Blandina Bleecker Dudley (1783-1863) [Section 61 Lot 1]
Patron and namesake of Dudley Observatory, Philanthropist, Politician’s Wife
Blandina Bleecker was one of seven children born on September 1, 1783, to Rutger Jansen Bleecker and Catharine Elmendorf. She is a relation of the Schuyler family and her great-grandfather Jan Jansen Bleecker was one of the patentees of the Saratoga Patent, a 500,000-acre parcel which later became part of Saratoga and Washington Counties. Her father became extremely wealthy as a merchant and a land prospector. He purchased 22,000 acres in Oneida and Herkimer Counties, which include present-day Utica, for $.15 an acre. After the Revolution he sold land left by loyalists.
Blandina received a formal education attending the Moravian Seminary for Young Ladies, the first school for girls in America, located in Bethlehem, PA.
On July 7, 1809, at the age of 26, she married Charles Edward Dudley. Dudley was an Englishman who moved to Newport, RI during the Revolution, eventually moving to Albany where he worked as a clerk in a merchant’s counting room. Dudley was politically active where he served in the State Senate from 1820 – 1825; and worked to expand education including astronomical science. During his time in the Senate, he also served as Mayor of Albany from 1821 – 1824, and then again from 1828 – 1829. In 1829 Governor Martin Van Buren appointed him to fill the vacancy in the U.S. Senate that was previously vacated by him when he was elected governor. He served in this post until 1833.
Charles Dudley died on January 23, 1841. After his death, Blandina became known for her philanthropic ventures in the area. In 1851 she consulted with the banker and financial advisor, Thomas W. Olcott in regards to her fortune. Olcott and suggested an observatory for Albany as her late husband enjoyed astronomy; the two visited the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England during their honeymoon. In donating $12,000, Blandina was granted naming rights and became known as the Dudley Observatory. Originally located in Arbor Hill on land donated by Stephen Van Rensselaer IV, a distant cousin, today this area is known as Dudley Heights.
In 1860, she sued her nephew who obtained her signature on what she thought was for power of attorney, authorizing her nephew to conduct certain business on her behalf with Thomas Olcott. However, the document was a transfer of property which would take effect upon her death. Blandina died on March 6, 1863, at the age of 79 and is buried in Bleecker family plot next to her husband.
Through Blandina’s philanthropy, she established the Dudley Observatory as America’s oldest non-academic institute of astronomical research. Her endowment to the institution totaled over $105,000. However, given the issues with her nephew, Olcott claimed credit for later donations, which would have made her contribution significantly higher. The following year her will was disputed by the Albany County Surrogates Court.
The Dudley Observatory closed in 1873 despite popular support, and regular public viewing. In 1876 it reopened with a focus of creating star catalogs. Also, given its location near the railroad and the sensitive and fragile instruments inside the observatory, a new location was needed.
In 1893 a new observatory was erected South Lake Avenue on the property that is today the Capital District Psychiatric Center. In 1905 it became the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Meridian Astronomy wherein it created the largest and most accurate catalog of the stars. To create this catalog, the Dudley hired many individuals to do to the calculations, which were known as computers. Largely given to women, the Dudley employed the largest amount of women in American science before World World II.
After the war, the Dudley Observatory partnered with NASA, shifting intellectual focus several times. They moved out of their site onto Fuller Road where they focused their research on U2 spy planes and rockets. In 2015 the Dudley Observatory evolved again and became a foundation, funding programs which advance astronomy as well as astronomic education. Today it partners with the Museum of Innovation and Science located in Schenectady and contains an archive and library of its work over the past 160 years.