History and Tradition in the MAS

In 1990-91, the Madison Astronomical Society confidently celebrated its 60th anniversary with a slate of special events and public outreach. Everyone knew that the club had formed in 1930. That had been the conventional wisdom for decades and there appeared to be documentary evidence to back it up. But conventional wisdom is not always wise and mistakes do happen. What IS the club’s actual birthdate?

Anniversaries, birthdays and other traditions are important. Honoring the past preserves those traditions and helps us focus on who we are and where we’re headed. MAS anniversaries and traditions are meaningful and we’re fortunate that much of our story has been preserved. We’ll honor a few of those traditions at this meeting and spend a little time probing the origins of our club and the ways early members celebrated its founding and continued existence. We’ll also make a special announcement about the revival of a tradition that you won’t want to miss.

This meeting will take place in person at our usual Space Place classroom location. It will also be streamed live to our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@madisonastronomicalsociety.