Group Photo of Porter's first Telescope Mirror making class, October 1920. Absent from the Photo are: Albert A. Herrick, Charles A. Longe and John M. Pierce.
Group Photo of Porter's first Telescope Mirror making class, October 1920
Porter's First Telescope Making Class, by Matt Considine, STM
(With extended thanks to Tom Spirock, Dave Groski, Patrick Dodson, Bert Willard and others for their comments, suggestions and corrections.)
Where did the "Springfield Telescope Makers" come from? It sounds like a question with
an easy answer - it was the inspiration of Russell Porter. But to really answer the question it pays to know a bit about where the telescope makers of Springfield came from, that is, the individuals involved in the group at its outset and the circumstances under which they came together.
The beginning does in fact start with Russell Porter. Brought back to his home state in 1919
by James Hartness - a fellow astronomy enthusiast - Porter had by this time been involved
in the making of telescope mirrors for his own use. He had also published several articles
in "Popular Astronomy" and hosted a meeting of a few amateurs in Port Clyde. Familiar with
the written work of the Rev. Ellison, as well as the efforts of Professor Fullan at Auburn,
Porter was primed to combine his enthusiasm, artistic and mechanical skills with a group of
willing neophytes.
The circumstances of 1919/1920 (economic recession) and the largess of James Hartness would facilitate the creation of a telescope making class. The fact that the group of people in
the class would develop into a club, though, is due as much to the individuals in the club
as it was to Porter himself.
The Members of the First Class
It began in 1920. On August 17, 1920 the first organizing meeting for the class of telescope makers was led by Russell W. Porter at Jones & Lamson. Grinding began on September 28, with the location of the work area being in the southwest corner of the upper Jones & Lamson machine shop building, on the lower floor where the basement was unused. Earlier in the year, Porter had interested Oscar Marshall, John Pierce, Oscar Fullam and Charlie Longe in making telescope mirrors. The idea of holding a class took hold and they were shortly joined by others. Briefly, they were:
John Pierce - 10” mirror
A local high school teacher, Pierce met Porter shortly after arriving in Springfield
from Syracuse in the summer of 1919. It was at a neighborhood gathering and
The talk turned to optics. On Thanksgiving 1919 Pierce started his mirror
which was completed that winter. While apparently not particularly outstanding
it apparently struck Porter that it would be useful to start a class.
Oscar Fullam - 8” mirror, summer 1920
In a town where the making of machines was an industry, finding casting and pattern
making expertise would be a simple matter. And the skill set would be just as
applicable to making telescopes as it would be to producing turret lathes.
Presumably, then, Porter welcomed the interest of Oscar Fullam, pattern
maker at J&L and one of the first to work with Porter. His telescope is in the Museum.
Charlie Longe - 3” / 4” mirror, summer 1920
Porter had been communicating with James Hartness for years prior to coming to Springfield and knew quite a bit about Hartness' sundials and turret telescope. One would expect that Porter's getting to know Charlie Longe was an easy matter, as Longe
had helped build the Hartness equatorial. He would also build one of the first of the group's scopes.
Oscar Seth Marshall - 4” mirror, summer 1920
When Porter arrived in Springfield, he brought with him a well-earned expertise in surveying. Expeditions to Mt. McKinley and to the Arctic had finely tuned his skills in determining latitude and longitude. Upon seeing a map of Springfield drawn by Oscar Marshall, Porter sought to re-measure some of the baselines. When seeing how accurate Marshall's measurements were, Porter offered that if anything on the map was questioned that he would vouch for its accuracy. In meeting Marshall, Porter found a kindred spirit with respect to the outdoors. One of his later telescopes is in the Museum.
Ernest Brookings - 7” mirror
Head of drafting dept. He never finished his mirror (per member register).
Clyde Baldwin - 6” mirror, never finished (per member register).
Worked for Brookings. Gladys Piper (another class member who wrote about the effort) didn't think Baldwin ever finished his mirror. His son Russell had the parts (which are now in the Museum) which suggests that is possibly true (though the mirror may be polished out).
Roy Lyon - 8” mirror
Future club president ...
Francis Eugene Lockwood - 6” mirror, never finished (per member register).
Everett Redfield - 6” mirror Cook, poet. He Helped Gladys Piper with machining
Frank Whitney - 7” mirror, summer 1920 Machinist. First to completely finish scope (which is in the Museum).
Raymond P W Fairbanks - 4” mirror Fairbanks was draughtsman (drew the Garden Telescope blueprints) and attended a Stellafane convention in the 1980’s. Passing away in 1990 at age 89, he was the last of the original class.
