Williamina Fleming was in her early 20s, a recent immigrant to the U.S. from Scotland, and pregnant when her husband left her.

 Williamina Fleming was in her early 20s, a recent immigrant to the U.S. from Scotland, and pregnant when her husband left her.
Responsible to raise their son, she took a job as a housekeeper in the home of Edward Pickering, who was Director of the Harvard College Observatory.
As the story is told, one day when frustrated with the men he employed, Edward yelled out that “My Scottish maid could do better!”
While said in jest, there was much truth to his comment. Williamina was an advanced student while in Scotland. She was a pupil-teacher by the time she was 14 years old and continued to teach for five years until she married.
In 1881, Edward hired Williamina as the first of what would become a famous group of Harvard Computers. All women, they studied the stars through glass plate photographs. Then only a few years later, Williamina became curator of astronomical photographs. This role came with the responsibility of managing a dozen women computers.
Williamina went on to discover many stars and receive awards and honors for her work.



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