Re: eclipse expedition in Vermont? 1929?

[Larry Cartwright <exit60@IA4U.NET>]

Take a look at
<http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEmap/TSENorAm1901.gif>.
There were only 2 total eclipses visible in the US during the 1920's and
1930's.

The famous eclipse of January 24, 1925 was notable for causing a huge
panic when New York City was plunged into total darkness.  The path of
this eclipse started in N MN, swept eastward across N WI and N MI, then
across W NY and SE NY and S New England.  My dad saw this as a young boy
here in Michigan.

The eclipse of August 31, 1932 swept southeastward passing between the
cities of Montreal and Quebec, across NE corner of VT and much of NH and
the very E part of MA.

Your grandfather was a professor at Northwestern University and Director
of Dearborn Observatory for many years.  In 1929 he became Director of
Chicago's Adler Planetarium, which would explain the significance of
"Chicago Eclipse Exhibition" in connection with the 1932 eclipse.  He
was also a prominent member of local and national astronomy societies
which sent observing teams to New Hampshire in 1932.  If he was in
Vermont, he would have had to be in the far northeast corner near the
New Hampshire and Canadien borders.

BTW, you can see a copy of a 1933 book your grandfather wrote at
<http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com/>.

Best wishes,

Larry
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Larry Cartwright  <exit60@ia4u.net>
Physics and Physical Science Teacher
Charlotte HS, Charlotte MI USA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ken Fox wrote:
> My brother and sister were working on some family photos of my father and
> grandfather (astronomer Philip Fox) heaed for an eclipse expedition. I
> remember someone pointing us to a resource where such information as the
> dates of past eclipses can be found. Can anyone help again? My search
> skills came up short.
>
> This was the note from my brother:
>
> we discovered that we did not have the date
> of a series of pictures taken at some trip which the
> truck (in the picture) labeled the Chicago Eclipse
> Exhibition. On the back it said Vermont- but no date.
> My guess is the is was somewhere between 1929 and
> 1935.