Bertha Palmer
Encyclopedia
Biography
Born Bertha Matilde Honoré in Louisville, KentuckyLouisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, her father was businessman Henry Hamilton Honoré
Henry Honore
Henry Hamilton Honoré was an American businessman.Honoré moved to Chicago, Illinois, from Louisville, Kentucky in 1855 and made his fortune in real estate. Henry Honoré fathered six children with his wife, Eliza J...
. 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.
Marriage
Bertha Honoré married the ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
millionaire Potter Palmer
Potter Palmer
Potter Palmer was an American businessman who was responsible for much of the development of State Street in Chicago.-Retailing career:...
in 1871. 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
Marshall Field's
Marshall Field & Company was a department store in Chicago, Illinois that grew to become a major chain before being acquired by Macy's Inc...
. Palmer then opened a luxury hotel, Palmer House
Palmer House
The Palmer House Hilton is a famous and historic hotel in downtown Chicago.-History:There have been three Palmer House Hotels at the corner of State and Monroe Streets in Chicago....
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
Ernest Poole
Ernest Cook Poole was an American novelist.He was born in Chicago, Illinois on January 23, 1880, and graduated from Princeton University in 1902...
.
In 1874, she gave birth to son Honoré, and in 1875, she gave birth to son Potter Palmer II. Both sons went on to have sons named Potter Palmer III, as well as other children. See Who's Who in Chicago (1931).
She was an early member of the Chicago Woman's Club, part of the General Federation of Women's Clubs
General Federation of Women's Clubs
The General Federation of Women's Clubs , founded in 1890, is an international women's organization dedicated to community improvement by enhancing the lives of others through volunteer service...
; 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.
Chicago World's Fair & The Women's Building
In 1893, Chicago would be site of the World's Columbian ExpositionWorld's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
, a celebration of the discovery of the New World by Columbus. It would also mark Chicago's recovery from the 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. While the positions were honorary, the women had a great deal of work to do, with the selection of an architect for the women's building and a designer to supervise the interior decoration. Sophia Hayden
Sophia Hayden Bennett
Sophia Hayden Bennett was the first woman to receive an architecture degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology....
was chosen to design and building and the influential designer Candace Wheeler, the interior. The Chicago art curator Sarah Tyson Hallowell
Sarah Tyson Hallowell
Sarah Tyson Hallowell was an important American art curator in the years between the Civil War and World War I. She curated a number of major exhibitions in Chicago, arranged the loan exhibition of French Art at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, worked with Bertha Palmer to...
(1846-1924) worked closely with Bertha Palmer on the art exhibits and the murals which were designed into each end of the building by Bennett. 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
Elizabeth Jane Gardner
Elizabeth Jane Gardner was an American academic and salon painter, who was born in Exeter, New Hampshire. She was an American expatriate who died in Paris where she had lived most of her life...
(1837-1922), an experienced academic painter and the paramour of William-Adolphe Bouguereau
William-Adolphe Bouguereau
William-Adolphe Bouguereau was a French academic painter. William Bouguereau was a traditionalist; in his realistic genre paintings he used mythological themes, making modern interpretations of Classical subjects, with an emphasis on the female human body.-Life and career :William-Adolphe...
(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 tackle it. Hallowell then recommended the young academic painter Mary Fairchild Macmonnies and the Impressionist painter Mary Cassatt
Mary Cassatt
Mary Stevenson Cassatt was an American painter and printmaker. She lived much of her adult life in France, where she first befriended Edgar Degas and later exhibited among the Impressionists...
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. Following the opening of the Exposition, she sat for the fashionable Swedish painter Anders Zorn
Anders Zorn
Anders Leonard Zorn was one of Sweden’s foremost artists who obtained international success as a painter, sculptor and printmaker in etching.-Biography:...
(1860-1920), who was commissioned by the Board of Lady Managers from the fair.
Art Collecting
At the time of the fair, the Palmers had been enthusiastic art collectors for a number of years. They depended on the curator Sarah Hallowell, a Philadelphia Quaker who they had met in 1873, for advice and she introduced the Palmers to the painters in Paris and to the latest artistic trends in the French capital. Most Midwestern collectors were still collecting works by the Barbizon School in the 1870s and 1880s, but thanks to the Palmers, this would soon change. In the years leading up to the Columbian Exposition, they became clients of the Parisian dealer Paul Durrand-Ruel and began to collect French Impressionist works. Because Hallowell was curating a loan exhibition of the latest French art for the exposition, the Palmers accelerated their collecting because the curator wanted the latest and greatest in French art for the fair. The Palmer's collection of Impressionist paintings was soon unrivaled, soon they had twenty-nine Monets and eleven RenoirPierre-Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty, and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "Renoir is the final representative of a tradition which runs directly from Rubens to...
s. These works now form the core of the Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
's Impressionist collection. Hallowell also tried to get the Palmers interested in Auguste Rodin's work, which he had loaned her for the fair. The frankness of his nudes had caused a stir at the fair and after resisting for a number of months, works by Rodin entered the collection as well and these were among the first acquired by American collectors. Bertha Palmer enjoyed her role as a cultural leader and tastemaker. In 1905, Hallowell finally convinced Mrs. Palmer to sit for Rodin.
