Vera Gushee
Vera Gushee | |
|---|---|
 Vera Gushee, from the 1916 yearbook of Smith College | |
| Born | February 7, 1894 Cincinnatus, New York, U.S. |
| Died | October 27, 1937 (age 43) New York, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Astronomer, college professor |
Vera Marie Gushee (February 7, 1894 – October 27, 1937) was an American astronomer and a professor at Smith College.
Early life and education[edit]
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[edit]
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[edit]
- "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[edit]
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[edit]
- ^ "The Verb 'To Read'". The Boston Globe. 1906-01-28. p. 44. Retrieved 2024-04-29 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ University of Chicago Alumni Council (1920). Alumni Directory, the University of Chicago, 1919. University of Chicago Press. p. 138.
- ^ a b "Vera Gushee". Science Through Time: The Legacy of the Van Vleck Observatory Visitors. Retrieved 2024-04-28.
- ^ a b Hurd, H. E. (1943). "A Memorial to Miss Vera M. Gushee". Popular Astronomy. 51: 169.
- ^ President, Smith College (1925). Annual Report. p. 46.
- ^ "Cummington". The North Adams Transcript. 1930-04-07. p. 9. Retrieved 2024-04-29 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Miss Vera M. Gushee Lectures at Harvard". The Boston Globe. 1934-10-24. p. 17. Retrieved 2024-04-29 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Salzedo Work Feature of Smith College Concert" Musical America 33(21)(March 19, 1921): 31.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Benefit Lecture for Cummington School". The Boston Globe. 1934-10-22. p. 20. Retrieved 2024-04-29 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Gushee, Vera M. "Simple observations with a small telescope" Popular Astronomy 26 (1918): 367.
- ^ Gushee, Vera M. "Simple observations with a small telescope" Popular Astronomy 26 (1918): 367.
- ^ Gushee, Vera M. "A study of proper motions in the cluster NGC 663" Astronomical Journal32 (1919): 117-120.
- ^ Gushee, Vera M., and Margaret L. Furrey. "Orbit of beta GC 8933" Popular Astronomy 33 (1925): 308.
- ^ Gushee, Vera (1941). "Thomas Wright of Durham, Astronomer". Isis. 33 (2): 197–218. ISSN 0021-1753.
- ^ "Capturing the Stars: The Untold History of Women at Yerkes Observatory". University of Chicago Library. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
- ^ Palmieri, Kristine; Twiss-Brooks, Andrea (2023). "Capturing the Stars: The Untold History of Women at Yerkes Observatory". History Newsletter. 55 (2): 34–35.
External links[edit]
- A 1916 photograph of Gushee with colleague Elsie Johns, in the University of Chicago Library