History of the McCormick Observatory.


I want to emphasize the early history of astronomy  and the 
observatory at the U of VA.  There is only sketchy information
about the earliest period, and some of the published details are 
contradictory.

In August of 1818 a commission was assembled at the neutral venue 
of Rockfish Gap, the south end of Shenendoah Nat Park, to 
recommend a site, building plan, and the branches of learning for 
a state university, that is UVa also known as Mr. Jefferson's 
University.  Although there was no mention of astronomy in the 
Rockfish Gap Report, Jefferson certainly intended it to be in the 
curriculum.

For example Philip Bruce writes in his history of UVA that 
"astronomy was a study Jefferson looked upon as almost as 
important as architecture"

Moreover Jefferson had in mind that the interior of the rotunda 
(jefferson's adaption of the pantheon on the central grounds) 
should be "painted sky-blue and spangled with gilt stars".  There 
was to be a chair and boom arrangement so the instructor could 
be lifted to the ceiling to point out particular stars.

Jefferson had also designed an observatory building "to be 
constructed so massively in its foundation and walls that it 
would be impossible for it to be liable at any time to disturbing 
vibrations. There was to be a cupola to shelter the telescope, 
with openings toward every point of the horizon..."


In october 1825 the University purchased 153 acres "comprehending 
a small mountain peculiarly adapted, and important to be secured, 
for the purpose of an observatory, whenever the future advance of 
circumstances may render such establishment desirable"

Jeff died in 1826 and Circumstances advanced only slowly.

A small sturcture was erected on Observatory Mountain about March 
1828, 


The Board of Visitors in oct 1828 direct physical plant to "take 
means for complete the present builidng, or erecting a new one 
and preparing it for use

We find further insturctions in subsequent years:

july 1930 'so soon as funds will permit...procure for the use of 
the observatory a telescope of the scale and description" 
recommended

July 1833 "sell the chronometer in the observatory and to 
purchase a better telescope"


 In a history by Patton and Doswell published in 1900 they credit 
a  "small building for astronomical purposes, perhaps the first 
observatory in America" on observatory Mountain but it is not 
clear that it wasever properly equiped and in 1859 it was pulled 
down.

In the 1860's there was a small observatory near the central 
grounds with perhaps a 4-inch refractor.

In september 1866 the Board of visitors minutes record that "an 
observatory and chair of practical astronomy is one of the 
measures necessary to placing this institution abreast of the 
other scientific institutions in this country".  They sought to 
lure capt Mathew Maury to UVa  that "through the influence and 
reputation of Capt Maury the necessary means may be obtained for 
the accomplishment of so desirable an object"

Maury had been the first superindent of the Naval Observatory, 
but resigned to join the confederacy at the outbreak of civil war 
and following the war settled in Britain  

Evidently Virginia had no success in getting Maury or the 
"necessary means" and Maury accepted a professorship in 
meteorology at the V M I in Lexington VA in 1868.



I beleive it there was a measure of sibling rivalry in the 
generosity of Leander McC in wishing to endowe his home 
state with the largest telescope in the world.  By 1867 or so his 
brother Cyrus had given Washington College about $20,000, and 
Leander may have wished to out do that gift - in all of this is 
the dispute over who in fact had invented the first working 
reaper - cyrus or the father Robert - in 1831

-slides-


It seems likely that Leander James visited the state in the 
spring of 1870

In June of 1870 the u accepted Leander's gift of a mower to the 
of Agricultural Department



The issue of the astromical observatory first came before the 
Washington College Board of Trustees on June 21 1870. It was 
immediately referred to a committee for a recommendation on the 
following day.  ON the next day we read "The special committee to 
whom was referred the subject of the "Astronomical Observatory" 
recommend in their report submitted herein, that the subject be 
referred to a committee for further action thereon"

On 1 oct 1870 the committe report describes L MCC's wish to erect 
an "Astronomical Observatory on a most liberal and extensive 
scale" within the limits of "our venerated state" and they 
resolve "to omit nothing which can be properly done to secure" 
the observatory for W&L.

McCormick had required the recipient institution should raise and 
endoment to cmplete hte installation and provide the necessary 
operating budget.

