In 1825, President John Quincy Adams (JQA) lamented that while Europe could boast of 130 astronomical observatories, there was not one that could be found in the United States. JQA had long been fond of building an observatory in the United States and cultivating the study of Astronomy in the United States. This fondness, can be traced back to the sixth's president's time serving as a professor at Harvard University from 1803 to 1808 and his time spent as the first Minister to Russia in 1809 where JQA spent time studying astronomy with Alexander I, Czar of Russia. While, JQA was at Harvard, there was serious consideration by friends of the College to support work by Mr. John Lowell who had consulted with the celebrated French astronomer, Delabmre to obtain written instructions for buildings and instruments pertaining to an astronomical observatory. There is no record of any real progress, but 10 years later while JQA was overseas, a committee of prominent Harvard men was held to consider the subject of an Observatory and review plans and eligible sites. The committee sent the present Director of the Observatory to Europe to visit the Observatory at Greenwich. The director was instructed to inspect the size and form of the piers that support the instrument, including the foundation and elevation, the dimensions of the telescope and the instruments. The director gathered plans from Greenwich, and similar plans from Observatories at Glasgow, Edinburgh and others. Upon his return home, the plans were used to create a model, but unfortunately the costs of building and maintaining an observatory far exceeded what they had originally anticipated. Plans to build an observatory were suspended, although not entirely abandoned.
The College attempted to revive the plans in 1822, but it was postponed once again. The college had identified some land, but did not have funds to obtain the instruments. Then, in 1823 JQA, then Secretary of State sent a letter to a member of the committee (also known as the Corporation) urging the college to move forward with erecting the building without waiting for the instruments from Europe. To get the ball rolling, the Secretary pledged $1000 of his own money. The Committee then reached out to the public, but failed to achieve sufficient funds to move forward. In 1825, President John Quincy Adams renewed his pledge, but yet again Harvard failed to raise sufficient funds, and the early efforts to establish an Observatory at Harvard had failed. Furthermore, attempts to pursue government support also failed, as Congress rejected a proposal to support the Harvard Observatory when they created the U.S. Coast Survey bill. The bill specified that any funding for the U.S. Coast Survey could not be used to construct a permanent astronomical observatory. Realizing these failures, JQA decided to use the bully pulpit of the Presidency to encourage and challenge Congress to build the country's first astronomical observatory. In his 1825 State of the Union Address, asked Congress to reflect on all the discoveries of "the last four centuries" and consider constructing one of "these light-houses of the skies". It was time, that America stop playing second fiddle to Europe and begin to compete for first chair in the orchestra of the skies. Or as, the President put it, which we must fain ("forced") receive at second hand from Europe".
"Connected with the establishment of an university, or separate from it, might be undertaken the erection of an astronomical observatory, with provision for the support of an astronomer, to be in constant attendance of observation upon the phenomena of the heavens, and for the periodical publication of his observances. it is with no feeling of pride as an American that the remark may be made that on the comparatively small territorial surface of Europe there are existing upward of 130 of these light-houses of the skies, while throughout the whole American hemisphere there is not one. If we reflect a moment upon the discoveries which in the last four centuries have been made in the physical constitution of the universe by the means of these buildings and of observers stationed in them, shall we doubt of their usefulness to every nation? And while scarcely a year passes over our heads without bringing some new astronomical discovery to light, which we must fain receive at second hand from Europe, are we not cutting ourselves off from the means of returning light for light while we have neither observatory nor observer upon our half of the globe and the earth revolves in perpetual darkness to our unsearching eyes?"
The Harvard College Observatory was officially founded in 1839 and located in Cambridge Massachusetts and is now part of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. The first telescope, a 15-inch Great Refractor was installed in 1847.
References
Presidency.ucsb.edu. (2018). John Quincy Adams: First Annual Message. [online] Available at: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29467 [Accessed 16 Feb. 2018].
Bond, W. (1856). History and Description of the Astronomical Observatory of Harvard College. 1st ed. Cambridge [Mass.]: Metcalf and Co., printers to the University, pgs 1-5.
En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Harvard College Observatory. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_College_Observatory [Accessed 16 Feb. 2018].
Ventre, J. (2018). John Quincy Adams� Role in American Astronomy. [online] Buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com. Available at: http://buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com/bio/jqa/astrorole.html [Accessed 16 Feb. 2018].
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