Many people from Seward County have gone on to make their mark in the world, but few have left a legacy as unique as Julena Steinheider Duncombe. Born on a farm near Dorchester in 1911 and raised in Goehner, Duncombe went from rural Nebraska classrooms to becoming a respected mathematician and astronomer whose work helped advance modern astronomy and navigation.
Duncombe was the only daughter in a family of five children. Growing up in Goehner during the early 20th century, she developed a strong interest in mathematics and science at a time when few women pursued careers in those fields. At age 17, she enrolled at Doane University, then known as Doane College, where she majored in mathematics and minored in astronomy. She graduated in 1932 at the age of 21.
After graduation, Duncombe began her career as a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse in Nebraska. According to historical accounts, she recognized that many students arrived at school hungry and helped establish what may have been the area’s earliest school lunch program. Using the schoolhouse stove and assistance from her family, she prepared meals for children who otherwise had little to eat. She later taught in western Nebraska and at the Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Wyoming during World War II, where Japanese Americans were seeking refuge.
In 1945, Duncombe moved to Washington, D.C., to work at the United States Naval Observatory. There, she became the first woman observer to work with the observatory’s six-inch transit circle, an important tool used to measure the positions of stars and planets accurately. Her work involved analyzing observations of the sun, moon, planets, and stars, helping improve astronomical calculations.
While working at the Naval Observatory, she met astronomer Raynor Lockwood Duncombe. The couple married in Goehner in 1948 before moving to Yale University, where they helped introduce punched-card technology into astronomical research. After returning to the Naval Observatory in 1950, Julena joined the Nautical Almanac Office and supervised projects that produced tables used for air and sea navigation. She also directed the processing of more than 150 star catalogs, which became a foundation for future space databases.
One of her most significant accomplishments came in the 1960s when she became responsible for creating eclipse predictions and maps published in astronomical almanacs. Her calculations helped scientists, navigators, and skywatchers better understand and observe solar and lunar eclipses around the world.
Duncombe retired in 1973 after nearly three decades with the Naval Observatory. Throughout her life, she remained a strong advocate for women pursuing careers in mathematics and science. In 1959, the U.S. Department of Labor highlighted her career as an example of what women could accomplish in federal service. She was also a leader of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of several scientific organizations.
Julena Steinheider Duncombe passed away in 2003, just days before her 92nd birthday. More than a century after her birth, her story is a reminder that even a young girl from rural Seward County can make a difference far beyond Nebraska and into the stars.
