The photographic reproduction of Daniel Chester French's memorial to Alice Freeman Palmer representing "Alma Mater sending a young graduate out into the world with the light which she has been able to gather from the altar of the college" was printed in The Literary Digest, June 19, 1909, page 1065, reprinted from the New York Tribune. The image illustrates an article, "Disdain of intellect in college."
Literary digest June 19, 1909 Alice Marshall Women's History Collection
Source of Acquisition:
Gift and purchase of Alice Marshall; 1991.
Administrative History:
Alice Freeman accepted the position as head of the history department at Wellesley College in 1879, and in October 1881 she was named vice president, acting president, and then president of Wellesley. During her time at Wellesley she met her future husband, George Herbert Palmer, who taught at Harvard. They married in 1887; she soon resigned from her position at Wellesley College and began to give public speeches on women's higher public education. She died in December 1902 while the Palmers were in Paris. George Herbert Palmer retained her ashes until 1909, when a monument was erected at Wellesley College. He felt that it would be a suitable resting place and one that would inspire generations of women. A committee headed by prominent men and women raised subscriptions and hired Daniel Chester French as the artist, for it was felt that he would best convey her character. The monument can be see at Houghton Chapel at Wellesley College.
