27/41 I want to sit down and study on the observations made by myself and others." During her later years at Vassar, Miss Mitchell interested herself personally in raising a fund to endow the chair of astronomy. In March, 1886, she wrote: "I have been in New York quite lately, and am quite hopeful that Miss -- -- will do something for Vassar. Mrs.C., of Newburyport, is to ask Whittier, who is said to be rich, and -- -- told me to get anything I could out of her father. But after all I am a poor beggar; my ideas are small!" Since Miss Mitchell's death, the fund has been completed by the alumnae, and is known as the Maria Mitchell Endowment Fund. With $10,000 appropriated by the trustees it amounts to $50,000. |