February 21, 1855 - December 6, 1902
Personal Data
Born: Colesvile, NY
Died : Paris, France
Married: George Herbert Palmer, late 1887
Education
1870 Classical Preparatory Curriculum, Secondary Education, Windsor Academy, Windsor, NY
1876 Baccalaureate with Honors, University of Michigan; also completed graduate work in history
1882 Honorary Ph. D. at University of Michigan
Employment
1876 Taught girls' seminary in a private secondary school, Lake Geneva, WI
1877-1879 head of the high school at Saginaw, MI
1879 Head of History Department, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA
1881-1887 First female President of Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA
1887 Trustee, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA
1889 President of Massachusetts State Board of Education
1889-1890 President of the Association of Collegiate Alumnae
1892-1895 First Dean of Women at University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
1893-1894 President of the Woman's Education Association of Boston
1900 Trustee of Bradford Academy, New England
Awards and Honors
Alice Freeman Scholarship Fund was created in her name to give to women who graduate from Wellesley college
Membership-Professional Organizations
American Association of University Women, helped found Association of Collegiate Alumnae which later became known as AAUM. Served as President form 1885 – 1886
Member, Massachusetts Board of Education after 1889
Supported the Harvard Annex, later known as Radcliffe College
Advisor to Barnard College
Director of the World's Columbian Exposition
Education Hall of Fame in 1920
Publications
1897 Why go to college?: An address. TY Crowell.
1908 The Life of Alice Freeman Palmer. Houghton, Mifflin.
Professional Interest Areas
Higher education of women
New Woman
Coeducation by gender
Major Contributions to Adult Education
Advocated for women to attend higher education institutions
Additional Resources
Articles
Kenschaft, L. J. (1999). Marriage, gender, and higher education: the personal and public partnership of Alice Freeman Palmer and George Herbert Palmer, 1886-1902 (Doctoral dissertation, Boston University).
Tonti, L. (2014, February 26). THE HOURGLASS: Who was Alice Freeman Palmer? The Wellesley News. Retrieved June 23, 2014, from http://thewellesleynews.com/2014/02/26/the-hourglass-who-was-alice-freeman-palmer/
Photo Gallery
Video/Audio
Presentations
Books
Bordin, R. B. A. (1993). Alice Freeman Palmer: The evolution of a new woman. University of Michigan Press.
Linenthal, A. J. (1995). Two academic lives: George Herbert Palmer and Alice Freeman Palmer: A compilation. Privately printed.
Palmer, A. F. (1925). Why Go to College? TY Crowell.
Palmer, G. H. (1908). The life of Alice Freeman Palmer. Houghton, Mifflin.
Palmer, G. H., & Palmer, A. F. (1908). The teacher: Essays and addresses on education. Houghton Mifflin.
Wein, R. (1974). Women's colleges and domesticity, 1875-1918. History of Education Quarterly, 31-47.
Interesting Facts
Her father left the family while he studied in medical school until he completed his MD.
First generation of women college student
Husband, George Herbert Palmar was a Harvard Philosopher
She rarely saw her husband before and after they got married.
Died at age 47 because of heart failure for intestinal obstruction surgery
Her ashes rest behind a white marble facade in the Houghton Chapel.
References
Kenschaft, L. (2002). Palmer, Alice Freeman (1855–1902). Encyclopedia of Education. 2002. Retrieved from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3403200479.html
Leavitt, J. A. (1985). American women managers and administrators: A selective biographical dictionary of twentieth-century leaders in business, education, and government. Greenwood.
Palmer, Alice Elvira Freeman. [Photograph]. In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/media/143633/Alice-Elvira-Freeman-Palmer
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.