Alice Freeman Palmer

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Lore & Background

Alice Elvira Freeman was born in Colesville, New York, the eldest of four children. She taught herself to read at age three and developed a lifelong enjoyment of reading aloud. At ten she began attending the co-educational Windsor Academy. She met Thomas Barclay, a Yale student, who encouraged her intellectual curiosity; they became engaged when she was 14, but she broke off the engagement in February 1871. She was inspired by a lecture given by Anna Elizabeth Dickinson. Her parents could not afford to send more than one child to college, so they agreed to help finance her education with the stipulation that she provide financial support so that her brother and perhaps other siblings could go to college. She entered the University of Michigan in 1872 after passing an entrance exam, despite deficiencies in some areas, and was admitted on condition she make up the missing course content, which she did before her sophomore year. She became the first of her class and spoke at her 1876 commencement on 'The Conflict Between Science and Poetry.' After graduating, she taught at a private boarding school in Wisconsin, then became principal of the high school at East Saginaw, Michigan in 1877. In 1879 she accepted a professorship in history at Wellesley College. In October 1881 she was named acting president; after founder Henry Fowle Durant died, she was elected president at age 26. She improved the academic program, raised admission standards, established 15 'feeder schools' for pre-college preparation, recruited distinguished faculty, and implemented a 'cottage system' that brought faculty and students together in small homes. She retired from Wellesley in June 1887 due to illness. She married Harvard professor George Herbert Palmer and later served as non-resident dean of the women's department at the University of Chicago from 1892 to 1895.

Reader's Guide

Alice Freeman Palmer's significance lies in her transformative leadership at Wellesley College, where she 'transformed the fledgling school from one devoted to Christian domesticity into one of the nation's premier colleges for women.' She improved the academic curriculum, raised standards for admission, and recruited distinguished faculty, countering the prevailing opinion that education would affect a woman's femininity or health. As co-founder and president of the Association of Collegiate Alumnae (later the American Association of University Women), she created a national network to support college-educated women. Her advocacy extended through public lectures, articles for major magazines, and service on the Massachusetts Board of Education from 1889 to 1902. She argued that a college education provided women with 'life insurance for a girl'—the skills to support themselves if needed. Palmer is regarded as a model New Woman of the 19th century: a respected, financially independent academic woman devoted to promoting women's education. Her legacy includes the many organizations she served as trustee, including the Woman's Education Association in Boston and the International Institute for Girls in Spain, and the improved access to higher education for women that she helped secure.

Did You Know?

• She taught herself to read at age three and developed a lifelong enjoyment of reading aloud.
• At 14 she became engaged to Thomas Barclay, a Yale student, but broke off the engagement in February 1871.
• She was elected president of Wellesley College at age 26, succeeding Ada Howard.
• She established 15 'feeder schools' for pre-college preparation while at Wellesley.
• She resigned as trustee of one college when she learned a young woman was refused admission because she was colored; the school modified its policy shortly after.