The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 29

THE ENQUIRER MONDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2010 C5 i or pa rr; i 1 1 1. 111 i' 11 -1 1 i 8 i 3 a 1 I II I III Ti w-" i an vera 7 I -lh irV ProvidedCincinnati Observatory Center Enquirer file The observatory was rebuilt and moved from Mount Adams to Mount Lookout (left and center) in 1973. The 1842 telescope was for decades the pride of observatory directors such as Elliot Smith and Everett Yowell (right). Id German telescope base of U.S. astronomy Observatory's 1842 jewel forever altered Cincinnati's story i ii Mjig 'i a $2.5 million restoration and renewed support from UC, the Observatory resurrected itself as a center for astronomy education.

"It's hard not to feel the energy of the place," director Craig Niemi says. "What we hear the most from visitors is, When they see the buildings, when they see the telescopes, and when they look through them. It's just The People's Telescope that has served eight generations of Cincinnatians is now more accessible than ever. School groups and scouts The Observatory (above) and its 14 acres (right) escaped residential development in the 1990s. Observatory events What Luminaria Night and Night Lights at the Cincinnati Observatory, 3489 Observatory Place.

Cruise from Mount Lookout Square for carolers, stargazing, a gift shop and hot drinks. When: p.m. Sunday Cost: Free, no reservations required. All ages welcome. What Constellation Mythology Nights When: 7p.m.

Dec. 17 (family friendly), Dec. 18 (adults only) Cost: $10, $5 kids; reservations required What: The 2012 Hoax: The Real Story, a light-hearted scientific program that delves into the Mayan calendar. When: 7 p.m., Dec. 21 Cost: $10, reservations required.

Information: www.cincinnatiobservatory.org, 513-321-5186. More online: See more images of the Observatory and Cincinnati Strangler case at Cincinnati. Comphotos. We cherish our history, and want to share it online. Visit Cincinnati.

Com and search for Our History. By Dean Regas Enquirer contributor The story of the Cincinnati Observatory is intertwined with the journey of one old telescope. This 16-foot-long, telescope from Munich, Germany, was purchased in 1842 and was the largest telescope in the United States at the time. It traveled from the old world to the new, changed the names of two of Cincinnati's fabled seven and started the field of popular astronomy in the United States. The telescope began as a dream for Ormsby MacKnight Mitchel, a surveyor, soldier Mitchel and, in 1842, professor at Cincinnati College, the forerunner of the University of Cincinnati.

Driven by his astronomical passion, Mitchel raised $10,000 to acquire this gorgeous telescope with its hand-made 11-inch lens and 16-foot-long tube crafted out of brass and mahogany. Mitchel invited former President John Quincy Adams to the dedication of the Observatory on Mount Ida on Nov. 9, 1843. After Adams laid the Observatory's cornerstone and gave his dedication speech the next day, the city renamed the hill in his honor. It has been Mount Adams ever since.

The telescope resided on Mount Adams until the 1870s, when the coal-smoke-filled skies of the rapidly growing city hindered its use. In 1873, the telescope and cornerstone moved to a new observatory in Mount Lookout on land donated by John Kilgour, a real estate developer. The streets Observatory Avenue and Observatory Place, as well as their 'JVM i ---41 TS ProvidedCincinnati Observatory Center Enquirer file On the air What: Dean Regas hosting "Star Gazer," one-minute show Monday-Thursday, five-minute show Friday When: 11:58 p.m. today on Channel 48 and 9:57 p.m. on Channel 14 (five -minute show Thursday at 9:50 p.m.), through December tour day and night, and classes of all ages meet regularly.

Telescope training, star parties, weddings, art shows, fundraisers, business meetings, concerts and movies are all held at the center. A visit to the Cincinnati Observatory is like stepping back into time. In an age of robotic telescopes and digitized images, the two antique telescopes still operate by hand and include the romance of putting your eye up to the looking glass. Everyone gets a turn to be an astronomer. Dean Regas is the Outreach Astronomer fur the Cincinnati Observatory.

He can be reached at dean and through his astronomy blog, Dean-space: cincin-natiobservatory. org Spotlight What: Fire Museum of Greater Cincinnati Where: 315 W. Court St, Downtown Don't miss: From the bucket lines to today's well-equipped fire companies, more than 200 years of firefighting in Cincinnati is illustrated in the Museum. Displays, sound effects, photos and artifacts include a leather bucket from the early 1800s, a huge alarm drum from 1824, a hand pumper, clothing and equipment. Activities include pretending to drive a fire engine with flashing lights, wailing siren, ringing bell; sliding down the fire pole; and ringing a bell on a wagon that was once pulled by horses.

Hours: noon-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday. Admission: $7, $6 seniors, $5 ages 6-17, free ages 4 and under with adult. Information: 513-621-5553; www.cincyfiremuseum.com.

