Category Archives: digital library

Happy Ada Lovelace Day!

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On October 15, 2013, we celebrate Ada Lovelace Day, an annual event recognizing achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and math.  Ada Lovelace (1815-1852) was an English mathematician and writer, as well as a countess, and is known for her work on mathematician Charles Babbage’s early mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine.  Her work included what is considered to be the first algorithm meant to be processed by a machine — granting her recognition as the world’s first computer programmer. [1, 2]

It is in this spirit of scientific exploration, critical thinking, and a liberal arts education that we recognize the many women scientists, engineers, technologists, and mathematicians that are part of the Vassar community.  (We salute the many men, too, of course — but it is Ada Lovelace Day!)  Two of the more notable women whose work can be found at the Libraries include:

Maria Mitchell, faculty member and astronomer

Maria Mitchell with students viewing eclipse in Denver, CO (1878)

Maria Mitchell with students viewing eclipse in Denver, CO (1878)

The first person appointed (1865) to the faculty at Vassar — male or female — and first director of the Vassar College Observatory, Mitchell was already famous for her 1847 discovery of comet C/1847 T1, known as “Miss Mitchell’s Comet.”  Her scientific work was matched by her dedication to her students, who responded in kind.  “[M]y joy over Astronomy is extreme,” wrote student Julia Pease in 1874, describing Mitchell’s difficult class but her commitment to making sure her students fully understood the material.  Pease’s letter to her sister noted:

Just let me tell you a little secret. Some weeks ago three of us had become so much discouraged over it [Mitchell’s astronomy class] and thought ourselves too dull, that we had serious intentions of dropping it and taking something else.  Miss Braislin [a Vassar mathematics professor] got wind of our little plan and confided it to Prof. Mitchell, who came immediately and took each one separately, encouraging her and urging her to go on. She was so lovely that we could not help keeping on… [3]

Beyond a dedicated faculty member, Mitchell was an ardent suffragist and abolitionist, and an early proponent of equal pay for male and female faculty members.  Despite her fame, she learned that she was paid considerably less than her male counterparts at Vassar and demanded a raise — and got it.  Mitchell even received her own Google doodle last August!

Christine Ladd-Franklin, mathematician and logician

Christine Ladd-Franklin, mathematician, logician, and philosopher

Christine Ladd-Franklin, mathematician, logician, and psychologist

Christine Ladd-Franklin (VC 1869) was a mathematician, logician, and psychologist.  Her talents were considered extraordinary by her professors, though she often expressed self-doubt of her abilities in her diaries.  Ladd-Franklin’s interests were varied; for example, on October 15, 1867, she wrote of her studies:

Oct. 15. This has been a most successful day to me. I completed an original demonstration in Physics, which to be sure did not appear before the class but which gained the approbation of my room-mate, Fanny Case. Then in Astronomy I also had the pleasure of working out an original demonstration of the sextant which was “very gratifying” to Miss Mitchell. Again in Greek, I met with most brilliant success (p. 25).

Upon her graduation from Vassar, where she studied with faculty such as Mitchell and noted, “The renown of having been educated at Vassar College has secured for me many pleasures,” (p. 45), Ladd-Franklin applied to Johns Hopkins for her doctorate before the university accepted women.  Though she completed the requirements for the doctorate, it was not awarded to her until 44 years later.  Her career in logic, in particular, included a breakthrough in the logic problem of the transformation of the syllogism. [4]

Vassar scientists then and now…

Students working in Vassar Brothers lab (c. 1890)

Students working in Vassar Brothers lab (c. 1890)

Other notable women scientists from Vassar include:

  • Ellen Swallow Richards (VC 1870), early ecologist, considered by many to be the founder of ecology.

  • Grace Hopper (VC 1928), computer scientist, noted for her invention of the compiler.

  • Gladys Hobby (VC 1931), microbiologist and pioneer in penicillin trials for humans.

  • Winifred “Tim” Asprey (VC 1938), instrumental in the creation of Vassar’s Computer Science Center (1963) and the Computer Science Program. Professor Nancy Ide (another incredible Vassar computer scientist, noted for her work in computational linguistics and the Text Encoding Initiative) wrote a wonderful summary of the history of the Program for Vassar’s 150th anniversary.

