Mary Watson Whitney

Mary Watson Whitney (September 11, 1847 – January 20, 1921) was an American astronomer and was the head of the Vassar College Observatory for 22 years, where 102 scientific papers were published under her guidance.

Early life and education

Whitney was born on September 11, 1847, in Waltham, Massachusetts. Her parents were Mary Watson Crehore and Samuel Buttrick Whitney, a successful real estate businessman who was wealthy enough to provide her with a good education for a woman at the time. She attended school in Waltham, where she reportedly excelled in mathematics, and graduated from the public high school in 1863. She was privately tutored for one year before she entered Vassar College in 1865, where she met the astronomer Maria Mitchell. During her time at Vassar College, her father died and her brother was lost at sea. She earned her degree in 1868.

From 1869 to 1870, Whitney studied quaternions and celestial mechanics under Benjamin Peirce at Harvard University. Because women were not permitted as students at Harvard at the time, she attended his courses as a guest. In 1871 Whitney was made the first president of Vassar College's alumnae association. She earned a master's degree from Vassar in 1872. She subsequently lived in Zürich for 3 years where she studied mathematics and celestial mechanics. In 1902, she became the first president of the Maria Mitchell Association in Nantucket, Massachusetts.

Whitney believed that science provided strong career opportunities for women. She hoped that women would soon become more active in practical chemistry, architecture, dentistry, and agriculture, which were more lucrative and, in Whitney's view, particularly well suited to women. Moreover, she believed that scientific training would prepare them to be good mothers, falling into more traditional tropes of the early 20th century. She also funded the advancement of women in science. In 1908, when the Maria Mitchell Observatory was built on Nantucket, Whitney raised money to fund a female research fellow.