Karen Andrew rial to nation's 27th president Victorian Christmas through January. 8 a.m.4 p.m. daily. Free. 51384-3262; www.nps.govwiho.

See more at Enquirer fie Outreach astronomer Dean Regas explains the Mitchel telescope to visitors at Cincinnati Observatory Center. der scope with a larger, 16-inch-diameter, 22-foot-long Alvan Clark Sons telescope. The 1842 telescope was transferred to a new, smaller observatory. By the 1940s, as larger telescopes were made, the Cincinnati Observatory did more computing than observing. Over the years, the telescopes gradually deteriorated until the 1980s when native Cincinnatian and observatory astronomer Paul Nohr painstakingly restored both telescopes to their former glory.

Until his death in 2006, neighborhood, Mount Lookout, get their names from the Observatory. Samuel Hannaford, the premier Cincinnati architect, designed the observatory. It was one of Hannaford's early projects several years before he designed Music Hall and City Hall. Today, when you drive up narrow, tree-lined Observatory Place past lovely Victorian-era homes, you'll find the definition of "Observatory" a picturesque jewel-box of a building capped by a silver dome. Jermain Porter, the director in 1904, replaced the ol DO YOU REMEMBER? HISTORIC SITES If ffM 1 Strangler terrorized Cincinnati in 1960s JU1 lM Nohr witnessed the rebirth of the observatory and the use of the telescopes on a daily basis.

In the 1990s the owner of the buildings, the University of Cincinnati, contemplated selling the Observatory's buildings and 14-acre campus to erect condos. A coalition of neighbors, historians and amateur and professional astronomers took action to save the astronomy complex. In 1999, they formed the Cincinnati Observatory Center, a not-for-profit organization to manage the site. Following a Officers remove the body of Cincinnati Stranger victim Barbara Bowman from her apartment.in April 1966. II tt By Jim Rohrer jrohrerenquirer.com A city gripped by fear is more complicated than ban' ner headlines or alarming newscasts.

Fear is subtle a rustling curtain in a house when someone walks by, a back door with an extra lock. It can be hushed voices in an office: Someone worked with Police killed Harrington clothesline. Cincinnati Museum Center, 1301 Western Queens-gate. America I AM: The African American Imprint, through Jan. 2.

Rare artifacts from across the globe, includes Cincinnati Black Brigade Flag, artifacts from Harriet Beech Stowe and the African-American church. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday; 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday. $12, $11 ages 60 and up, $8 ages 3-12; members: $8, $5 ages 3-12.

513-287-7000; www.cincymuseu-m.org. Greater Cincinnati Police Historical Museum, 959 W. Eighth Queensgate. 10 a.m.4 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and by appointment.

Covers two centuries of law enforcement in the region. Free. 513-300-3664; http:gcphs.com. Harriet Beecher Stowe House, 2950 Gilbert Walnut Hills, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and Saturday.

Free. 513-751-0651; www.harrietbeecher-stowehouse.org. Railway Museum of Greater Cincinnati, 315 W. Southern Covington. 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

Wednesday and Saturday. $4, $2 ages 10 and under, www.cincirail museum.org. William Howard Taft National Historic Site, 2038 Auburn Mount Auburn. Memo- suspected Las-key Emogene with this Joe Deters said years later. "I know it's a cliche, but it was a loss of innocence for this community." In 2007, Deters organized resistance to the possible parole of Posteal Laskey, the man convicted of killing one of the seven women and suspected in all the Strangler deaths.

In a testament to fear persisting 40 years, Deters forwarded more than 1,000 notes of protest to the parole board. The problem of Laskey ever getting out was solved later that year, when he died in prison of natural causes at age 69. Laskey had used a "borrowed" cab to pick up Barbara Bowman, who was strangled, raped and stabbed in Price Hill in August 1966. He was convicted of her murder and sentenced to death, but that was changed to life in prison in 1972 after the death penalty was out- Enquirer file photos Police lead Posteal Laskey from jail in 1966. The alleged "Cincinnati Strangler" only admitted to one murder.

a relative of the victim. Cincinnati was thoroughly terrorized for a year from late 1965 to late 1966 as the Cincinnati Strangler raped, strangled and murdered seven women two of them elderly, all but one 50 or older. In a macabre parallel to the 13 female victims attributed to the Boston Strangler from 1962 to 1964, many of the Cincinnati victims were choked with their own clothing belts or stockings. "It changed Cincinnati," Hamilton County Prosecutor lawed by the Supreme Court. Laskey never confessed.

Even so, authorities had no doubt he was the Strangler. Their strongest argument? After Laskey was arrested in December 1966, the spree of stranglings stopped. Have a suggestion for Do You Remember? Please contact Jim Rohrer at jrohrerenqui-, rer.com or 513-755-4157..