Leah B. Allen
Leah Brown Allen[Hope High School (Rhode Island)|] was an American astronomer. Allen was Professor of Astronomy and Director of Williams Observatory at Hood College.
Education and career
She attended Hope [High School (Rhode Island)|Hope High School] in Providence, graduating in 1903. She then studied at Pembroke College in Brown University, starting later that same year, where she did special work in astronomy under Professor Winslow Upton, director of Ladd Observatory. She received an A.B. degree in 1907. Allen joined Lick Observatory as Carnegie Assistant from September 1907 to June 1908 after a recommendation by Upton. At Lick her work as a computer involved "...duties in the measurement and reduction of spectrograms." In 1910 she became an assistant in astronomy at Wellesley College. She received her M.A. from Wellesley in 1912. Her thesis was a spectroscopic study of the star Eta Centauri. Allen participated in Lick Observatory's Crocker expedition to view the total Solar eclipse of [June 8, 1918] at Goldendale, Washington. She was an assistant professor of astronomy at Wellesley, along with astronomy instructor Lois Tripp Slocum, in the 1920s. She was affiliated with the Whitin Observatory at Wellesley. Allen began teaching astronomy at Hood in 1927. At Hood she was director of the John H. Williams Observatory. She gave lectures to amateur astronomy groups. She retired from teaching in 1955. Allen died in 1979.
Personal life
Allen was the daughter of Samuel F. Allen, who had been described as a "veteran balloonist." Her mother was Abby Lydia Allen, née Willey.She enjoyed sailing from the time that she was in college. Her sister considered her an expert at handling her sailboat in inclement weather.
She became active in the women's suffrage movement after reading a speech by her sister, called “Why Women Should Be Given the Vote.” She was an advocate of voting rights, and played a role in earning women the right to vote in Rhode Island.
Honors and memberships
This prize is named in her honor:- Leah B. Allen Award for work in astronomy or mathematics, Hood College