I used to think that many Chicagoans at least knew of Bertha Honoré Palmer’s greatest legacy: her collection of Impressionist paintings donated to the Art Institute of Chicago. A quick survey of my friends told me I was wrong—they didn’t even recognize her name. That made me even more excited to talk about this woman’s amazing accomplishments and style. Whether you’re a follower of fashion or a student of women’s history you will want to plan a trip to the museum to see the exhibition honoring Palmer, which opens this Saturday, May 23.

Married to millionaire Potter Palmer at age twenty-one, Bertha Honoré Palmer (1849-1918) did have more means than most, but it was her strong personality that commanded attention, respect, and results in everything she did. She used her clothing to reinforce her image as traditional, formal, serious, and, in some instances, almost royal. (She earned the nickname “Princess of the Prairie,” which she was no doubt fond of.)

It was the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 that catapulted Bertha Palmer to international fame. She secured the coveted appointment of president of the Board of Lady Managers and gave women an unprecedented presence at the fair. And to top off her extraordinary success in bringing attention to the “progress of women,” she gave an address at the opening of the Woman’s Building that did not mince words about the state of working women in the United States. You can hear an excerpt below.

Mrs. Palmer was the undeniable queen of Chicago society in the late-nineteenth century and into the twentieth, but her renown reached well beyond this city. This was a woman who entertained three American presidents at her home. She was the only woman in the United States’ official envoy at the Paris Exposition of 1900. She was related to European royalty, she golfed with King Edward, she dominated Paris and London’s elite social circles. An American leading London society?! She was in no uncertain terms a celebrity.

The Chicago History Museum has the largest collection of artifacts related to Bertha Palmer, so we had a lot of rich material to draw from for this exhibition. She was a client of Parisian haute couture from its beginnings, and her luxurious taste has left us with some of the most opulent examples of dress from her era. Her ensembles were not complete without equally dazzling accessories, and we have shoes, hats, and jewels that complete the extraordinary picture of Mrs. Bertha Palmer.

Listen to an excerpt from the address given by Bertha Honoré Palmer on May 1, 1893, at the opening of the World’s Columbian Exposition Woman’s Building.

> Download the complete speech (MP3, 18Mb)
> Download a transcript of the speech (PDF, 60K)

> Learn more about Bertha Honoré Palmer

Tags: Bertha Honoré Palmer, Couture, Fashion, Timothy Long

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 at 3:28 pm and is filed under Exhibitions, Multimedia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.