Luxurious Mansions and Lavish Spending
Bertha Palmer was famous for her free spending ways and her husband indulged her and did not mind that she was in the limelight. Her jewelry was legendary. According to the author Aline B. Saarinen, "so fabulous were her jewels that a newspaper declared that when she appeared on the S.S. Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse with a tiara of diamonds as large as lima beans, a corsage panned with diamonds, a sunburst as big as a baseball, a stomacher of diamonds and all the pearls around her neck, Alois Burgskeller of the Metropolitan Opera, who was singing at the ship's concert, was stopped right in the middle of a high note." She traveled throughout Europe, dining with Kings and Queens and mixing with industrialists and statesmen.Vast sums were spent on the Palmer Mansion
Palmer Mansion
The Palmer Mansion, constructed 1882–1885 at 1350 N. Lake Shore Drive, was once the largest private residence in Chicago, Illinois, located in the Near North Side neighborhood and facing Lake Michigan. It was designed by architects Henry Ives Cobb and Charles Sumner Frost of the firm Cobb and Frost...
in Chicago, starting with $100,000 and going over $1 million. Potter Palmer dictated in his will that a sum of money should go to whoever next married Bertha. When asked why he would be so generous to his own replacement, he replied, "Because he'll need it."
She also maintained homes in London and Paris and following her husband's death in 1902 rumors abounded that she would marry a titled man. Among the suspected suitors were the earl of Munster
Munster
Munster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the south of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial purposes...
, the duke of Atholl
Atholl
Atholl or Athole is a large historical division in the Scottish Highlands. Today it forms the northern part of Perth and Kinross, Scotland bordering Marr, Badenoch, Breadalbane, Strathearn, Perth and Lochaber....
, the prince of Monaco
Monaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
, and the king of Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
. However, these rumors all proved to be unfounded when she remained unmarried.
In September 1907, Bertha Palmer and her son Potter II took part in the maiden voyage of the new Cunard liner RMS Lusitania
RMS Lusitania
RMS Lusitania was a British ocean liner designed by Leonard Peskett and built by John Brown and Company of Clydebank, Scotland. The ship entered passenger service with the Cunard Line on 26 August 1907 and continued on the line's heavily-traveled passenger service between Liverpool, England and New...
from Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
to New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Florida Real Estate Pioneer
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, FloridaFlorida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
— about one-third of the land in what was then the massive county named Manatee. In 1914, she bought 19000 acres (76.9 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
Temple Terrace, Florida
Temple Terrace is an incorporated city in northeastern Hillsborough County, Florida, USA, adjacent to Tampa. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 24,541. It is the third and smallest incorporated municipality in Hillsborough County...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. 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
Sarasota Bay
Sarasota Bay is an estuary located off the west coast of Florida in the United States.The bay and its surrounding area appeared on the earliest maps of the area, being named Zarazote on one dating from the early 18th century...
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
Palmer Ranch
Palmer Ranch is a massive real estate development in Sarasota County, Florida between the cities of Sarasota and Osprey. Located very roughly by Clark Road, Tamiami Trail and Interstate 75, it was part of the original 80,000 acres of Florida land purchased by Bertha Honoré Palmer, wife of Chicago...
. 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
Myakka River State Park
Myakka River State Park is a Florida State Park, that is located nine miles east of I-75 in Sarasota in Sarasota County and that includes portions of southeastern Manatee County. A small portion of the park was the gift of the family of Bertha Palmer to the state, being a portion of her massive...
.
Death
Upon her death at her winter residence, The Oaks in Osprey, FloridaOsprey, Florida
Osprey is a census-designated place in Sarasota County, Florida, United States. The population was 4,143 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Bradenton–Sarasota–Venice Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
, her body was returned to Chicago to lie in state at the Castle
Palmer Mansion
The Palmer Mansion, constructed 1882–1885 at 1350 N. Lake Shore Drive, was once the largest private residence in Chicago, Illinois, located in the Near North Side neighborhood and facing Lake Michigan. It was designed by architects Henry Ives Cobb and Charles Sumner Frost of the firm Cobb and Frost...
, the sumptuous mansion Potter Palmer had built on Chicago's Gold Coast. Bertha Palmer is buried alongside her husband in Graceland Cemetery
Graceland Cemetery
Graceland Cemetery is a large Victorian era cemetery located in the north side community area of Uptown, in the city of Chicago, Illinois, USA. Established in 1860, its main entrance is at the intersection of Clark Street and Irving Park Road...
.
Book, Thesis and Essay References
- David NolanDavid NolanDavid Nolan may refer to:* David Nolan , co-founder of the United States Libertarian Party* David Nolan , American author* David Nolan , British author of I Swear I Was There: The Gig That Changed The World...
, Fifty Feet in Paradise: The Booming of Florida. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1984. - Sally Webster,Eve's Daughter/Modern Woman: A Mural by Mary Cassat, University of Illinois Press, 2004
- Letters in the Musee Rodin, Paris between Sarah Tyson Hallowell and Rodin, also between Bertha Palmer and Rodin
- Aline Saarinen, Proud Possessors, Conde Nast, 1958
- Jeffrey Morseburg, The Indefatigable Miss Hallowell, Biographical Essay, 2010
- Kirsten M. Jensen, Her Sex Was an Insuperable Objection: Sara Tyson Hallowell and the Art Institute of Chicago, MA Thesis, Southern Connecticut State University, 2000
- Hope Black, Mounted on a Pedestal:Bertha Honoré Palmer, Master's Thesis, University of South Florida, 2007
External links
- Bertha Honoré Palmer in Sarasota County Biographies
- Biographical Sketch