Harvard Computers Aboard Minia, 1900
A group of women, most or all computers from the Observatory, on board the Minia, a cable repair ship. Left to right: William Squares De Carteret, unknown man, unknown woman, Mabel Gill, unknown woman, unknown man, Williamina Fleming, Florence Cushman, Mabel Stevens, unknown woman, James Adams, Evelyn Leland, Ida Woods. Edward Pickering (director of the Harvard Observatory from 1877 to 1919) decided to hire women as skilled workers to process astronomical data. This staff came to be known as Pickering's Harem. The first woman hired was Williamina Fleming, who was working as a maid for Pickering. It seems that Pickering was increasingly frustrated with his male assistants and declared that even his maid could do a better job. Apparently he was not mistaken, as Fleming undertook her assigned chores efficiently. When the Harvard Observatory received in 1886 a generous donation from the widow of Henry Draper, Pickering decided to hire more female staff and put Fleming in charge of them. They usually earned between 25 and 50 cents per hour, more than a factory worker but less than a clerical one. Harvard University Archives.
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