by Sania Srivastava

Marking 167 years by Ann Street in Ann Arbor, the Frankel Detroit Observatory has once again opened its doors to the community. The observatory is the University of Michigan’s second oldest building and America's oldest unaltered observatory (Shackman). History is preserved here. 

Over the Fritz telescope, we can picture astronomer James Watson uncovering asteroids or hear stories of Cleveland Abbe pioneering discoveries of meteorology and Standard Time Zones (“History of the Detroit Observatory”). Lined on walls, it carries our university's legacy- the success of UM's first preseident Henry Philip Tappan’s dream project to bring research-focused academics into America (Shackman). While a center of pride, the observatory’s journey has been turbulent- including being nearly destroyed.

Opening in 1854, the observatory quickly became, "the place to study astronomy" (Shackman). It was originally called the Detroit Observatory because the majority of funds raised to build it came primarily from people living in Detroit, including Detroit lawyer an former state attorney general Henry N. Walker (Shackman). The observatory plans called for only a refractor telescope, "suitable for research and instruction. But Walker offered to pay for a meridian-circle telescope as well. It would be better suited for measuring the transit of the stars and thus for establishing more accurate time" (Shackman). It soon became the official time keeper for people, communities, and the railroads, standardizing time in the state (“History of the Detroit Observatory”).

The observatory's new name is a tribute to Judy and Stanley Frankel for their five million dollar donation and continued support that made such grand renovations possible (“Support The Detroit Observatory”). Stanley Frankel, real estate development and management firm owner, and his wife, Judith Frankel, an antiques dealer, were once students at UM. In fact, Stanley comes from the prominent U-M Frankel family of Jean and Samuel Frankel. President Mary Sue Coleman once said about them, "I wonder if they knew how they would one day transform their University" (“Frankel Family”). Their donations have sustained many University of Michigan and Detroit programs, including but not limited to the Center for Judaic Studies, University of Michigan Museum of Art, Cardiovascular Center, and the Detroit Orchestra Symposium (“Frankel Family”;“Samuel Frankel Oral History Interview”). And therefore, even beyond their namesake observatory you will find many buildings carry the Frankel name.