Leah Allen
Leah Allen | |
|---|---|
 The Crocker eclipse expedition. Allen is third from the right. | |
| Born | November 6, 1884 |
| Died | February 1973 (aged 88) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | astronomy |
| Institutions | Lick Observatory, Wellesley College, Hood College |
| Academic advisors | Winslow Upton |
| Notes | |
Leah Brown Allen (November 6, 1884 – February 1973) was an American astronomer. Allen was Professor of Astronomy and Director of Williams Observatory at Hood College.
Education and career
[edit]She attended Hope High School in Providence, graduating in 1903. She then studied at Pembroke College in Brown University, 1904–1906, where she did special work in astronomy[a] under Professor Winslow Upton, director of Ladd Observatory.[4] She received an A.B. degree in 1907.[5] Allen joined Lick Observatory as Carnegie Assistant in 1908 after a recommendation by Upton.[4] At Lick her work involved "...duties in the measurement and reduction of spectrograms."[6] She received her M.A. from Wellesley College in 1912.[7] Her thesis was a spectroscopic study of the star Eta Centauri. Allen participated in Lick Observatory's Crocker expedition to view the total Solar eclipse of June 8, 1918 at Goldendale, Washington.[8] She was an assistant professor of astronomy at Wellesly, along with Lois Tripp Slocum, in the early 1920s.[9] She was affiliated with the Whitin Observatory at Wellesley.[10] Allen began teaching astronomy at Hood in 1928.[11] She was director of the John H. Williams Observatory at Hood.[12] She gave lectures at amateur astronomy groups.[13] She retired from teaching in 1955.[14]
Personal life
[edit]Allen was the daughter of Samuel F. Allen, who had been described as a "veteran balloonist."[15] Her mother was Abby L. Allen.[1]
She enjoyed sailing from the time that she was in college. Her sister considered her an expert at handling her sailboat in inclement weather.[4]
She became active in the women's suffrage movement after reading a speech by her sister, called “Why Women Should Be Given the Vote.” She was an advocate of voting rights and played a role in earning women the right to vote in Rhode Island.[11]
Awards and honors
[edit]The following prizes are named in her honor:
- Leah B. Allen Award for Excellence in Math and Science, Hood College
- Leah B. Allen Prize in Astronomy, Hood College
Allen was a member of the following societies:
- American Astronomical Society[16]
- American Association of Variable Star Observers, Charter Member[17][18]
Correspondents
[edit]Publications
[edit]- Allen, Leah B. "Study of η Centauri" (1911) [Manuscript]. Project PHAEDRA: Preserving Harvard's Early Data and Research in Astronomy, ID: KG11365.685, pp. 1–50. Harvard College Observatory.
- Allen, Leah B. (1912). A study of the peculiar spectrum of the star Eta Centauri (Masters thesis). Wellesley College. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
- Allen, Leah B (October 1918). "Absorption lines in the spectrum of Nova Aquilae, No. 3". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 30 (177): 308–310. Bibcode:1918PASP...30..308A. doi:10.1086/122760. JSTOR 40710143. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
- Allen, Leah B. (1923). "Notes from 'The stone of the sun and the first chapter of the history of Mexico'". Popular Astronomy. 31 (640): 640–641. Bibcode:1923PA.....31..640A. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
- Allen, Leah B. (1925). "The radial velocities of twenty southern variable stars of class Me". Lick Observatory Bulletin. 369: 71–73. Bibcode:1925LicOB..12...71A. doi:10.5479/ADS/bib/1925LicOB.12.71A. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
- Duncan, John C.; Allen, Leah B. (1927). "A new celestial globe for the use of students". Publications of the American Astronomical Society. 5: 145–146. Bibcode:1927PAAS....5..145D. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
- Allen, Leah B.; Marsh, Franklin F. (August 1932). "Photographic light curves of RR Leonia and V Leonis Minoris". Harvard College Observatory Bulletin. 888: 19–22. Bibcode:1932BHarO.888...19A. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
- Shapley, Harlow; Allen, Leah B.; Greenstein, Naomi (August 1954). "New variable stars in Centaurus". Astronomical Journal. 59 (1219): 270–271. Bibcode:1954AJ.....59..270S. doi:10.1086/107011. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b "Person Details for Leah Brown Allen, Rhode Island Births and Christenings, 1600-1914". FamilySearch. Archived from the original on 2017-03-29. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
- ^ "Person Details for Leah Allen, United States Social Security Death Index". FamilySearch. Archived from the original on 2017-03-29. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
- ^ Announcement of Courses Offered in Brown University. 1906. p. 18. Retrieved 6 August 2025.
