Dudley Observatory Dedication, August 28, 1856

This painting depicts the August 28, 1856, dedication of the Dudley Observatory in Albany Academy Park. The speaker, Edward Everett, stands on a raised platform next to a covered table with a pitcher and a clock. He delivers his oration to members of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, among other attendees. There are approximately 160 people depicted in the painting, sixteen of them female, all seated or standing inside a large striped tent that has been erected for the occasion. Blandina Bleeker Dudley, widow of Charles Edward Dudley, for whom the observatory was named, is shown wearing a lavender dress, seated in the left foreground.