Alice Palmer (1855-1902) was a pioneer of women’s education and among the most influential people to expand academic horizons for women in the United States. By 1881, Alice Palmer had become acting president of Wellesley College at only 26 years old. She was known for changing the curriculum to be more rigorous. She also became the first dean of the women’s department at the University of Chicago. During her time as Dean, she managed to double the number of women enrolled in the university. For those of you tuning in for the first time, welcome! Here’s the deal: Every weekday, we highlight the stories of iconic women in history you may not know about, but definitely should. We’re talking about women from around the world and throughout history. Each month is themed. This month we’re going back to school, highlighting educators and intellectuals.
This month, we're going back to school with stories of the most influential women educators in history.
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Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I’m Jenny Kaplan and this is Womanica.
Women now earn the majority of higher education degrees in the U.S. Today’s educator was an early pioneer, opening academic doors for women. She went from learning in a rural, one-room schoolhouse to a leader in the country’s finest institutions. And in the face of immense opposition, she remained a fierce advocate for learning as a true equalizer.
Let’s welcome Alice Palmer.
She was born Alice Freeman on February 21, 1855, on a farm in New York’s Susquehanna River Valley. As the first child of James and Elizabeth Freeman, Alice grew up shouldering a lot of responsibility. Her days often started with washing dishes, gathering eggs, and dressing her younger siblings.
Then she would head off to school, in a one-room building, with one teacher assigned to teach all the grades.
But Alice had an innate curiosity. She taught herself to read when she was just three years old, and enjoyed giving speeches, no matter the audience.
When Alice was still quite young, her father started studying medicine. When he left for medical school, Alice’s mother, who was just 23 years old, kept the farm running. It was perhaps then, watching her family struggle to stay afloat, that Alice developed her belief in self-sufficiency, especially for women.
Eventually, Alice’s father returned home armed with a medical degree. The family abandoned farming and moved to Windsor, New York so he could open up a practice. There, Alice attended the Windsor Academy, where she learned alongside male students, and earned awards in composition and oration.
Alice loved academics, and desperately wanted to attend college. But her family was not wealthy, and at the time, it was common for tuition money to be set aside for the oldest son. So Alice made her father a promise. If he would pay for her degree, she would use her education to put her brother and two younger sisters through whatever schooling they wanted.
Alice made more than good on her promise. During her last two years at the University of Michigan, Alice’s father went bankrupt after a bad investment. She became the family’s primary financial provider, and would remain so for years.
But let’s rewind, to the start of Alice’s college career. She tried to enroll at the University of Michigan, but performed poorly on the Greek and math sections of the entrance exam. So the school put Alice on a six-week trial period. Fine, thought Alice. Another hurdle to overcome. She spent the summer with other college-bound friends, obsessively studying. And when Alice’s first semester started in 1872, she soared through the trial.
In her junior year, Alice had to temporarily drop out so she could teach and earn money for her family. But she made up the classes she’d missed, and graduated on time.
The founder of Wellesley college then offered her a job as professor. The college had opened just four years earlier, with an all-female faculty.
By 1882, Alice was appointed Wellesley college’s first president. She was just 27 years old.
As the first female college president in American history, Alice soon made waves as a promoter of women’s education.
Education, she argued, made women into wise, self-respecting civic leaders.
So she established a web of secondary schools that prepared girls for the rigors of college. She strengthened Wellesley’s faculty and financial status. And she prepared her students to support themselves, as she’d done.
In 1887, Alice surprised the world of academia... by marrying. Her husband, George Palmer, was a philosophy professor at Harvard. But the bigger shock was soon to come. That same year, Alice announced that she was suffering from tuberculosis, and resigned from Wellesley’s presidency.
After a year spent convalescing, Alice returned to the workforce as a public speaker. She travelled the country, spreading the gospel of higher education for women. She spoke at women’s clubs, universities, religious societies -- all over.
Alice herself took a central role in her speeches. It was still commonly believed that too much education de-sexed a woman. Alice stood onstage as proof this was not true.
Alice also joined the Massachusetts Board of Education, and -- unsurprisingly -- gained a reputation as a fierce lobbyist. She and her husband George soon took on Harvard University, and tried to get them to admit women on the same terms as men. Harvard told them there was no money. So Alice raised a $250,000 endowment. And Harvard, its bluff called, walked back the agreement to allow female students. It would be another 30 years before the first fully matriculated women walked Harvard’s halls.
Meanwhile, in Illinois, the University of Chicago was preparing to open. The University’s president was worried about Chicago’s reputation as a rough, Western city. And, since Alice was the most prominent woman in higher education, he asked her to become the school’s founding Dean of Women. Alice, in turn, made it her mission to create an environment in which female students would thrive.
When the University of Chicago opened in 1892, women made up 24 percent of the student body. Just six years later in 1898, 43 percent of the students were women.
But the University’s men were alarmed. They felt the school was being “feminized.” Alice was subsequently marginalized, and ignored. After three years of this treatment, she resigned. Disillusioned about men -- no longer optimistic that they just needed a few years to adjust to seeing women as equals -- she would never have another paying, professional position.
Alice dedicated the rest of her life -- her energy, her time, her resources -- to supporting institutions that would let women learn. She believed everyone deserved to learn alongside one another, to work and grow as peers. That, she felt, was true equality.
In 1902, while in Paris, Alice died from a heart attack. She was just 47 years old.
All month, we’re talking about women who shaped the world of education.
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Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator.
Talk to you tomorrow!