Bertha Matilde Palmer (; May 22, 1849 – May 5, 1918) was an American businesswoman, socialite, and philanthropist.
Early life
Born as Bertha Matilde Honoré in Louisville, Kentucky, her father was businessman Henry Hamilton Honoré. Known within the family as "Cissie", she studied in her home town and achieved a reputation as a musician, linguist, writer, politician, and administrator. Her sister, Ida Marie Honoré, was married to Frederick Dent Grant, eldest son of general and president Ulysses S. Grant. She was a graduate of Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School.
Marriage
She married the Chicago millionaire Potter Palmer in 1870. She was 21 and he was 44. Palmer was a Quaker merchant who had come to Chicago after failing twice in business.
In Chicago, he learned to please his customers, 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, 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. 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.
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.
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.
Chicago World's Fair and The Women's Building
Chicago was site of the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893, a celebration of the discovery of the New World by Columbus. It also marked the city's recovery from the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Women had a large presence in the fair and the plum 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. The board chose Sophia Hayden as architect for The Woman's Building and designer to supervise the interior decoration. However, when Hayden wouldn't take Palmer's advice to accept rich women's donations of architectural odds and ends to decorate the exterior, fearing a horrible visual impact as a result, Palmer fired Hayden and hired the much more malleable Candace Wheeler to supervise the interior decoration. The Chicago art curator Sarah Tyson Hallowell (1846–1924) 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. Led by Palmer, who approached Congress on the matter, the board also requested that the mint produce a new commemorative coin for the Exposition, and their efforts resulted in the Isabella quarter. 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. Relative to Ms. Palmer's Inclusivity: (CNN: 2021) "That year (World Fair), for the very first time, a group of White women managed to obtain the space and funds for a "Women's Building" to showcase American women's achievements from the past century.