Born: 19 September 1839, United States
Died: 8 December 1914
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Anna Palmer Draper
The following is excerpted from What Women Have Done for Astronomy in the United States, written by Anne P McKenney and published in Popular Astronomy, vol. 12, pp.171-182 in 1904.
Dr. Henry Draper in 1872 was the first to photograph the lines of a stellar spectrum. His investigation, pursued for many years-with great skill and ingenuity, was most unfortunately interrupted in 1882 by his death. Early in 1886 Mrs. Draper made a liberal provision for carrying on this investigation at the Harvard Observatory under the direction of Professor E. C. Pickering as a memorial to her husband. She gave several instruments and contributes $10,000 annually for the work of this department. Owing to the extensive field of investigation in this branch of astronomical physics Mrs. Draper has decided to greatly extend the original plan of work; and to have it conducted on a scale suitable to its importance. In this work Dr. Draper’s 11-inch photographiclens is used, for which Mrs. Draper has provided a new mounting and Observatory. There are also at Cambridge a 28-inch reflector and its mounting, also a 15-inch mirror, both gifts of Mrs. Draper. In the Observatory there is a central room where the comparison of charts and photographs is carried on. This is known as “The Draper Memorial Room.”