A Window to the Stars: The Story of Milwaukee’s Historic Alvan Clark Telescope
by Angie Cope
In the late 19th century, Judge Hiram Barber of Horicon, Wisconsin, made a gift that would inspire generations of students and stargazers in Milwaukee. In 1875, he presented Milwaukee College (later Milwaukee-Downer College) with a refracting telescope crafted by the renowned firm of Alvan Clark & Sons of Cambridge, Massachusetts. 1876 was the Centennial celebration of the Declaration of Independence of the United States and the telescope may have been a gift commemorating that event.
Building an Observatory for Learning
With Barber’s donation, the college received its first serious astronomical equipment. The telescope was described as “of such power and accuracy as meets the practical present needs of our students of astronomy, and furnishes a nucleus for a fully equipped observatory.” Thanks to additional funding from William P. McLaren, an observatory was constructed at the southeast corner of Merrill Hall. Originally standing 34 feet tall with a revolving dome, the observatory was raised to 48 feet in 1879 to improve viewing conditions. The telescope was accessed using a wooden staircase, surrounded by wooden bleachers.
Each week, Milwaukee-Downer College opened its observatory to the public. Students and community members gathered to observe the stars, in what Professor Frederick Olson later described as an early form of adult education and community outreach. Special events—like the appearance of Halley’s Comet in 1910—were occasions for crowds to marvel at the universe through the lens of the Clark telescope.
Student Life and Stargazing Traditions
Astronomy was not confined to the observatory. In 1934, students recalled lugging mattresses onto the roof of Sabin Hall to spend the night under the stars. Professor Ethelwynn R. Beckwith led these sessions, encouraging students to witness the “large and constant change in the star picture” over the course of a single night. Beckwith also announced celestial events, turning them into shared experiences for both students, faculty and the community.
From Downer to UWM
The Milwaukee-Downer College became the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UWM) and the telescope’s fate was uncertain. Professor Michael Shurman, chair of the Physics Department, accompanied Dean Baier on an inspection of the old observatory. The dome had deteriorated so badly that, according to legend, Baier’s foot went through the wooden floor. Recognizing the telescope’s value, Shurman salvaged the parts and transferred them to the physics department.
The American Geographical Society Library (AGSL) was established in Milwaukee in 1978 when the research collections of the American Geographical Society (AGS) moved, and ownership was transferred, to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Available display space allowed for the transferred on loan of the telescope to the AGSL in 1980.
Another astronomically interesting holding in the AGSL is a copy of the earliest photograph of the moon. The photo was likely taken through a telescope similar to this Alvan Clark telescope by On Professor Henry Draper on September 3, 1863.
Caption: Draper moon photo held at the AGSL, UWM Libraries
This blog was written with the assistance of ChatGPT
American Geographical Society Library 