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A scholar takes a trip across the ocean — and down memory lane — to celebrate John Quincy Adams

A historical marker stands in front of a 19th century brick building with a metal dome on top.
Bill Rinehart
/
WVXU
The Cincinnati Observatory moved a few miles away from its original home, Mount Ida, which is now known as Mount Adams. The new area was dubbed Mount Lookout.

The Cincinnati Observatory will celebrate its move to Mt. Lookout 150 years ago in November, an event that drew national attention to the city known as "the Birthplace of American Astronomy," and home to the historic Mitchel telescope. Former president and avid sailor John Quincy Adams was an advocate for a national observatory and traveled to Cincinnati in the fall of 1843 to speak at the cornerstone-laying for the place he called the "lighthouse of the skies" at its original location.

On Cincinnati Edition, we’ll learn more about John Quincy Adams with scholar and Professor Willard Sunderland, Ph.D., and discuss Adams' passion for the sea and night sky. Sunderland recently followed the sailing route that Adams first made across the Atlantic to St. Petersburg as the first American ambassador to the Russian Empire.

Guest:

  • Willard Sunderland, Ph.D.,  Henry R. Winkler Professor of Modern History, director of graduate studies at the University of Cincinnati

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Updated: November 13, 2023 at 1:44 PM EST
This segment first aired Oct. 10, 2023.
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