Historic News Articles of
The Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

America's Fifth Major Planetarium

October 24, 1939 through August 31, 1991

[Operated by Carnegie Institute
from January, 1987 through February, 1994]

October 24, 1999 marks the 60th anniversary of
The Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science !

Sculture,

Sidney Waugh's sculpture, "The Heavens," adorns the front facade of The Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science.
The opening of Buhl was the cover story of the October, 1939 issue of the popular astronomy magazine, The Sky.

Internet Web Site Master Index for the History of
The Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science, Pittsburgh

Early News Articles about
The Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science

* "Planetarian."
Time Magazine 1939 April 24.
Regarding construction of The Buhl Planentarium
and Institute of Popular Science in Pittsburgh and
the institution's Director, James Stokley.

The Sky, October, 1939

Copyright 1939, American Museum of Natural History
(Hayden Planetarium, New York City)
"America's Fifth Planetarium,
Pittsburgh institution, memorial to Henry Buhl, Jr., will embody many novel features"

The following is the cover story, regarding the opening of The Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science. Disregard the few places, in the article, where ink was used to line-out certain sections; apparently, the previous owner of this magazine had attempted to "update" the article, by scratching-out obsolete information. Please also note that where the color red is seen on the magazine's cover and rear cover, the true color should be the color orange; it is unknown why the scanner did not reproduce the true color in the scanned image.

Cover

Cover
Enlarged

Table of
Contents

Rear
Cover


Page 2

Page 3

Page 4

Page 5

Page 6

Page 25

Page 31

The Sky, January, 1940

Copyright 1940, Sky Publishing Corporation
(Hayden Planetarium, American Museum of Natural History, New York City)

With this issue, The Sky, predecessor to Sky & Telescope magazine, became the "official bulletin of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City and of the new Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science in Pittsburgh, Pa."(see page 23). At the same time, The Sky became the "official publication of the Amateur Astronomers' Association" in New York City(see page 2). At this time, the management of The Sky was interested in extending such arrangements "to include other institutions and organizations"(see page 2). This was also the beginning of Sky Publishing Corporation; for the previous three years, The Sky had been published by the Hayden Planetarium, American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Click here for a "A Brief History of Sky & Telescope."

Page 9 includes an article about the special elevator, which Buhl's Zeiss II Planetarium Projector is mounted on; Buhl was the first planetarium in the world to mount the main projector on an elevator. Page 9 also includes a monthly column by Arthur L. Draper, Assistant Curator of the Hayden Planetarium; within two years, Mr. Draper would become the second Planetarium Director of the Buhl Planetarium and remain in that position until his death, nearly thirty years later.

Pages 3 and 12 give articles about shows in the Buhl Planetarium, during the month of January, 1940. Note that pages 12 and 13 are scanned-in as three image pages, for easier reading.

Page 22 includes an advertisement by the J.W. Fecker Company of Pittsburgh. The Fecker Company was the direct descendent of the John Brashear Company, which made telescopes and other fine optical and scientific instruments for customers throughout the world. The address given, for the Fecker Company, was the location of the Brashear Company, which was founded in 1881. This building(which still exists) on Old Observatory Hill, is only a couple blocks from the site of the original Allegheny Observatory(in which John Brashear was acting Director for a time) and only a block from the former campus of the Western University of Pennsylvania, now the University of Pittsburgh (in which John Brashear was acting Chancellor for a time); although the original Observatory and other University buildings are gone(some outside walls and steps, from the original campus, remain), this site is now the campus of Triangle Technical School. Brashear LP, located in the RIDC industrial/office park in O'Hara Township, northeast of Pittsburgh, is the current successor to the Brashear and Fecker optical companies.

Page 23 lists the major staff members of the Buhl Planetarium and the Hayden Planetarium, as of January, 1940. Only two Planetarium Lecturers are listed in the Buhl staff list: Nicholas E. Wagman, Ph.D. and Leo J. Scanlon.

At this time, Nicholas E. Wagman was the Director of the Allegheny Observatory and on the faculty of the University of Pittsbugh. The Nicholas E. Wagman Observatory, operated by the Amateur Astronomers' Association of Pittsburgh, was named in Dr. Wagman's memory; it is located in Deer Lakes Regional County Park, northeast of Pittsburgh.

Leo J. Scanlon(who passed-away on November 27, 1999, at age 96) was the co-founder of the Amateur Astronomers' Association of Pittsburgh in 1929. In 1930, he built the world's first astronomical observatory with an all-aluminum dome, next to his home on Pittsburgh's North Side; a Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission marker, erected at the urging of the Amateur Astronomers' Association of Pittsburgh on McKnight Road just north of the City line, is located just a few blocks from the former site of this historic observatory. In addition to being his private observatory, which he named Valley View Observatory, this installation was also used by many members of the Amateur Astronomers' Association of Pittsburgh. Although the Valley View Observatory was razed on August 23, 1997, the dome is in storage; the Amateur Astronomers' Association of Pittsburgh plans to use this historic dome to construct a new Valley View Observatory, near the Nicholas E. Wagman Observatory, in a few years. Also, in 1930, Leo Scanlon visited the newly-opened Adler Planetarium in Chicago, America's first major planetarium. For much of the 1930s, Mr. Scanlon and the Amateur Astronomers' Association of Pittsburgh lobbied foundations, and the City of Pittsburgh, for construction of a local planetarium. These efforts were rewarded in 1937, when the Buhl Foundation agreed to construct a planetarium as a gift to the City of Pittsburgh.

Cover

Table of
Contents

Rear
Cover


Page
2

Page
3

Page
4

Page
9

Page
12

Page
12-13

Page
13

Page
17

Page
19

Page
22

Page
23


News articles from Dedication of Ten-inch, Siderostat-type, Refractor Telescope in
"The People's Observatory" - 1941 November:

Image 1 *** Image 2

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - October 26, 1999: "Buhl Planetarium History on Web"
Describes fifth in series of educational web sites, sponsored by the Andrew Carnegie Free Library.

More Recent News Reports Regarding the Original Buhl Planetarium

Internet Web Site Master Index for the History of
The Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science, Pittsburgh



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 1999-2001, Glenn A. Walsh, All Rights Reserved.
Additions and corrections to: buhlhistoricnews@planetarium.cc

Last modified : Tuesday, 29-Jan-2008 16:03:21 EST.