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Jewett Observatory
Description and History
The James Richard Jewett Observatory of Washington State University
has as its main instrument a 12-inch-aperture Alvin Clark & Sons
refracting telescope with an Alvan Clark & Sons equatorial mount. The tube is
15 feet long, and still features the original lens polished in
1887-1889 by the elder Lundin, the same optician that fabricated the
world's largest (40-inch) lens at Yerkes Observatory.
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Jewett Observatory, August 2003. This is a night-time, 10-second time exposure.
Note the temporary tar patches on dome, and the bright light in the sky and on the north side of
dome. Martin Stadium was not lit at the time. The red light in the
dome slit is real, and comes from red light fixtures inside. Clicking
on pictures anywhere in this page will zoom in to bigger, more detailed pictures.
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Jewett Observatory. The date of the picture is unknown, but it is also
a night-time time exposure. The lack of light from the north direction
indicates a lack of light pollution from the greenhouses and/or Martin
Stadium. The main lighting that casts shadows on the building is
probably from a gibbous moon. The juniper bushes are very small
compared to today. I'm guessing this picture was taken between 1965
and 1975.
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Jewett Observatory, Fall 2001.
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Jewett Observatory, Winter 2000.
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The philanthopy of Mr. and Mrs. George F. Jewett of Spokane made the
project possible, and it was named after George's father James, a professor
of Arabic at Harvard, and a "friend of astronomy for many years." The
portrait of James Richard Jewett donated by his son (right) stills hangs in the observatory.
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In 1929, Washington State College's Professor Harry H. Irwin completed
the polishing of a
12-inch mirror and constructed an alt-azimuth mount to hold it. This
telescope was placed on the roof of the building now called Carpenter
Hall. This telescope was used for many years, but fell into disrepair
during world war 2. In December, 1948 Sidney G. Hacker of the mathematics
department (under which astronomy was organized) proposed to President
Wilson Compton a joint Observatory-Planetarium complex. In the spring
of 1948 the Department of Architecture and Engineering had an Advanced
Design course, during which three students made designs and models of
their proposed structures (the students were Walter N. Brown, Thomas
Grenfell, and Chester Lindsey). The complex as envisioned by the
students was never built, for monetary reasons.
George F. Jewett Sr. was former president of Potlatch Lumber Co., and
had become wealthy. At about the time President Compton was appealing
to his friends the Jewetts for funding this enterprise (the first
appeals generated no enthusiasm on the part of the Jewetts) a contact
of Prof. Hacker's, Leon Campbell of Harvard, informed him of the
availability of a 12 inch achromatic lens. This is the lens that now
resides here at WSU, made by Lundin of the Alvan Clark & Sons Co. when
it was the leading telescope manufacturer in this country, if not the
world. This lens had been made for an amateur astronomer who died
shortly after the lens had successfully passed essential optical
testing in 1889. It had passed the years since in the vault of a
Boston bank, but now later heirs wished to sell it, at a price of
$2400, which, even then, was an exceptional bargain.
As it turned out, the elder Jewett, James Richard, Harvard Professor
of Ancient Languages, had been an ardent
amateur astronomer who had had a long friendship Leon Campbell. George
Jewett remembered these facts fondly and decided to donate $24,000 for the
observatory project.
Serious obstacles remained before the observatory became a
reality. The Alvan Clark Co. was no longer a thriving institution, and
only by finding a retired technician, H. F. Gage, who knew how to find
the necessary parts in the clutter of old machinery that littered the
place, was it possible to complete the mount for the lens. A price of
$8000 to the Alvan Clark Co. was negotiated through
Prof. Campbell. Location was another obstacle, as the limited budget
seemed to require rooftop installation, but no one found this very
aesthetically appealing. Eventually, a bare-bones but separate
structure was elected on the perimeter of campus; the present site.
Architect's pencil drawing of the design for Jewett Observatory.
Poster for the 1953 dedication ceremony.
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Architects Mr. Philip E. Keene and Mr. Glenn W. Wegner of the College
Architect Office began designing the structure in 1950, with advice
from astronomers, including Henry Norris Russell. It proved difficult
to get a bid on the dome, and no company showed interest in a
steel-and-aluminum structure. Finally, Timber Structures, Inc. of
Portland became intrigued with the dome as a "challenging research
project" and offered to build it out of a wooden framework sheathed by
molded plywood at a very modest cost. At about this point, it was
realized that expeditures would exceed the Jewett's $24,000 gift, but
George Jewett offered to increase the gift to $35,000.
With funding in place (again) the project seemed to have momentum, but
President Compton abruptly resigned (April 1951) and Leon Campbell
passed away. As Prof. Campbell was the principle liason with the Alvan
Clark Co., it was feared that the work on the mount would stop. Sidney
Hacker was able to get the help of Harvard Observatory's head
instrument maker, Walter Locke, to step into Campbell's shoes, and the
instrument was eventually (early 1952) tested and put in readiness for
shipping.
Another major component of the building,
the steel-and-aluminum shutter, was built by General Machinery
Co., who also built the motors that rotate the dome. The wooden dome cost
roughly $2400, the shutter and motors roughly twice that amount. The
building itself was contracted to H. Halverson, Inc. of Spokane for
$15,500. The telescope arrived to a fully ready building in June
1952. Prof. Hacker notes that among the curious observers of the
assembly of the telescope was cosmologist
H. P. Robertson, there on a personal visit to the area.
The official dedication was on May 14, 1953, before a capacity
audience in Todd Hall Auditorium, with Mr. and Mrs. Jewett and
President French in attendance. A lecture was delivered by
R. M. Petrie, director of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory. (See
poster at right).
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The color of the telescope has changed over the years.
1980s (?) Grey. |
1990s (?) Brown. |
2002 and on: Black. |
Smithsonian magazine article about the Alvan Clark & Sons refracting telescopes.
The tube is 15 feet long. The dome has an inside diameter of 25 feet.
- Guy Worthey, with copious reference to "Origins of the J. R. Jewett
Observatory and of the WSU Planetarium" by Sidney G. Hacker, 1980,
Mathematics Notes, Vol 23, No. 23. This article has been scanned:
page 1,
page 2,
page 3,
page 4,
page 5,
page 6.
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, 509-335-4994 | 
