sweet auburn | winter 2025-2026 negatives of the night sky. 6 Each 8-by-10- inch image captured unique moments in astronomy’ s history onto glass. Because they are negatives, stars appear as small black dots, like black pepper scattered on a white surface. With this technology, astronomers could compare the latest images with data from prior years. Telescopes now served as cameras, recording not just one object but everything in view. This produced vast amounts of data that required equally vast amounts of careful analysis. To manage it within budget constraints, Pickering hired women, who could expect to earn only a quarter to a seventh of what men were paid. Williamina recruited, trained, managed, and mentored generations of these women, while continually pressing for greater fairness in science and American society.
For the Chicago World’ s Fair of 1893, Fleming wrote“ A Field for Women’ s Work in Astronomy,” which she presented at the fair’ s Congress of Astronomy and Astro-Physics. Fleming opened her speech with two pages of general remarks, recalling famous female astronomers from Greek history through to the British astronomer Caroline Herschel and the American Maria Mitchell. Fleming urged astronomy as a scientific field suitable for women, including those from the working class like herself. Relative to women in Europe, Fleming argued, those in America had unique opportunities in science, due to its embrace of immigration and the“ equal advantages in pursuing their labors or studies.” 7
These opportunities were further democratized by photography itself, as Susan Sontag noted a century later. 8 In a single day, you could look at the records and stars of a month’ s worth of evening telescope operations. The photograph removed restrictions on what time of day work had to be done, and Fleming even noted that it could be done in the office or at home.
After this revealing introduction, Fleming dedicated the balance of her speech to detailing individual discoveries at Harvard. She highlighted not only her own success but also that of the women who worked at the
Observatory alongside her. In conclusion, she allowed that, while she may“ have strayed far afield from the subject on which I was supposed to address you here, the investigations and researches described above are those in which the women in this department are engaged, in which they are thoroughly interested, and in which they are becoming trained and competent assistants.” 9
During this decade, Fleming would become known to scientists and the public at home and abroad. Her individual discoveries were not only published in academic journals but also featured in the popular press through syndicated coverage. She featured in articles with titles like“ A Star Discover,”“ Star Starfinders,” and“ Women See Stars.”
Her work at Harvard continued with groundbreaking discoveries. In 1888, she discovered the Horsehead Nebula, now one of the most recognizable and photographed objects in the night sky. Then, on December 12, 1895, Fleming discovered a supernova in the constellation of Delphinus, by noticing a new stellar spectrum that appeared on a plate made on July 18, 1895. This blip, emerging
Plate B14151. Glass plate photograph used by Williamina Fleming in her discovery of the supernova event SN 1895B. July 18, 1895. Harvard Plate Stacks. Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian.
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