The grave of Maria Mitchell is marked by a 3' high white headstone with a curved top set on a two tiered base. Near the top of the headstone is a recessed dado that is inscribed with the name MARIA MITCHELL in raised letters. Below are is the incised inscription:
DIED JUNE 28, 1889
The headstone is located in a family plot surrounced by a decorative iron fence that is painted black.
Maria Mitchell was born in Nantucket on August 1, 1818. She was educated in local schools, one of which was operated by her father William Mitchell, an amateur astronomer who introduced her to astronomy. She opened her own school in 1835.
Mitchell achieved worlwide fame as an astronomer for her discovery a comet, which is now known as comet C/1847 T1, on October 1, 1847. For her discovery she was awarded the King of Denmark's Cometary Prize Medal in 1848. In 1849, she accepted a position with the U.S. Coast Survey where she was responsible for doing computing and field research for the for the U.S. Nautical Almanac Office.
She became the first woman elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 1865, she was named a Professor of Astronomy at Vassar College, a women's college in Poughkeepsie, NY where she was the director of the Vassar College Observatory. During her tenure she wrote the astronomy column for Scientific American magazine.
In 1869, she was elected as the first woman in the American Philosophical Society. She subsequently received honorary doctorates from Hanover College, Columbia University, and Rutgers Female College.
In 1994, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. She is universally regarded as the first woman profesional astronomer in America.
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