Sky and Telescope - November 2016 - 26

S &T Beginnings

OFFICE MATES Clockwise from upper left: Joseph Ashbrook, Leif Robinson, and Richard Fienberg were S&T's second, third, and
fourth editors, respectively, and provided more than a half century of editorial leadership.

Despite the eventual addition of several more rooms
at the observatory, space was growing tight, and in late
1952 the magazine's subscription-fulﬁllment department
moved to a rented storefront a two-minute walk from the
observatory. Then in 1956 the editorial staﬀ packed up
and moved across the street to Harvard's Kittridge Hall,
which was home to Harvard University Press and the
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's newly established Moonwatch program, formed in anticipation of
the ﬁrst artiﬁcial satellites. But the magazine's mailing
address remained at the world-renowned observatory.
In contrast to the 1940s, the 1950s saw robust growth
for amateur astronomy, fueled by cheap war-surplus
equipment and the approaching Space Age. Sensing a
more secure future, Charlie knew the magazine would
need even more space. In 1956 he purchased a small plot
of land about a mile west of the observatory on Bay State
Road next to the Cambridge dump, where piles of trash
burned in open-air ﬁres. There the following year Sky
Publishing built a 50-by-55-foot "annex" for the magazine's fulﬁllment department. Nevertheless, Charlie's
hand-drawn sketches and notes from the time make it
clear he envisioned the building as the eventual Sky &
Telescope headquarters, complete with a 10-by-12-foot
oﬃce for himself as company president. Opulence, it
seems, wasn't a big concern.
The whole company consolidated onto the site in 1959,
but with a slight change in plans since by then Charlie
had purchased a small house next to the annex and one
directly across the street. One became the company's
front oﬃce, fulﬁllment, and customer-service depart26

November 2016 sky & telescope

ments, while the other served as editorial oﬃces. The
annex became shipping and receiving. These buildings
formed the venerable "49-50-51 Bay State Road" address
that served the company for the next half century. Most
of the magazine's veteran readers will vividly remember
writing to that address to start and renew subscriptions.
The dump closed in 1971, reducing the smell, and
in the coming years it was transformed into a pleasant
city park after being covered with a mountain of clean
ﬁll excavated when the local subway line was extended
westward from Harvard Square. Today the magazine's
editorial oﬃces are on the other side of that park. Some
of the former buildings on Bay State Road are now home
to the American Association of Variable Star Observers.

The Staﬀ
Over the years, hundreds of people have worked for Sky
& Telescope. But Charlie had a knack for hiring people
who stuck with the publication. His ﬁrst full-time editorial hire was astronomer and Yale University teacher
Joseph Ashbrook, a diligent scholar and meticulous word
person who came on board in 1953. Joe rose to become
the magazine's editor in 1964 and remained in that
position until he died at age 60 of a heart attack while
vacationing in 1980. Joe was followed by his long-time
colleague Leif Robinson, who'd tallied 38 years on the
staﬀ when he retired in 2000.
And it wasn't just the editorial staﬀ that chalked up
years of service to the magazine. Business manager John
Simmons was in high school when he began working
part-time "sweeping ﬂoors" at the magazine. Like Joe,

Sky and Telescope - November 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Sky and Telescope - November 2016