Posts by pwsbuilder
Charles Dudley vs. The Velociraptor
Oh, the joys of working at a hybrid museum … Notice, no sweat on Charles Dudley. After years of being at the top of New York State politics, he no longer fears anything. The dinosaurs are here, and the exhibit will officially open on June 4th. Charles Dudley will soon disappear behind some scenery until they’re…
Read MoreAn Event of No Ordinary Interest
On August 28, 1856, at the end of a conference for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Albany, the visiting scientists met with many of New York’s political elite to witness the inauguration of the Dudley Observatory. The event probably looked something like this: This is a painting by Thompkinss Matteson (1813-1884),…
Read MoreThe Lazzaroni
Given that the Inauguration of the Dudley Observatory took place right after the AAAS convention, it’s not surprising that many of the attendees were scientists. However, some of the names of the list of attendees stand out: Alexander Dallas Bache, superintendent of the foremost scientific institution in America at the time, the US Costal Survey. …
Read MoreWhere Was Dudley?
I get this question a lot. Actually, I usually get “Where IS Dudley?”, which requires me to explain that we don’t have an observatory at the moment, but we’re working on it. But after that, someone has to explain where the two Dudley Observatory buildings were. Fortunately, because the Observatory’s latitude and longitude needed to be…
Read MoreRestoration of the Pruyn
I’ve been telling everyone for years now that the Pruyn Brashear Telescope is in good shape. It looks that way to me, but really, I’m not the expert. Thankfully, the telescope experts from Ray Museum Studios have now looked at it, and agreed that it’s in be in remarkably good shape for its age. In fact, despite the fact…
Read MoreThe Great Patroness: Blandia Dudley
Writing about Blandina Dudley can be tricky. I can wish it were different, but almost all of our sources focus on her relationship with the men around her. Basically, any discussion of Mrs. Dudley fails the Bechdel test. Mrs. Dudley was born Blandina Bleecker, part of the prosperous Dutch Bleecker family. Her great-grandfather, Jan Jansen…
Read MoreWhere Was Dudley? Part 2
In 1892, Dudley Observatory director Benjamin Boss took stock of the observatory’s position in the field of astronomy and found it wanting. Dudley was had fallen behind the times, with no equipment to do spectroscope work and no telescope capable of doing photo-astronomy. Worse, the position of the Dudley made fixing these problems difficult. The…
Read MoreWhat Happened to the Women Computers?
I’ve spoken about the Dudley Observatory’s corps of women computers several times now. Every time, someone has come up to me afterwards to mention that, back in their day, there still were departments of women working low level mathematical jobs. Without giving away anyone’s age, I can say this runs up until the seventies. This…
Read MoreRecovering the History of Women Computers
As an archivist, I’m not used to covering topical issues. But the history of women computers in the field of science is suddenly getting a lot of attention. The latest is the film “Hidden Figures,” which follows four African American women and their careers as mathematicians in Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory’s computer pool. It’s based on…
Read MoreCan You Find Charles Dudley Cleverly Hiding in this Picture?
Look carefully. He’s a sneaky one, that Charles. Yes, the dinosaurs are going away, so Charles Dudley is out from behind the foliage. Not quite out of hiding yet, because there’s still a lot of equipment moving left, but soon. Poor Chuck, he gets no respect. Though it’s probably not that different from when he…
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