Henrietta Swa, Leavitt

Henrietta Swan Leavitt’s life resembles the Hero Journey.

Henrietta Swan Leavitt was in Oberlin College for two years, then transferred to the Society of
Collegiate Instruction of Women, and then became a volunteer assistant in the Harvard Observatory.
This all happened from 1886 to 1895.
In 1902, Leavitt became a permanent staff member in the Harvard Observatory.
Becoming a permanent staff member in the Harvard Observatory was her call to action
because after that, she advanced in her positions, which led to her “return with the elixir” which was
her discovery.

Henrietta Swan Leavitt became the head of the photographic stellar photometry department.
She was then given the problem of finding photographically standardized values for stellar
magnitudes. She published the first standards in 1912, and the secondary standards later.
Leavitt discovered the Cepheid variable, a variable of stars related to the pulsing of their
luminosity, in 1912.
Her discovery of the Cepheid variable was her “return with the elixir” because it’s known as her
outstanding achievement.