Palmer, Alice Elvira

Palmer, Alice Elvira (b. Freeman)

(1855–1902) educator; born in Colesville, N.Y. During her tenure as president (1882–87), she turned Wellesley College from a finishing school into a serious college, improving the quality of the curriculum, faculty, and students. She helped found the precursor of the Association of American University Women (1882). She married the Harvard philosopher George Herbert Palmer (1887).