Albert Herrick, Carleton Damon, Guy Baker, Fred Barber, Gladys Piper Class mirrors were 8", 9", 9", 9", 5" Damon : graduated from SHS in 1909.Started in Fay lathe dept at J&L upper works in 1915. Transferred to the Special Tool department, to work with Foreman Barber (Fred?) Baker : completed his mirror after 21 yrs (per Piper)
Barber : took over Ralph Baker’s mirror
Piper : 1921 - worked in Fay drafting room. Her telescope is in the Museum as well.
And two who started and then left :
George Corrigan, Ralph Baker
About the Location of the First Class
As noted in the Springfield Reporter of March 10, 1921 in reference to the original
group of telescope makers:
"They have done their work evenings and, as indicated, under the generous
opportunity afforded them by the Jones & Lamson Machine company, in
permitting the men to do their work in the lower room of the main building
now occupied by the Automatic Die division."
From "Springfield Reporter" July 15, 1920 in describing the Automatic Die Division, we can determine that the class was held in the “upper” works building and not in the “lower” works where the class photo was taken (and where Porter apparently had his office):
"The home of the Automatic Die Division is the original brick building,
the so-called 'upper works,' formerly the main works for the entire Jones
& Lamson Machine company's product."
Further descriptions of the class location: "An unused basement in one of the shops was given over for our use and
here gathered fifteen embryo astronomers under the writer's guidance."Russell
Porter, Popular Astronomy
Oscar Marshall quoted Gladys Skinner in his autobiography describing the scene in this manner:
'"The evening came when the eager group started grinding. Barrels, filled with
stone, were all ready in place for each member. [...] Mr. Porter said that
that particular corner of the basement had been chosen because it was
absolutely necessary to work in a place where the 24-hour temperature was
constant, so that the expansion and contraction of the glass wouldn't be too
great. There was also pure running spring water."From the "Springfield
Reporter," August 15, 1956, by Gladys Piper Skinner of Windsor, Vermont, member
of the original group of the Springfield Telescope Makers.’
Epilogue: An investigation of the site by the author, Jim Daley and Bert Willard within the past 10 years shows no remaining evidence of the class being held there.
Photos
Bert in the southwest corner of the lower level of the "upper" J&L Building.
The Building in which Porter’s first telescope making class was held
(photo by Bert Willard)
The sign announcing the start of a telescope making class The notice of the first meeting of the telescope makers as a class
The recovered location of the site of the photograph of the first class.
This is outside of the “lower” J&L facility, where much of the formal optical work was done
First Class Photo Site: Latitude : 43°17'21.33"N,
Longitude : 72°28'15.97"W
(43.289258, -72.471103)
Blueprint for Standard Optical Tube Assembly Blueprint for Equatorial Mount Charlie Longe in what is believed to be the Foreman’s room with his OTA
Appendix
It is noted above that Everett Redfield was not just the primary cook for the club, but also a poet. This is one of his poems, as transcribed by Roy Lyon:
THE TELESCOPE MAKERS DREAM
I dreamed that the Springfield Telescope Club
Took a trip to the planet Mars,
And established ourselves on a mountain top
From which to view the stars.
That we carried a monster telescope-
A 'scope of most wonderful power,
And watched the stars and worlds roll by
For many countless hours.
And the sights we saw in realms beyond
The vision of this worlds eyes,
Were a ceaseless wonder and endless source
Of pleasure and surprise.
When the people of Mars inquired who we were,
And where was the land of our birth,
We turned that telescope around
'Till it pointed at the earth.
And told them to look and see for themselves
The land from whence we came,
And if all went well we hoped to return
To our native land again.
And when they had looked to their heart's content,
And examined the whole world o'er,
They said such a wonderful telescope
They had never seen before.
They saw great cities and towns on the land,
And ships that sail on the sea,
And questioned us closely of all that they saw
And wondered that such things could be.
Then a wise old Professor said "Tell me I pray,
What are those black bugs that I see
That run 'round so lively and in such great droves,
They're a new kind of insect to me."
"Please tell me their names and habits of life,
For we have no such insects on Mars".
Mr. Fullam spoke up and said, "My dear sir,
Those insects are Henry Ford cars".
We dwelt with those people a year and a day
And found them a people of worth,
But then we were homesick and thought it was time,
That we should return to the earth.
We bade them farewell and they wished us bon voyage,
And left them with sincere regret,
We felt well repaid with discoveries made,
And their kindness we'll never forget.
Of our journey to earth I have nothing to tell -
I felt a hard bump on my head,
I suddenly woke 'twas the end of my dream,
I found I had rolled out of bed.
