Astronomer and Optician
John A. Brashear
Photograph
Album
and
Biography
John A Brashear (1840 - 1920)
John A. Brashear Biography
John A. Brashear Photograph Album
"Uncle John" Brashear on the South Side:
Photo
1 *** Photo
2 *** Photo
3
John Brashear Standing Outside his South
Side Workshop
Brashear Memorial Museum,
Adjacent
to
The Brashear Association, on Pittsburgh's South Side
Allegheny Observatory -
Walsh, Glenn A.
"Centennial: New Allegheny Observatory Dedication ." Blog Posting.
SpaceWatchtower 2012 Aug. 28.
Both
Henry Clay Frick and
Andrew Carnegie made large contributions toward the construction of the new Allegheny Observatory.
Also,
John Brashear accompanied
Andrew Carnegie to the dedication of the
Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall,
in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, on 1902 April 22.
30-inch Thaw
Memorial Refractor Telescope
Manufactured by Brashear's company.
Fifth largest refractor in world(third largest photographic
refractor).
The original Brashear objective
lens was replaced in 1989; it is now on display in building lobby.
"Carnegie" steel beams
donated for construction of Allegheny
Observatory
Miniature
replica of the original Allegheny Observatory(1860 building), located
on Old Observatory Hill in Allegheny City, Pa.(which later adjoined the
campus of the Western University of Pennsylvania, prior to the Univeristy's
planned
move to the Oakland section of Pittsburgh)
where John Brashear was Acting Director for two years(1898 - 1900), is now
on the platform of the popular Miniature
Railroad
and Village exhibit at The
Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh.
11-inch
Brashear Refractor Telescope
Produced for the Carnegie Technical Schools in 1908(now
Carnegie-Mellon University)
Now used for free public star parties at the Nicholas E. Wagman
Observatory
4-inch
Brashear Refractor Telescope
Donated to The Buhl Planetarium and
Institute of Popular Science, in Pittsburgh,
by Mr. J.K. Foster on October 16,
1972; it was the 37th telescope produced by the John Brashear Company, circa 1900.
Now displayed at
The Henry
Buhl Jr., Planetarium and Observatory of The
Carnegie Science Center
John A. Brashear Biography:
The Story of John Alfred Brashear
The Man Who Loved the Stars
SPECIAL NOTE Regarding The Brashear Association booklet, The Story of John Alfred Brashear,
The Man Who Loved the Stars
(Glenn A. Walsh: Friday, 2020 April 10)
This booklet was first published by The Brashear Association, to provide biographical and historical information about John A. Brashear, in February of 1977. During the 1980s and early 1990s, this booklet was distributed to the general public, free-of-charge, during public observing sessions of the Buhl Planetarium's Astronomical Observatory. At some point, the Buhl Planetarium Observatory started running-low of copies of the booklet. When requesting additional copies of the booklet from The Brashear Association, the author (Buhl Planetarium Astronomical Observatory Coordinator Glenn A. Walsh) learned that The Brashear Association had no more copies to distribute.
Well, one of the very regular and reliable volunteers during the weekly, Friday evening, public observing session of the Buhl Planetarium Observatory was Joan Corman, who worked at the U.S. Steel Service Center on Pittsburgh's South Side, only a few blocks from The Brashear Association. When she learned that this John Brashear biography booklet was no longer available, she mentioned it too her boss at U.S. Steel.
At his request, Mrs. Corman gave her boss a copy of the John Brashear biography booklet. He sent the booklet to the U.S. Steel Print Shop and had the Print Shop print 10,000 new copies of the booklet. He, then, sent the 10,000 copies of the booklet over to The Brashear Association as a donation.
Needless to say, this donation came as a big surprise to The Brashear Association. However, the author later learned that it had not been a very welcome surprise, at least to the Executive Director of The Brashear Association. A friend of the author, Chuck Rompala (who, at that time, worked at The Brashear Association), told the author that The Brashear Association Executive Director had actually been upset with the surprise donation from U.S. Steel. That is not the type of donation that this Executive Director had wished for. With all of the financial problems that all small non-profit organizations have (particularly social service organizations such as The Brashear Association), if U.S. Steel was going to give The Brashear Association a donation, this Executive Director felt that there were other areas where a donation would have better helped The Brashear Association.
So, this is one reason that the author chose to create an Internet Web-Site regarding the life of John Brashear, which was created on 1999 June 26. Since financial concerns may preclude the printing of additional copies of this John Brashear biography, once the 10,000 copies are depleted, the author decided to use the new Internet technology to ensure that this biography would not disappear into oblivion, and it would always be available to the general public.
Andrew
Carnegie and Carnegie Libraries Photo Album
Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music
Hall History Cover Page
History
of
the Andrew Carnegie Free Library Civil War Museum:
The Captain Thomas Espy Post #153, Grand Army of the Republic
History of
Andrew Carnegie and Carnegie Libraries
History Cover
Page for The Duquesne Incline, Pittsburgh
Serving Commuters and Tourists since 1877 !
History of The Buhl Planetarium and Institute
and Popular Science, Pittsburgh
America's Fifth Major Planetarium(1939)
History of the Adler Planetarium
and Astronomy Museum, Chicago
America's First Major Planetarium
Other History Links
Return to John Brashear History Cover
Page.
Disclaimer Statement: This Internet Web page is not affiliated
with
the
Henry Buhl, Jr.
Planetarium and Observatory,
The
Carnegie Science
Center, or The
Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh/Carnegie Institute.
This Internet, World Wide Web Site administered by Glenn A. Walsh.
Unless otherwise indicated, all web pages in this account are © Copyright
1999-2020, Glenn A. Walsh, All Rights Reserved.
Additions and corrections to:
gawalsh@andrewcarnegie.cc
Last modified : Friday, 10-Apr-2020 03:57:25 EDT.
