CAROLINE ELLEN FURNESS
1869 - 1936
The Faculty of Vassar College records with regret
the death on February 9, 1936, of Professor Caro-
line Ellen Furness. Miss Furness, a member of the
faculty since l894, has been director of the col-
lege observatory since 1915 and in 1916 was appoin-
ted Alumnae Maria Mitchell Professor of Astronomy.
She was the academic descendant of Maria Mitchell
who chose her student, Mary W. Whitney, to be her
successor, Miss Whitney in turn choosing Miss Fur-
ness to succeed her. Miss Furness carried on the
tradition established by Maria Mitchell and the Vas-
sar Observatory continued to make frequent and
valuable contributions in the field of astronomy.
Under Miss Furness' direction the observatory also
took part in cooperative enterprises such as the
observation of the total solar eclipse of January
1925. Because of her numerous publications, both
scientific and of a general nature, Miss Furness
was internationally known and had many friends among
astronomers at whose observatories she was always a
welcome guest and an enthusiastic co-worker. At the
Century of Progress Exposition the judges included
her book "An Introduction to Variable Stars" among
the best one hundred books written by American women
during the last century.
The college has lost a loyal, able and devoted alum-
na, the faculty one of its most valued and best known
members, and the community a generous friend.
Edna Carter
Mary Landon Sague
IX - 311-312