What did Annie Jump Cannon overcome?

Annie Jump was an American astronomer whose work defined the development of contemporary stellar classification.

1925: Head and shoulders photograph of Miss Annie Jump Cannon (1863-1941), American astronomer. She is shown in a profile view. (Photo by Bettmann/Corbis/Getty Images)

Annie Jump Cannon was born on December 11, 1863, in Dover, Delaware, the United States as the eldest of three daughters born to Wilson Cannon (Delaware shipbuilder and state senator) and his second wife, Mary Jump.

Following her mother’s advice, Annie Jump pursued her love of astronomy. She attended Wilmington Conference Academy (today known as Wesley College). In 1880, she was sent enrolled at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, where she studied physics and astronomy.

Annie Jump became a valedictorian at Wellesley College, graduating with a degree in physics in 1884. She is credited with the creation of the Harvard Classification Scheme which was the first serious attempt to organize and classify stars based on their temperatures and spectral types

Annie Jump died on April 13, 1941, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States at the age of 77. She passed away in a hospital after being ill for over a month.

Portrait of American astronomer Annie Jump Cannon (1863-1941) wearing cap and gown as she receives an honorary degree from Oxford University, England, 1935. (Photo by Paul Popper/Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)