[2] Born in Fayetteville, New York,[3] Harriet was the daughter of pastor Dana Williams Bigelow and Katherine Huntington.

Harriet attended the local public schools, graduating from Utica Free Academy in 1889.

In 1904, she was awarded a Ph.D.[4] under the direction of Asaph Hall[2] with a thesis titled Declinations of Certain North Polar Stars Determined with the Meridian Circle.

Harriet attained professor status in 1911 and became head of the college's astronomy department.

[4] In 1923, she joined the solar eclipse expedition to the Santa Catalina Island, California.