An astronomer at the Yerkes Observatory telescope, year unknown. Courtesy of the Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.
What can we learn about women's contributions to astronomy by studying the history of the Yerkes Observatory?
This project will reconstruct the scientific work and lived experiences of fifteen women who conducted research at Yerkes Observatory in the early twentieth century. By studying their scientific practices, collaborations, and professional networks, the team will transform our understanding of women’s contributions to astronomy and astrophysics.
Women did science at Yerkes Observatory in the early twentieth century. These women were not merely calculators, assistants, or secretaries. They got degrees, collaborated with peers of both sexes, and worked on papers, albeit ones for which they were rarely listed as authors. (Husbands or deceased men more often received the credit.) But while their lives and labor are all but invisible in public records, their contributions to science – and their voices – remain preserved in archives across the country. The interdisciplinary team on this project will begin reconstructing the scientific work and lived experiences of approximately fifteen women in their own words through new archival research. The team will focus on four topics: (1) women’s networks anchored at women’s colleges; (2) women’s research and contributions to observatory operations; (3) Yerkes’s role as a unique place for women in science; (4) women’s personal and professional relationships with their male colleagues.
Investigating the dynamic ways these women contributed to the advancement of science and their varied experiences as women in science will open a new chapter in the history of astronomy and astrophysics that foregrounds the importance of hitherto invisible labor. It will also contribute to a larger reevaluation of scientific progress, which de-prioritizes the work of so-called great men or exceptional women in favor of a more holistic and inclusive conception of scientific research. Our key question is: In what ways can the study of scientific practices, research collaborations, and professional networks transform our understanding of women’s contributions to astronomy and astrophysics?
Professor Emeritus, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics and in the College
University of Chicago
Postdoctoral Researcher at the Rank of Instructor in the Institute on the Formation of Knowledge
University of Chicago
Director of Humanities and Area Studies
University of Chicago Library
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UChicago News reports on research findings about dozens of previously unknown women whose work helped advance 20th-century astronomy.
This symposium brought together experts to consider questions of labor, credit, and expertise in the production of astronomical research.
Carousel with 3 slides shown at a time. Use the Previous and Next buttons to navigate, or the slide dot buttons at the end to jump to slides.
UChicago News reports on research findings about dozens of previously unknown women whose work helped advance 20th-century astronomy.
Carousel with 3 slides shown at a time. Use the Previous and Next buttons to navigate, or the slide dot buttons at the end to jump to slides.
This symposium brought together experts to consider questions of labor, credit, and expertise in the production of astronomical research.
