Maria Mitchell was born on August 1, 1818 in Nantucket, Massachusetts to William and Lydia Mitchell. Her father was an amateur astronomer. He made a side business off of it; he used his talent to set sextants for the ships in the whaling town, when ships still steered by the stars, using a sextant. He taught all ten of his children the basic principles of astronomy, showing them the constellations, and explaining the mathematics involved in the movement of the skies. Maria took to astronomy the most easily, and soon became her father's constant companion in his nightly work.
On February 19, 1831, an annular eclipse, where the fiery ring of the sun would still be visible behind the moon, occurred. Accurately charting the course was of most importance. It would aid astronomers to make the type of small corrections necessary to increase precision in his charts. Part of that charting was correctly timing the instant that eclipse began, the length of duration, and the exact time the sun moved away from the moon. This timing was left to conscientious Maria, marking her first 'official' entry into the world of astronomy. Soon she was given the responsibility of accurately setting the sextants for the whaling ships when her father was out of town.

In a time where education for girls was not valued, Maria Mitchell's parents went against popular opinion. Her father particularly wanted her to be able to receive the type of education in higher mathematics that he lacked. At fourteen, she began attending a female academy run by Cyrus Peirce, who also went against the trends of teaching girls only social skills.
At seventeen, she put her mathematical skills to use by aiding her father by helping him accurately survey the entire island of Nantucket. With that project completed, she began her own grammar school. At eighteen (1836), she became the first librarian of the Nantucket Atheneum, the library and cultural center for the island.
October 1, 1847 marked a huge triumph of Maria Mitchell's professional life. She excused herself from a family party to track the skies, and saw, with the telescope, a new comet over the North Star. Comets that could only be seen by telescopes were still a new, and one for which the King of Denmark awarded a prestigious prize. Maria Mitchell became not only the first American to win the prize, but the first woman.
In 1848 she became the first woman to be permitted to join the American Academy of Arts and Scientists, allowing her access to other serious scientists. She would be the only woman allowed to join for over a hundred years.
In 1840 she was given a position with the well-known American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac, becoming the first female professional astronomer in the nation. In 1865, she made another great step for women in becoming the Astronomy department at the newly created Vassar College. In addition to the classroom experience, she introduced her students to such influential women as Louisa May Alcott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Julia Ward Howe. She continued teaching and mentoring until her retirement in 1888 due to poor health. She died onJune 28, 1889.
 

Bibliography
Kimberly Skopitz. Maria Mitchell. http://ne.essortment.com/biographyofmar_rhff.htm. 2001PageWise, Inc..<(9-3-98)>.
P. M. Kendall, M. K. Babbitt, and H. Wright. Maria Mitchell. http://www.encyclopedia.com/cgi-bin/register.cgi. <(7-7-97)>