a biography of the day-bertha honore palmer
Bertha Palmer
Born May 22, 1849
Louisville, Kentucky
Died May 5, 1918 (aged 68)
Graceland Cemetery
Occupation Businesswoman, socialite, and philanthropist
Spouse(s) Potter Palmer (1826–1902)
Bertha Palmer (May 22, 1849 – May 5, 1918) was an American businesswoman, socialite, and
philanthropist. Born Bertha Matilde Honoré in Louisville, Kentucky, her father was businessman Henry Hamilton Honoré. Bertha, known within the family as "Cissie," studied in her home town and achieved a reputation as a skilled musician, a proficient linguist, a brilliant writer, a skilled politician, and a fine administrator.
Bertha Honoré married the Chicago millionaire Potter Palmer in 1870.[1] She was twenty-one, he was forty-four. Palmer was a Quaker merchant who had come to Chicago after failing twice in business. In Chicago he learned to please his clients, many of whom were women. He made customer service a priority and carried everything from dry goods to the latest French fashions for ladies. Palmer sold his vast store to a consortium and it would eventually become Marshall Field's. Palmer then opened a luxury hotel, Palmer House[2] and invested in real estate, eventually owning a vast portfolio of properties. Soon after their marriage, the Chicago Fire wiped out the Palmer House and most of their holdings and Bertha Palmer had to rush off to wire the east so that Palmer could re-establish credit, borrow money and rebuild his holdings. Bertha Palmer was unusually poised for one so young and together, the Palmers re-established their fortune and despite her age, she quickly rose to the top of Chicago society. "She was beautiful, dashing, quick, and smart; and more than that, she was sure of herself," wrote historian Ernest Poole.[3]
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She was an early member of the Chicago Woman's Club, part of the General Federation of Women's Clubs; this group of working women met to discuss social problems and develop solutions. They supported kindergartens until the city made them part of the school system, and campaigned for inexpensive milk for impoverished children and better care for children of imprisoned mothers.
In 1893, Chicago would be site of the World's Columbian Exposition, a celebration of the discovery of the New World by Columbus.[4] It would also mark the city's recovery from the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Women would have a large presence in the fair and the plumb position was the President of the Board of Lady Managers, which Bertha Palmer was selected to lead in 1891.[5] While the positions were honorary, the women had a great deal of work to do. The board chose Sophia Hayden as architect for the women's building and designer to supervise the interior decoration. Candace Wheeler to supervise the interior decoration. The Chicago art curator Sarah Tyson Hallowell (1846-1924)[6] worked closely with Palmer on the art exhibits and the murals. Apparently, it was Palmer who chose the theme of "Primitive Woman" and "Modern Woman" for the two murals and Hallowell and Palmer's first choice for both murals was Elizabeth Jane Gardner (1837-1922), an experienced academic painter and the paramour of William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905). However, the time to paint the two huge murals (12' x 54') was short and the artist did not feel that she had the energy to complete the project. Hallowell then recommended the young academic painter Mary Fairchild MacMonnies and the Impressionist painter Mary Cassatt to do the two murals and after their initial rejection of the contracts, the women only had a number of months to complete the murals and have them shipped to Chicago.[7] Following the opening of the Exposition, Palmer sat for the fashionable Swedish painter Anders Zorn (1860-1920), who was commissioned by the Board of Lady Managers from the fair.
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Bertha Palmer became interested in the winter climate of Florida and in 1910 bought up over 80,000 acres of land in and around Sarasota, Florida — about one-third of the land in what was then the massive county named Manatee. In 1914, she bought 19,000 acres (77 km2) of land as an exclusive hunting preserve called "River Hills" in Temple Terrace, Florida. After her death, her sons inherited the land and eventually sold it to developers who created the Mediterranean Revival golf course community of Temple Terrace, Florida. She became a progressive rancher, land developer, and farm developer who introduced many innovations to encourage the Florida ranching, citrus, dairy, and farming industries. Palmer was one of the first famous people to winter in Florida, beginning a now-common practice. She encouraged wealthy friends and associates in her international social circles to spend winters along Sarasota Bay and her other Florida land interests and promoted the development of many land parcels; today much of that land is still known as Palmer Ranch. The major roads through her property were named by her as well as some connecting to the existing communities. Those names remain unchanged as Honoré, Lockwood Ridge, Tuttle, Webber, and Macintosh. She proved herself to be an astute businesswoman: within sixteen years after her husband's death, she managed to double the value of the estate he had left her. After her death, a large parcel of her land was donated (donated according to Sarasota County, sold according to the state) by her sons to become Myakka River State Park.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertha_Palmer
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