In 1991, MAS celebrated its 60th birthday as a club. We threw a party, organized various special events, and generally made a big deal of the occasion. And we received some significant coverage in the local newspaper. The club rightly regarded its 60th birthday as an important moment.

We were mistaken, though. The club was not established in 1930-31. However, we can overlook this error. The club leaders had compelling reasons to choose the 1930 date, and there was little evidence available to them to suggest otherwise.

By 2020 the club had seriously taken up the task of writing of its own history. The author spent a few hours in some online newspaper databases and found that in the 1930s, the events surrounding the formation of MAS had been extensively covered in the same local papers. By the 2020s, tracking down those documents could be done in minutes without leaving home. Prior to the internet, accessing old newspapers was not easy. Newspaper archives existed only in libraries on microfiche, and indexes—when they existed—were incomplete and difficult to access.

But in under an hour, I had found documentary evidence of our actual birthday (spoiler alert, it was in early 1935). At the same time, we were collecting many other primary source club documents that further fleshed out MAS’s origin story. We now know the full story.

The story of the club’s history can be found in the volumes linked above. The first chapter of the 1935-1988 volume is all about nailing down the date and circumstances of the club’s founding. It’s all there and it’s a good read, but here’s a quick summary.

Around 1934, there were several serious telescope makers and amateur astronomers in Madison. Though some of them knew each other casually, there was no attempt to form a a club until UW astronomy professor Dr. C. M. Huffer offered an astronomy class through the UW Extension. The class was quite popular thanks to Huffer’s personable nature and the accessibility of his instruction. As the class was coming to an end, a group of the students approached him and asked if there was a way they could continue to meet. Huffer told them that they were describing an astronomy club, and he encouraged them to form one. Huffer knew of a few of the telescope makers and put them all in touch with one another. By the end of February, 1935, they had organized a first meeting, drafted a constitution, and elected officers.

A few months later one of them, Dr. Jack Supernaw (elected president of the new group), would write in its first newsletter:

It is significant, when the Extension Department of our State University announces a twelve-week course in popular astronomy, to have forty-seven in attendance for the first lecture. It is significant that among these forty-seven were housewives, grade and vocational teachers, nurses, oil station attendants, doctors, store-keepers, lawyers, and ministers—a cross section of diverse interests and tastes but a lay group with the common desire to know more about the mystery of the universe . . . The common need for discussion and “mutual benefits that evolve from congenial associations” gave rise to the organization of our present group.

There’s more to it than this, of course, and the story is a good one. The club they formed in early 1935 still exists today. Reading about their activities, interests, and dreams will sound familiar to today’s members. There are differences, of course. Technology has put a much different twist on the hobby, but it still comes down to the people you’ll get to know when you visit a meeting. We’re still a group of housewives, teachers, nurses, storekeepers, lawyers, and ministers—and much more.

By the way, in 2025, we celebrated the club’s 90th anniversary!

(Posted by John Rummel, September, 2025).

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