Bertha Palmer wore a lot of hats: Chicago socialite, patron of the arts, real-estate magnate, and all-around Gilded Age powerhouse. Her leadership of the Women’s Building of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition drew praise from all over the world. (and criticism, too!) We’ll also tell you about her influence on Impressionist art in America, and her surprising third act as a Sarasota land developer.
Bertha Honoré Palmer was born on May 22, 1849 in Louisville, Kentucky to Henry Honoré and Jane Carr Honoré. She was the second of six children born into a family of wealth and a heart for real estate speculation and development. The family moved in 1855 to the very small, but soon to be growing (thanks railroads!) town of Chicago, Illinois.
As Bertha’s father bought and developed large swaths of land there, Bertha grew up with the city. Educated at the city’s finest schools, she finished her education in the Georgetown area of Washington, D.C. and returned to Chicago at 18. She made her debut, juggled suitors, and married 44-year-old Potter Palmer three years later. (He was a family friend and had known him since she was a young teen…basically, he was well vetted.)
Palmer Castle, Chicago, Illinois. Built in the mid-1880s, but demolished in 1950.Photo circa 1920 via wikicommons
Potter’s history with Chicago paralleled Bertha’s father in real estate, but he also had established a very popular (and profitable) retail store that he sold just a few years before their marriage (it became Marshall Field’s.) The couple had plans to move into his newest business venture, and gift for his bride: the Palmer House Hotel in the State Street shopping district that he was developing. However, the Chicago Fire of 1871 nearly destroyed both Bertha’s family and her new husband’s wealth by burning to the grown all they had built including the hotel that had only been open for 13 days, But, the tragedy allowed both of them (and other wealthy folks in the city) an opportunity to rebuild safer structures and also develop land in a less cattywompus way than it had been.
Bertha 1893 with her President of the Lady Manager’s gavel. via Library of Congress
Bertha was a mom of two boys, and a socialite who not only donated money and time to organizations that helped women and children, like Jane Addams Hull House, but she also learned what those groups did and helped them find ways to turn their plans into realities. As a master Get-Stuff-Doner, she was tapped to be the President of the Board of Lady Managers, a group charged with spotlighting women’s accomplishments in the 1893 Columbian Exposition, the World’s Fair in Chicago.
The Women’s Building at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair
If you’ve been listening to us for any period of time, you know we have a thing for this particular World’s Fair. So many of our former subjects visited, exhibited at, had their work shown, and even protested it (the fair was far from fair when it came to people of color.) We took advantage of this opportunity to talk a great deal about the fair. How could we not?
After the fair, Bertha leaned into society activities, including collecting art with a focus on the Impressionists. She traveled with her husband all across Europe and made her mark on East Coast society in Newport, Rhode Island.
In 1902, when Bertha was 53, 76-year-old Potter died. They had a marriage that had been full of love and respect; they worked together so well on many projects that Potter had imparted his business wisdom to her. She grieved the loss and never remarried, but she didn’t fade into the background. After an extensive time in Europe (she was in the close social circle of “Bertie,” King Edward VII of the United Kingdom–he takes up a lot of one’s time) she cast her eyes far south of Chicago to the warm sunshine of Florida.
And, there, following in the footsteps of her great- grandfather, father, and husband, she bought up gobs of land in and around Sarasota and developed it. Like ya do.
Bertha’s snazzy car, via Crawford Museum
But all good runs must end. On May 5th, 1918, 68-year-old Bertha Honoré Palmer died in her Florida home. She was laid to rest at the Potter Mausoleum at Graceland Cemetery in Chicago. A large number of her remaining pieces of art were donated to the Art Institute of Chicago (where Potter gets the credit. Sigh.)
Potter Mausoleum, Graceland Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois
Time Travel with The History Chicks
Books!
By Ishbel RossBy Frank A. CassellBy Jeanne Madeline WeimanText by Stanley Appelbaumby Marian Shawby G.L. Dybwood and Joy V. BlissThanks, Dr. Canfield! (I think the rest of you can find it online somewhere.)
Chicagology has a lot on Bertha, as well as the development of the city and other prominent citizens, and areas including this piece about Ashland Boulevard, where Bertha grew up.
The Chicago History Museum is an AMAZING visit, if you’re in the city GO! Now! Or maybe at your earliest convenience. Their website has this article about the Palmer House history. You can still stay at the Palmer House Hotel (now owned by Hilton) we did on our recent Field Trip to the city, and were dazzled by her beauty. And you can still get the OG Brownie there, either on a plate or as the garnish on a Brownie Old Fashioned (if you’re over 21, of course.)
Want to learn more about the Potter Castle on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago? Start here at The Story of a House. Bonus! The site is mostly about our one of our favorite Gilded Age houses, and the childhood home of a former subject. The site is run by the fine folks who protect and share it the Glessner House (that you can also visit.)
Official Catalog! The exhibits and program of the Women’s Building–this might be considered a book, it’s 150+ pages long. It is VERY cool, you might get lost in this glorious rabbit hole. Some of the thousands of pieces of art in the Women’s Building can be found at Curationist.Org
More details on Bertha’s time and impact on the Sarasota, Florida area from Visit Sarasota.
