Williamina Fleming
Williamina Paton Fleming (May 15, 1857 – May 21, 1911) was a Scottish astronomer and the first Curator of Astronomical Photographs. She worked at the Harvard College Observatory from 1881 until hear death in 1911. Her sister Johanna Mackie also worked at the Harvard College Observatory.
Fleming immigrated to America in 1878, taking a position as housekeeper for Edward C. Pickering, the Harvard College Observatory’s fourth director. In 1881, Pickering promoted Fleming to join the team of Computers studying and performing calculations on astronomical glass plate photographs.
During her career she cataloged over 10,000 stars, discovered 310 variable stars, 10 novae, and 52 nebulae, including the Horsehead Nebula photographed on glass plate B02312. In addition to her astronomical research, Fleming was responsible for managing the publication of the Henry Draper Memorial, a program to systematically photograph, study, and describe stellar spectra. The Harvard classification system is still the standard used in astronomy today. She also organized the regular publication of the Annals of the Harvard College Observatory. Over her 30-years at the HCO, she supervised and mentored the team of Women Astronomical Computers, a contemporary term applied to the women astronomers, assistants, family members, and volunteers who worked in the plate stacks at the Observatory.
One of the most known women astronomers of her day, Fleming was a member of both the Astronomical Society of America and the Astronomical Society of France. She was invited by the Congress of Astronomy and Astrophysics to participate at Chicago’s Columbian Exposition of 1893. Fleming was elected as an Honorary Fellow in Astronomy by Wellesley College, and in 1906, she became the first American woman elected as an honorary member of the British Royal Astronomical Society. Only months before her death, Fleming was presented with a gold medal for her discovery of new stars by the Astronomical Society of Mexico.
Interested in Fleming's work at the observatory? Read more about her work with variable stars and nebula, or about her administration of the Harvard Computers!
References
Cannon, A. J. (1911). Williamina Paton Fleming. Science, Vol. 33(861), 987–988. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.33.861.987.
Smith Zrull, L. (2021). Women in Glass: Women at the Harvard Observatory during the Era of Astronomical Glass Plate Photography, 1875–1975. Journal for the History of Astronomy, Vol. 52(2), 115–146. DOI: 10.1177/00218286211000470 journals.sagepub.com/home/jha.
The Harvard Plate Stacks. Plate Stacks Collection Timeline. Retrieved January 9, 2025, from https://platestacks.cfa.harvard.edu/collection-timeline.
Select Publications
Williamina Fleming published many times about her research during her career. A list of selected publications is below.
Pickering, Edward C. The Draper Catalogue of stellar spectra photographed with the 8-inch Bache telescope as a part of the Henry Draper memorial. 1890. Annals of Harvard College Observatory, vol. 27, pp.1-388. ADS Bibcode: 1890AnHar..27....1P. This is the first publication of the Draper Catalogue of stellar spectra. Pickering credits Fleming as performing the "greater portion of the work" on measurements and classification of the spectra, and preparation for publication.
Fleming, Williamina P. 1893. “A Field for Woman’s Work in Astronomy.” Astronomy and Astro-Physics 12 (8): 683–89. Fleming's paper that was presented to the Congress of Astronomy and Astrophysics at Chicago’s Columbian Exposition of 1893.
Fleming, Williamina P. A photographic study of variable stars forming a part of the Henry Draper memorial. 1907. Annals of the Astronomical Observatory of Harvard College ; v. 47, pt. 1. ADS Bibcode: 1907AnHar..47....1F
Fleming, Williamina P. Stars having peculiar spectra. 1912. Annals of the Astronomical Observatory of Harvard College ; v. 56, no. 6. ADS Bibcode: 1912AnHar..56..165F
Search ((author:"Fleming, Williamina") AND year:1876-1912) in ADS for a full list of Fleming's published work.
Research Sources
Photographs
Photographs of Williamina Fleming
Section in Progress
COLLECTION Identifier: HUGFP 125
Should auld acquantance be forgot! : photographs, [ca. 1900-ca. 1920]
ITEM — Box: HUGFP 125.80, Box 2 Identifier: HUGFP 125,
“Light gray pages with photographs glued in; dark gray paper cover. The album contains 15 photographs, including cyanotypes and silver gelatin prints. Photographs include depictions of the Harvard College Observatory and environs and Harvard College Observatory staff, including women astronomers. Some people depicted are Annie Jump Cannon, Williamina Fleming, Florence Cushman, and Johann Mackie.”
Records of the Harvard College Observatory : Photographs, 1887-approximately 1930? and undated
[Williamina Fleming at Harvard College Observatory plate stacks, approximately 1900]
ITEM — unspecified: UAV 630.271 Box 33 Identifier: UAV 630.271, Image Number 388
Portrait of Fleming in front of Wooden Plate Cabinets.
Photographic views of the Harvard College Observatory
Group Photograph - 1910
ITEM — Box: 2, Folder: 26 Identifier: HUV 1210
*Also present/notable in photograph - Annie Jump Cannon, Henrietta Swan Leavitt, Margaret Harwood, Florence Cushman, Mollie O’Reilly, Sarah F. Whiting, Solon Bailey, E.C. Pickering, Edward Skinner King.
Photographic views of the Harvard College Observatory, 1860-1964.
COLLECTION Identifier: HUV 1210
ITEM --- Box: 1, Folder: 11 of 28, [1885-1901]
“This folder contains ten photographs of the interior of the Harvard College Observatory... Included in the photographs are Mary Palmer Draper, Antonia Maury, Williamina Fleming, and Director Edward Charles Pickering... All photographs are albumen prints.”
This folder contains the “Computer Room” set of photographs with Anna Palmer Draper, and one with Edward Charles Pickering.
Ca. 1900 - Several women and members of the crew of the S.S. Mina.
Popular Media & Commemoration
Fleming1, a Nebula named in her honor. She discovered it in 1910.
Moon Crater, shared with Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of penicillin.