Sarah Frances Whiting

Sarah Frances Whiting: American astronomer, physicist, and educator.

Born in New York in 1846, Sarah Frances Whiting earned her bachelor's degree at age 17 from Ingham University. She then began her career as a teacher, first at Ingham and then at Brooklyn Heights Seminary for Girls. When Henry Durant opened Wellesley College, a new university for women, in 1875, he had to find a woman who could bring introductory laboratory physics into his school. Because of her previous teaching experience, Whiting was hired in 1876 as the first physics professor at this new school. During her spare time, Whiting sat in on Edward Pickering's physics lectures at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where she learned how he incorporated various instruments into his teaching. Armed with a wealth of new knowledge, Whiting set out to organize the first physics lab classes for female students. She independently researched equipment, contacted outside manufacturers to purchase the required lab materials, and installed all the equipment without outside assistance.

In 1879, Pickering, who had become director of the Harvard Observatory, invited Whiting to keep in touch with the work that was occurring there. This spurred Whiting's interest in astronomy, and in 1880, she created a new course to discuss this fascinating field of science. Whiting was seriously lacking in the right equipment though, and she dreamed of establishing an observatory with the best possible instruments for teaching. This dream was fulfilled in 1900 when the Whitin Observatory was established and officially opened.

Whitin Observatory, 1900
Credit: Wellesley College

In addition to being a leading educator, Whiting participated and founded various academic groups. She was one of the few female members of the American Astronomical Society and the American Physical Society and was the only female member of the New England Meteorological Society. Whiting also set up numerous experiments soon after X-rays were discovered, taking some of the first photographs in the United States of bones underneath flesh.

Whiting's incredible work at Wellesley College allowed for future generations of physics and astronomy students to continue on the path to new discoveries. Her teaching style was one of great enthusiasm for both the subjects she taught and for her students. One of these students was Annie Jump Cannon, the pioneer of stellar classification. After Whiting's passing, Cannon wrote a fascinating article on her life in the journal Popular Astronomy. Whiting obviously left a great impression on those she taught and interacted with within her lifetime.