If you are in Chicago, plan a stop at the Art Institute of Chicago, and visit the paintings (mostly Impressionists) that Bertha had donated to seed their collection.
We said, “I can’t wait for you to see this” so many times, so head on over to our Pinterest Board specifically for the 1893 World’s Fair and Bertha Palmer for all of those! (We have a board for each former subject, if you are interested in tumbling down those rabbit holes.)
Moving Pictures!
PBS has a half-hour documentary about Bertha. It’s available for rent on Prime, but you can find it elsewhere.
End music: After the Ball, written by Charles K. Harris in 1892. This version is from 1925, performed by the International Novelty Orchestra.
Anne circa 1684 Williem Wissing and Jan van der Vaardt
Queen Anne of Great Britain and Ireland did not have the longest reign, nor was she a dynamic ruler full of personality and dazzle, but she was better than that. She quietly had a long and loving marriage, suffered the emotional toll of 17 pregnancies and the deaths of the only three children that survived infancy, and instituted changes that are still relevant today. She was a popular and thoughtful monarch who brought stability to a country that had seen more than its share of chaos, and she did that despite England’s involvement in a war that lasted nearly the entirety of her reign.
Laura, circa 1885 at the time of her marriage to Almanzo. via Wikicommons
Fifteen years ago, in only our second episode, we covered beloved author Laura Ingalls Wilder. Since the 1930s, her Little House book series brought life on the American prairie to millions…and that was before the TV show! Rolling prairies! Gingham bonnets! Half Pint! The books were based on the real life of Laura Ingalls Wilder, but “based on” is carrying a lot of weight here. What was the true story?
When we talked about her in 2011, we were newbie podcasters, and we used the materials and skills we had available at the time. While we have learned a few things over the years, that’s not the biggest difference in Laura’s story. Over those years, there have been A LOT of new studies and biographies about her that shine a light on the darker edges of her story. We decided to cover her again with the materials available to us now in 2026. The basic story is the same, but the details of it? The stories behind the well-known ones? Well, give a listen and find out for yourself.
Part One will cover Laura’s life beginning in Colonial America, through her parents’ story, and all the way to the beginning of her marriage to Almanzo Wilder. We hit all the times and places where her books were set, and the story is far darker than Laura shared in her beloved children’s book series.
TIME TRAVEL WITH THE HISTORY CHICKS
Here are a couple of media recommendations to tide you over until the next episode:
Beckett has a new fascination with whatever this historical fiction genre is. By Sarah MillerAn expert on Laura talks with other experts on Laura. Susan binged the series. Find this show on your favorite podcatcher
All the rest of our media recommendations will be listed in the second part of this series
“Boadicea and her daughters” statue in Westminster, facing Big Ben. Bronze statue created by Thomas Thornycroft, finished in 1883, installed in 1902
Boudica (formerly known as Boadicea ) was a first‑century Celtic queen of the Iceni tribe in what’s now eastern England. After the Roman Empire seized her late husband’s kingdom and brutalized her family, she rallied a massive coalition of tribes and led one of the most famous uprisings in Roman Britain. Her forces burned several Roman towns, including Londinium, and for a brief moment in history, she shook the empire’s confidence. Boudicca’s fame endures as a symbol of resistance, leadership, and fierce defiance against oppression.
Dovey Johnson Roundtree grew up in the Jim Crow era South and carried her grandmother’s philosophy of “find a way or make one” as her armor into every challenge she faced. She became one of the first Black women in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps during World War II, then earned her law degree at Howard and built dual careers as a civil‑rights attorney and as a minister in the AME church. In 1955, she helped win a landmark bus‑desegregation case before the Interstate Commerce Commission, which was a quiet but powerful blow to the concept of “separate but equal.” She spent decades fighting for justice in Washington, D.C., and lived to 104, leaving behind a legacy of unshakable purpose and inspiration for future generations.
With Mary Bethune 1943 in Iowa, via Library of CongressEarly 1950s, via Smithsonian
Dovey talking about dealing with a segregated legal system:
Time Travel With The History Chicks
Books!
Dovey’s memoir with Katie McCabeMemoir Junior editionBiography, middle grade by Tanya BoldenDovey and Katie McCabe, children’s bookBy Juan WilliamsFor insider info on the Towpath Murder
Like true crime podcasts? There is a series with journalist Solidad O’Brien called Murder on the Towpath that covers that case Dovey argued (and won).
If you haven’t yet listened to our 2023 coverage of the life of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, now might be a good time to fix that! We covered her in two parts: Episode 223 and Episode 224!
The Visionary Project has a series of interviews with Dovey from 2010 (as well as with other African American leaders from the 20th century.)
There was a series in the 90s that starred Cicely Tyson who let Dovey inspire her character:
There is a movie, we can’t give it a review because neither of us saw it, but we do know that Dovey’s story needs a big-budget, high-production-value film.
End music: Baby Get Up by Louna Used with permission from Epidemic Sound
Martha Gellhorn was one of the most influential war correspondents of the 20th century. Over the course of a 60-year career, she reported from nearly every major global conflict – the Spanish Civil War, World War II, Vietnam, and more. In her work, she focused a compassionate eye on the lives of ordinary people caught up in turmoil beyond their control, and this made her coverage uniquely powerful. Her personal bravery, determination, and skill as a writer made her a legend.