- ^ a b c Proctor, Mary (August 23, 1908). "New England Girl Comes to Lick Observatory". San Francisco Call. Retrieved 2025-02-21.
- ^ Register 1907-08. University of California Bulletin. Vol. II. Berkeley: University of California. February 1909. p. 42. Retrieved 6 August 2025.
- ^ Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Vol. XVIII. San Francisco, CA: Astronomical Society of the Pacific. February 10, 1906. p. 246. Retrieved 6 August 2025.
- ^ "Legacies and Gifts 1941-42". Wellesley College Bulletin. Wellesley College. 15 October 1942 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Campbell, W.W.; Boothroyd, S.L.; Curtis, H.D.; Hoover, J.E.; Allen, Leah B.; et al. (August 1918). "The Crocker eclipse expedition from the Lick Observatory, University of California June 8, 1918". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 30 (176): 219–240. Bibcode:1918PASP...30..219C. doi:10.1086/122736. JSTOR 40710021. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
- ^ "Faculty". Wellesley College Bulletin. 1924. p. 12. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
- ^ Allen, Leah (1916). Wilson, Herbert C. (ed.). "A More Favorable Public Opinion". Popular Astronomy. 24. Goodsell Observatory, Carleton College: 538–540. Bibcode:1916PA.....24..538M. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
- ^ a b Bodine, Andrew (April 30, 2013). Important Names in the History of Mathematics at Hood College (PDF). Hood College (Thesis). Retrieved 21 February 2025.
- ^ "Providence Girl Able Astronomer". Providence Sunday Journal. Providence, RI. June 15, 1930.
- ^ "The Skyscrapers". Popular Astronomy. 41 (120): 120-121. January 1933. Bibcode:1933PA.....41....1. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
- ^ Breen, Robert G. (22 June 1955). "Stars To Lose A Star Student". The Sun. Baltimore, Md. p. 14.
- ^ "Veteran Balloonist has First Trip in Heavier-Than-Air Ship". Providence Journal. Providence, RI. July 17, 1930.
- ^ "History of the American Astronomical Society". Archived from the original on 2008-05-13. Retrieved 2009-06-26.
The Fifty-seventh Meeting of the AAS was held at Hood College, Frederick, Maryland, from Monday to Wednesday, December 28–30, 1936 at the invitation of Leah B. Allen, Professor of Astronomy.
- ^ Hoffleit, Dorrit (2001). "The Maria Mitchell Observatory: For Astronomical Research and Public Enlightenment" (PDF). Journal of the American Association of Variable Star Observers. 30 (1). AAVSO: 70. Bibcode:2001JAVSO..30...62H. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-01-09.
- ^ Hogg, Helen Sawyer (1984). "Variable stars". In Hoskin, Michael (ed.). Astrophysics and twentieth-century astronomy to 1950: Part A. The General History of Astronomy. Vol. 4. Cambridge University Press. p. 75. ISBN 9780521242561. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
- ^ "Finding Aid to the Papers of Annie Jump Cannon, 1863-1978". Neils Bohr Library and Archives. American Institute of Physics. Archived from the original on 2011-06-04. Retrieved 2025-02-21.
- ^ "Finding Aid to the William F. Meggers Papers, 1917-1966". www.aip.org.