Phoebe Waterman Haas Family Papers

Emma Phoebe Waterman Haas (1882-1967) was an American astronomer and the wife of Rohm and Haas Company co-founder Otto Haas. Phoebe was born at Fort Totten in the Dakota Territory (now North Dakota) in 1882 to John Charles and Clara Leonard Waterman. Her father, commissioned in the United States Cavalry, had been sent to Fort Totten in the wake of the Battle at Little Big Horn. As a teenager, Phoebe’s parents wanted her to receive a quality education, so they sent her to live with John’s family in Grand Rapids, Michigan to attend high school.

She continued her education at Vassar College, earning a B.A. (1904) and M.A. (1906) in Mathematics and Astronomy. Upon returning from travels with her father in the Philippines, Mount Wilson Observatory in Pasadena, California employed Phoebe as a “computer” (someone who performed mathematical calculations). Working with several highly respected astronomers ignited her ambition to pursue a career as a full-fledged astronomer. In 1911, the University of California, Berkley accepted her into their doctoral program. She earned a Ph.D. in astronomy in 1913, becoming one of the first women to do so.

Shortly after being awarded her Ph.D., Phoebe was appointed as an assistant to the Argentine National Observatory in Cordoba, Argentina. While on the ship to Buenos Aires, she met Otto Haas, co-founder of Rohm and Haas Company, a chemical company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They married in February 1914 and had two sons: Fritz Otto Haas (1915-1994) and John Charles Haas (1918-2011). After the birth of her sons, Phoebe stopped practicing astronomy and instead focused her attention on raising a family and supporting her husband’s business.

Despite her family commitments, Phoebe Waterman Haas never lost her passion for astronomy. Through the suggestions of others, she volunteered with the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO). In 1927, with the assistance of Leon Campbell, recorder for AAVSO at the Harvard Observatory, Phoebe purchased a Clark telescope. She used this telescope to make 338 observations for AAVSO between 1928 and 1933. Family obligations limited her ability to continue this work on a regular basis. However, in 1953 when AAVSO was evicted from Harvard and lost the bulk of its funding, Phoebe volunteered to perform calculations from home to help keep their records.

Both Otto Haas and Phoebe Waterman Haas made significant contributions to community efforts. Following World War II, many children became fatherless. Otto, having lost his father at an early age, established the Phoebe Waterman Foundation (later the William Penn Foundation) in 1945 for the purpose of strengthening children’s futures through fostering deep connections to the community.

Otto Haas died on January 2, 1960 and Phoebe Waterman Haas passed away on May 16, 1967.

Sources

Phoebe Waterman Haas Family Papers, Scientific History Institute Archives, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.