Postcard
date: label: date made
content: 1907-1917
name: label: sitter
content: Mitchell, Maria
label: maker
content: Wyer, Henry Sherman
notes: label: Description
content: Postcard showing a woman sitting on the observing chair in front of a large refracting telescope. The accompanying text reads, “Prof. Maria Mitchell in the Observatory at Vassar College. June 1878.” The back is divided, with space for the address on the right and space for a message on the left. It is marked “Printed in Germany for Henry S. Wyer, Nantucket, Mass., U.S.A. No. 582” and indicates that a 1¢ stamp is required for domestic use and a 2¢ stamp for foreign use.
label: Description
content: Maria Mitchell (1818-1889) was America’s first woman astronomer, America’s first woman scientist of note, and the first professor of astronomy at Vassar College.
label: Description
content: Henry Sherman Wyer (1847-1920) was a photographer from Nantucket who published many of the earliest postcards of that island community. He was also active in the Nantucket Historical Society and the Maria Mitchell Association.
label: Description
content: While the photograph on this postcard was taken in 1878, the postcard was published between March 1, 1907, (when postcards with a divided back were first permitted in the U.S.) and 1917 (when the domestic postage for a postcard was raised to 2¢).
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: Germany
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
label: See more items in
content: Science & Mathematics
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Paul Neely
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2009.0212.01
label: accession number
content: 2009.0212
label: catalog number
content: 2009.0212.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: postcard
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: cardboard (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 8.8 cm x 14.2 cm; 3 15/32 in x 5 19/32 in
label: Measurements
content: overall: 3 7/16 in x 5 1/2 in; 8.73125 cm x 13.97 cm