  • Vera Cooper Rubin (VC 1948), recipient of the National Medal of Science and worldwide honors for her pioneering work on dark matter in the universe.

  • Ellen Kovner Silbergeld (VC 1967), MacArthur Fellow who studied neurological problems caused by lead, and among the first to advocate for lead-free interior house paint.

  • Bernadine Healy (VC 1965), the first woman appointed head of the NIH and creator of the Women’s Health Initiative.

  • Debra Elmegreen (current VC professor), Professor of Astronomy on the Maria Mitchell Chair and former President of the American Astronomical Society.

Vera Cooper Rubin as a student at Vassar

Vera Cooper Rubin while a student at Vassar

Although we couldn’t possibly list all the Vassar women who have done significant work in the sciences, we hope the stories of these extraordinary women and their intersection with Vassar encourage you to explore more about the sciences at Vassar, the information we have at the Libraries, and of course, Ada Lovelace herself.  Happy Ada Lovelace Day!

Notes:

[1] http://www.findingada.com/who-was-ada

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_Lovelace

[3] http://digitallibrary.vassar.edu/fedora/repository/vassar%3A24866, p. 2-3

[4] http://innovators.vassar.edu/innovator.html?id=78

The Mark of the Renaissance Printer

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Posted on behalf of Katherine Durr, 2013 Vassar Ford Scholar

The marks of Wechel, Albrecht, Cavellatt and Worde.

The marks of Wechel, Albrecht, Cavellatt and Worde.

Over the summer, I worked as a Ford Scholar on a project entitled The Mark of the Renaissance Printer: Developing a Digital Humanities Project on Printers’ Marks in the Windows of the Vassar College Library with Professor Ronald Patkus, Director of Archives and Special Collections. The focus of this project began with the arched windows in the north and south wings of the Thompson Memorial Library, as well as the large, central window in the Class of 1951 Reading Room. Each of these windows contains one or many printer’s marks – symbols and monograms developed by European printers, publishers, and booksellers during the 15th and 16th centuries. Eighty-two of these marks were installed in the original library, however, due to renovations, only sixty-six remain today.  They represent printers from nine geographical regions throughout Europe. Prior to beginning my research, the only available information regarding these windows was contained in a now outdated pamphlet published by Vassar librarians in 1917. This document featured the names of the printers, their years of activity, and images of their marks, but did not include biographical information, historical context, and explanations of the marks themselves, information that library visitors often are curious about.

Thierry Martens, 1473

Mark of Thierry Martens, 1473.

My central goal was to compile biographies for each printer, charting their innovations in the art of printing, as well as taking into account their cultural involvements – both religious and political. I also compiled descriptions of the printers’ marks.  Because many of these printers were active during the years of the Protestant Reformation, much of my research revealed significant developments and lines of influence among those involved with the publication of both sacred and secular texts. For example, printers who generally published Christian works – usually Bibles, the literary works of saints, and papal documents – often included elements of Christian symbolism in their marks and printing devices. Whereas those involved in the publication of popular humanist texts adopted more personal emblems, frequently including Classical and commercial motifs. In addition to demonstrating greater historical involvements, the marks and monograms of printers indicate patterns of stylistic influence, clear within circles of printing presses, publishing houses, and very often, families. Most marks underwent several stages of evolution and variation throughout decades – even centuries – of activity.  Accordingly, my initial focus opened up from a study of Vassar’s own history into a tracing of both the development of printing and its lines of visual and cultural transmission.

Jacques Bouchet, 1522-1545

Mark of Jacques Bouchet, 1522-1545

After writing these biographies and visual analyses of the marks themselves and compiling corresponding bibliography, I published my entries to a website within Vassar’s Digital Library. In my efforts to enhance Vassar’s digital archives and to preserve our own visual and historical artifacts, I also hope to contribute to a larger area of research and scholarship, known as the digital humanities. This growing field explores the benefits of transferring materials and resources into more organized, widely available domains.

