. Retrieved 2024-04-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ a b "Noted Scientists of World Coming to View Eclipse". The Times Record. 1932-08-29. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-04-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Miss Vera M. Gushee Lectures at Harvard". The Boston Globe. 1934-10-24. p. 17. Retrieved 2024-04-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Kass-Simon, Gabriele; Farnes, Patricia; Nash, Deborah (1993). Women of Science: Righting the Record. Indiana University Press. p. 98. ISBN 978-0-253-20813-2.
  10. ^ Morehouse, D. W. "Observations of the Total Solar Eclipse of June 8, 1918, at Matheson, Colorado" The Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science 26(1919): 530.
  11. ^ "Salzedo Work Feature of Smith College Concert" Musical America 33(21)(March 19, 1921): 31.
  12. ^ Liebenow, Caroline (1999-08-09). "Cummington's arts community forged from nature, creativity". Daily Hampshire Gazette. pp. 1, 4. Retrieved 2024-04-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Benefit Lecture for Cummington School". The Boston Globe. 1934-10-22. p. 20. Retrieved 2024-04-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Gushee, Vera M. "Simple observations with a small telescope" Popular Astronomy 26 (1918): 367.
  15. ^ Gushee, Vera M. "Simple observations with a small telescope" Popular Astronomy 26 (1918): 367.
  16. ^ Gushee, Vera M. "A study of proper motions in the cluster NGC 663" Astronomical Journal32 (1919): 117-120.
  17. ^ Gushee, Vera M., and Margaret L. Furrey. "Orbit of beta GC 8933" Popular Astronomy 33 (1925): 308.
  18. ^ Gushee, Vera (1941). "Thomas Wright of Durham, Astronomer". Isis. 33 (2): 197–218. doi:10.1086/358539. ISSN 0021-1753. JSTOR 330741.
  19. ^ "Capturing the Stars: The Untold History of Women at Yerkes Observatory". University of Chicago Library. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
  20. ^ Palmieri, Kristine; Twiss-Brooks, Andrea (2023). "Capturing the Stars: The Untold History of Women at Yerkes Observatory". History Newsletter. 55 (2): 34–35.
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