Our origins
CAS was founded in 1911 by Dr. DeLisle Stewart, a graduate of Carleton College in Minnesota, and staff member at the Harvard College Observatory from 1896 to 1902. After subsequently serving as an assistant at the Cincinnati Observatory, he left to form his own organization when his desire to implement astrophotographical capabilities there was denied by the Observatory director.
On April 21st 1911, a new “Society” was formed when 59 individuals signed the charter forming the new Cincinnati Astronomical Society (a previous incarnation of CAS had existed from 1841 to 1873). The signees included Stewart, Joseph B. Foraker (a U.S. Senator) and President William Howard Taft (signed on his behalf in absentia).
The Society established its headquarters on the Northwest side of Cincinnati near Cleves, Ohio. The site was chosen to be far away from the city lights and pollution of a growing Cincinnati, something the Cincinnati Observatory had suffered from during their earliest days. Stewart had grand plans to build a new observatory there which would rival those of the largest telescopes in the nation at the time. However, the struggle to acquire adequate funding and the effects of the Great Depression prevented the project from ever reaching completion.
Stewart’s death in 1941 forever put to rest his vision for this grand observatory.
The Society lived on in his absence however, and is still part of our community today. Following in his footsteps, many members of the Society engage in the practice of astrophotography, as well as performing significant community outreach and education.
(Historical details provided by The History of The Cincinnati Astronomical Society by John E. Ventre and Edward J. Goodman)