Vassar’s prized Einstein papers to be digitized for public online access with grant from alumna Dr. Georgette Bennett

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Posted on behalf of the Office of Communications

Einstein at the tiller

Einstein at the tiller, 1936,
inscribed to Otto Nathan

For the past ten years, they’ve been a major pride point of the Special Collections at the Vassar Libraries: a collection of letters, manuscripts and photographs relating to Albert Einstein, notably including 130 letters exchanged between Einstein and his friend Otto Nathan, executor of the great scientist’s estate and a member of the college’s economics faculty in the early 1940s.  Researchers from around the world have traveled to campus to study the collection.  But now, thanks to a grant from Vassar alumna Dr. Georgette Bennett in honor of her husband, Dr. Leonard Polonsky, Vassar’s Einstein papers are being digitized, and will become available to a much wider audience.

“My husband and I are deeply committed to the democratization of knowledge through digitization of rare documents.  Digitization of Vassar’s Einstein papers dovetails with our digitization of his collection at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.  We’re delighted to make Vassar’s valuable materials accessible to a worldwide audience,” said Dr. Bennett, a graduate of Vassar’s Class of 1967.  The generosity of Dr. Bennett and Dr. Polonsky builds in turn on the original gift of the papers, more properly known as the Morris and Adele Bergreen Albert Einstein Collection, from Adele Gabel Bergreen of the Class of 1944.  “To receive this grant was extraordinary,” said Sabrina Pape, Director of the Vassar Libraries.  “We are so grateful to Dr. Bennett and Dr. Polonsky for allowing us to bring the collection to a worldwide community.”

While the Bergreen Einstein Collection includes other materials, Ronald Patkus, head of the Libraries’ Special Collections, said the grant from Dr. Bennett and Dr. Polonsky has allowed the digitization project to concentrate specifically on the papers and manuscripts.  “The bulk of it is letters between Einstein and Otto Nathan about Einstein’s social and political concerns, especially those relating to Jewish-American organizations and individuals,” he said, adding that they shed light on “Einstein the humanitarian, which is a nice complement to the scientific Einstein.”

Einstein and Otto Nathan © Philippe Halsman Studio

Einstein and Otto Nathan
© Philippe Halsman Studio

Read more online about the Morris and Adele Bergreen Albert Einstein Collection at Vassar College

According to Joanna DiPasquale, Digital Projects Librarian, the process itself involves placing the papers on flat-bed scanners and using high-resolution special equipment that “zooms down to photograph these incredibly fragile materials in a non-invasive way.”

“As an undergraduate institution, Vassar has many unique needs, “ DiPasquale said.  “It’s my job to design a system to meet those needs.”  The result in this instance is a new viewer that will enable a person looking at scanned Einstein materials to see the original German transcription side by side with its English translation – and there will be a full-text searchable database, in both English and German.  Through a consortium that provides third-party backup storage of electronic documents, the digitization will also ensure the future integrity of the files by archiving them.

Einstein Letter

Einstein to Otto Nathan,
September 5, 1939

 

In addition, Vassar is partnering with such institutions as the California Institute of Technology, which has top experts at reading and translating Einstein’s papers, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which is the official repository of the Albert Einstein Archives and home to the world’s largest collection of Einstein materials.  “The result of the Vassar effort will be a standalone project that targets undergraduates,” said DiPasquale, “but it will also contribute to a larger digital collection of Einstein materials that will include both Vassar and Hebrew University materials.”

The digitization work has begun in earnest, with open online access to the documents expected to begin in early 2014.  But as Pape stressed, that marks just the beginning of the effects of Dr. Bennett and Dr. Polonsky’s generosity, which also will include stipends for Vassar faculty members to explore ways of incorporating materials from the Bergreen Einstein Collection into their teaching.  Faculty from such diverse disciplines as History, German Studies, Philosophy, Earth Science and Physics already have expressed interest.

“Opening up the collection for greater use across the curriculum is completely in keeping with our intent, and in keeping with a Vassar education,” said Dr. Bennett.  “We are happy to make this possible.”