Phoebe Waterman Haas (September 20, 1882 – 1967) was one of the earliest American women to be awarded a doctorate in astronomy (1913). While her formal professional career ended upon her marriage, she contributed as a

citizen scientist Citizen science (CS) (similar to community science, crowd science, crowd-sourced science, civic science, participatory monitoring, or volunteer monitoring) is scientific research conducted with participation from the public (who are sometimes re ...

, volunteering for the

American Association of Variable Star Observers The American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) is an international nonprofit organization, founded in 1911, focused on coordinating, analyzing, publishing, and archiving variable star observations made largely by amateur astronomers. ...

(AAVSO). The

Phoebe Waterman Haas Public Observatory Phoebe Waterman Haas Public Observatory with a 16inch telescope is a U.S. public observatory located at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. History The observatory of the National Air and Space Museum was named for Phoebe Wate ...

was supported by donations from her family and is named in her honor.

Life

Phoebe Waterman Haas was born in

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

, United States, in 1882, as Emma Phoebe Waterman. Her father was John Charles Waterman. Initially taught at home by her parents, she later went to Grand Rapids, Michigan, to study at High School.

Education and early work

Phoebe Waterman moved from

to New York to study at

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...

, a university for women, where she received a BA degree in 1904. Two years later she earned a master's degree in mathematics and astronomy, working with Caroline E. Furness. At the time, the accepted way for a woman to be professionally involved in the field of astronomy was to be a "computer", performing data analysis and making calculations. As a computer at

Mount Wilson Observatory The Mount Wilson Observatory (MWO) is an astronomical observatory in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The MWO is located on Mount Wilson, a peak in the San Gabriel Mountains near Pasadena, northeast of Los Angeles. The observat ...

from 1909 to 1911, Phoebe worked with leading astronomers such as

George Ellery Hale George Ellery Hale (June 29, 1868 – February 21, 1938) was an American solar astronomer, best known for his discovery of magnetic fields in sunspots, and as the leader or key figure in the planning or construction of several world-lea ...

, Walter S. Adams,

Jacobus Kapteyn Prof Jacobus Cornelius Kapteyn FRS FRSE LLD (19 January 1851 – 18 June 1922) was a Dutch astronomer. He carried out extensive studies of the Milky Way and was the discoverer of evidence for galactic rotation. Kapteyn was also among the fi ...

, and

Harold D. Babcock Harold Delos Babcock (January 24, 1882 – April 8, 1968) was an American astronomer and the father of Horace W. Babcock. He was of English people, English and German people, German ancestry. He was born in Edgerton, Wisconsin, before completi ...

. She was involved in classification and reduction of spectra and measurement of laboratory spectra. She also studied the rotation of the Sun. Phoebe wanted to be a full professional research astronomer, making her own observations as well as doing analyses. In 1911 she applied to the University of California-Berkeley to a doctorate program. She was accepted and was able to make observations at

Lick Observatory The Lick Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the University of California. It is on the summit of Mount Hamilton, in the Diablo Range just east of San Jose, California, United States. The observatory is managed by th ...

in San José, using the Brashear spectrograph on the 36-inch refractor for her research. She was awarded a doctorate of philosophy in Astronomy on May 14, 1913,. Her thesis title was "The Visual Region of the Spectrum of the Brighter Class A Stars." She was the first women in earn a doctorate in astronomy at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. (Waterman's dissertation was published before that of her classmate, Anna Estelle Glancy, who was awarded her degree on the same day.)

Marriage

In 1913, Phoebe was appointed as an assistant to the Argentine National Observatory at Cordoba, Argentina. On the ship traveling to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

she met chemist

Otto Haas Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', ''Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fr ...

. They were married on February 22, 1914. They had two children: Fritz Otto and

John C. Haas John Charles Haas (May 22, 1918 – April 2, 2011) was an American businessman and philanthropist, at one time considered the second richest man in Philadelphia. He was the chairman of global chemical company Rohm and Haas from 1974 to 1978. Under ...

AAVSO work

For many years, Phoebe was an observer, volunteer and benefactor of the

(AAVSO). The AAVSO, founded in 1911, was an organization which fostered collaboration between citizen scientists and professionals. John Crane willed his 4-inch Clark refractor to the AAVSO. After he died in 1927, Phoebe Waterman Haas was able to obtain it. She reported her observations of

variable stars A variable star is a star whose brightness as seen from Earth (its apparent magnitude) changes with time. This variation may be caused by a change in emitted light or by something partly blocking the light, so variable stars are classified as e ...

to the

(AAVSO), submitting 338 observations from 1928 to 1933. She also taught her children and friends about astronomy. In 1953, the AAVSO separated from

Harvard College Observatory The Harvard College Observatory (HCO) is an institution managing a complex of buildings and multiple instruments used for astronomical research by the Harvard University Department of Astronomy. It is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United St ...

, losing both its physical location and much of its funding. Phoebe Waterman Haas volunteered to assist the AAVSO Director,

Margaret Mayall Margaret Walton Mayall (January 27, 1902 – December 6, 1995) was an American astronomer. She was the director of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) from 1949 to 1973. Mayall (born Margaret Lyle Walton) was born in Iron ...

. For the next eleven years, Haas provided vital support by calculating the five- or ten-day means for southern variable stars. Her data formed the basis for light curves published by AAVSO. She and her family also contributed financially in support of the AAVSO. Phoebe Waterman Haas died in 1967.

Legacy

In 1945, following World War II, Phoebe and Otto Haas created the Phoebe Waterman Foundation to help fatherless children and to support medical and educational institutions. Otto Haas himself had had to work at the age of 15 after the death of his father. The foundation was later renamed the

William Penn Foundation The William Penn Foundation is a grant-making foundation established in 1945 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by businessman Otto Haas and his wife Phoebe, and initially called the Phoebe Waterman Foundation. It strives to improve "the quality of ...

. The

Rohm and Haas Rohm and Haas Company is a manufacturer of specialty chemicals for end use markets such as building and construction, electronic devices, packaging, household and personal care products. Headquartered in Philadelphia, the company is organized i ...

company yearly presents an award in Phoebe Haas' name. The Phoebe Waterman Haas Award is given to a woman, nominated by her peers, who demonstrates outstanding leadership and serves as role model inside and outside the company.

Phoebe Waterman Haas Public Observatory

The observatory of the

National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, also called the Air and Space Museum, is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, it opened its main building on the Nat ...

in Washington, D.C. was named the

in recognition of a US$6 million donation from the Thomas W. Haas Foundation (founded by Phoebe's grandson) to establish an endowment for the museum's Public Observatory Program.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haas, Phoebe Waterman American women astronomers Vassar College alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni University of Chicago alumni University of Chicago faculty 1882 births 1967 deaths 20th-century American women scientists 20th-century American astronomers Scientists from North Dakota American women academics