W&L also expressed interest in obtaining the services of Maury. 
(Maury died in 1873 and RE Lee died in Oct 12 1870

Leander may have placed his order with Alvin clark sometime 
during 1870. There is one report that says this first order 
became the the Naval obs telescope, but I think this is unclear. 
There is an May 31 1872 story in the Lexington Gazette quoting 
the Boston globe by way of the Chicago Times that the grinding 
porocess for the navy's instrument has been underway for six 
months, and mentioning the separate order of Leander's which 
telescope "will be presented to the Lee and Washington University 
in Virginia"

It appears that both UVa and W&L thought Leander favored them for 
his gift, this having the effect of placing the two institutions 
in competition for the telescope. Certainly there was great 
disappointment when in 1878 the telescope seemed to be going to 
UVa. 

Leander wrote to Charles Venable on April 17, 1878 "I can assure 
you that I was never more perplexed by any question in my life"

But by then W%L had made little progress in raising the money, 
the telescope was finished and Clark wanted it moved (and 
probably to improve his cash flow) so it came to UVa

Still it was a few more years before the money was available 


The first mention of the obs by the UVa board of visitors occurs 
on June 29th 1881, by which time the Society of Alumini had 
raised the money for the endowment.

Prof Col Charles Venable  - raised $75K  $25K from Wm H 
Vanderbilt

Asaph Hall was called to c'ville to consult on the design of the 
observatory and construction may have started in 1882


In September of 1881 the 'shortlist' for the directorship 
consisted of "Professor Gould of Cordova, prof. Burnham of 
Chicago, and Stone of cincinatti"

Then in may 1882 the u in consultation with Leander chose Ormond 
Stone as the first director of McCormick Observatory.


-slides-


Ormond stone's family moved to chicago when he was of high school 
age  where he met Prof. T. H Stafford an astronomer at the 
newly completed Dearborn Observatory. It may have been here he 
developed an interest in astronomy.  then in 1866 he enrolled 
at the University of Chicago. In 1870 he left Chicago for a 
position at the Naval Observatory and in 1875 became the 
director at the cincinatti Observatory.

Ormond Stone began the first McCormick directorship with 
observations of the transit of Venus in December 1882,these 
observations becoming publication number 1 from the observatory. 

The Observatory's 67-cm  refractor was inaugurated in April 1885

 Stone - who had the nickname 'twinkles' - later made filar 
micrometer measurements of comets, minor planets, the martian 
satellites , spots on jupiter. He discovered about 50 new binary 
stars, and he and his assitants visually surveyed the sky, 
espcially south of -20, for new nebulae. In 1884 he founded the 
"annals of mathematics". 

In 1912 he retired to his farm in Centerville Va  ON January 17 
1933, while walking along the Lee Highway he was struck and 
killed instantly by a C&P telephone company vehicle, becoming the 
first centerville automobile fatality.

Stone's students included H.R.Morgan, H.D.Curtis, C.P.Olivier, 
and R.E.Wilson.



Of these Olivier became a faculty member at UVa in 1913 having 
completed his PhD here. He had been born in charlottesville  and 
the friendship between the Oliveir and Stone families led to an 
association with the observatory and a career in astronomy.
 Olivier founded the American Meteor Society in 1911, 
numereous observations of meteors and calculated orbits for 
meteor streams

metero radiant catloag, double stars, and variable stars

in 1928 went to Penn as director of Flower and Cook

It is said that he did all his arithmetic in his head and didn't 
have a caclculator until he was 88

The AMS continues under Dave Meisel and and the annual dues are 
still $4.00 a year in keeping with Olivier's intent that anyone 
should afford it and to avoid have the $ become more important 
than the work.

He died at age 89 at the time of the perseids August 12



The program of photographic astrometry was started by 
S.A.Mitchell, the Observatory's second director, in 1914. 
Mitchell was a canadian who studied at Queen's University and 
then Johns Hopkins. 

In addition to the work on parallaxes, Mitchell participated in 
10 total solar eclipse expeditions between 1900 and 1937.


vdK came in May 1923

Alexander Vyssotsky came from Pulkovo in sept 1923

pm and gal struct with emma williams

10-inch variable star work and objective prism survey

Harold Alden having been here in the late 'teens and early 20's 
returned from south Africa to become McCormick's third director 
in 1945 continuing the astrometric tradition until 1960

lwf

Modern era of photographic astrometry begun by Pascu with 
observations of the natual satellites of Mars and Jupter through 
specially constructed neutral density filters.


Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune satellite data forJPL 
ephemerides, much unpublished