Angeline Stickney
Encyclopedia
Astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
Asaph Hall
Asaph Hall
Asaph Hall III was an American astronomer who is most famous for having discovered the moons of Mars in 1877...
. She did not use her first name and so is also known as Angeline Stickney Hall.
Angeline was born to Theophilus Stickney and Electa Cook.
Though poor, Angeline Stickney was able to attend Central College in McGrawville, New York
New Hudson, New York
New Hudson is a town in Allegany County, New York, United States. The population was 736 at the 2000 census.The Town of New Hudson is on the west border of the county, northeast of Olean, New York.- History :The town was first settled around 1820....
with help from her sister Ruth and by teaching at the college. She majored in science and mathematics, doing coursework in calculus and mathematical astronomy. Central College was a progressive school where students of modest means, including women and free African Americans, could earn a college degree. It was here that she became passionate about the causes of women's suffrage and the abolition of slavery.
At Central College, Asaph Hall took her courses in geometry and German, and she gave up her career to marry him at Elkhorn, Wisconsin
Elkhorn, Wisconsin
Elkhorn is a city in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. It is southwest of Milwaukee and northwest of Chicago. The population was 7,305 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Walworth County...
on March 31, 1856. She is believed to have helped him with mathematical calculations early in his career.
She encouraged him to continue his search for satellite
Natural satellite
A natural satellite or moon is a celestial body that orbits a planet or smaller body, which is called its primary. The two terms are used synonymously for non-artificial satellites of planets, of dwarf planets, and of minor planets....
s of Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
when he was ready to give up, and he successfully discovered Phobos
Phobos (moon)
Phobos is the larger and closer of the two natural satellites of Mars. Both moons were discovered in 1877. With a mean radius of , Phobos is 7.24 times as massive as Deimos...
and Deimos
Deimos (moon)
Deimos is the smaller and outer of Mars's two moons . It is named after Deimos, a figure representing dread in Greek Mythology. Its systematic designation is '.-Discovery:Deimos was discovered by Asaph Hall, Sr...
.
The largest crater on Phobos, Stickney crater, is named after her.
Hall home-schooled all four of her children and all attended Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. Her third son, Angelo Hall, a Unitarian
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
minister, wrote her biography. The oldest son, also named Asaph, was born on October 6, 1859 and served as director of Detroit Observatory
Detroit Observatory
The Detroit Observatory sits on the corner of Observatory and Ann streets in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It was built in 1854, and was the first scientific research facility at the University of Michigan...
from 1892 to 1905. Other sons were named Samuel (second son) and Percival (fourth son); Percival Hall
Percival Hall
Percival Hall, was the second president of Gallaudet University . He was a strong advocate of the use of sign language in the education of the deaf, and also an advocate for deaf rights to vote, work, participate in sports, marry, and drive automobiles.The son of astronomer Asaph Hall, III and...
(1872–1953) was the second president of Gallaudet University
Gallaudet University
Gallaudet University is a federally-chartered university for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing, located in the District of Columbia, U.S...
from 1910 to 1946 (he himself was not deaf).
She died at North Andover, Massachusetts
North Andover, Massachusetts
North Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. North Andover is the home of Merrimack College, a private, Catholic four-year institution ....
at age 61.
Books
- Angelo Hall. An Astronomer's Wife: The Biography of Angeline Hall. Baltimore: Nunn & Company, 1908. http://books.google.com/books?id=-7Z1TosCW5YC This book has been reprinted by BiblioLife (December 9, 2008).