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no longer adequate. Though it took over 10 years, she succeeded,
and PRI moved to the west side of Cayuga Lake to the former
International Order of Odd Fellows orphanage. The purchase was
completed in 1968 and PRI began a new era .
6
As director of PRI, Katherine was responsible for PRI publica-
tions, which included both the Bulletins of American Paleontology
(BAP), which Harris founded in 1895, and Palæontographica
Americana, founded in 1916. And, yet, she also managed to con-
tinue her research work in paleontology and to care for her family.
In addition, the Palmer family was well known for their gracious
hospitality, often hosting visiting scholars of both geology and
rural education from around the world. Ephraim L. Palmer died on
18 December 1970, and though her health slowly deteriorated dur-
ing the 1970s, Katherine continued as director of PRI until 1978.
During the first 21 years as director of PRI, Katherine Palmer
edited 137 numbers (28 volumes) of BAP and 20 numbers (4 vol-
Paleontology class of G.D. Harris, ca. 1921: (left to right) Axel Olsson, Harris, umes) of Palæontographica Americana as well as several books,
Pearl Sheldon, Dr. Carlotta Maury, Katherine V.W. Palmer. Note: Dr. Maury, a guidebooks, and booklets. Over her productive career, she produced
former student, was visiting the campus to study the collections at the time
the photograph was taken (courtesy of PRI). more than 70 paleobiologic papers, 17 of which are considered
“… major works” (Caster, 1973). Some of them are quite massive;
LIFE AFTER GRADUATION e.g., Palmer (1937 and 1946) and Palmer and Braun (1965–1966);
Upon graduation, Katherine received a Hecksher Fellowship just these three papers total more than 2,000 pages of paleontology.
(1925–1927) to continue her work with Professor Harris on Katherine Palmer’s contributions to paleontology were officially
Paleogene fossils. Several years later, she was present when Harris recognized by several professional societies: She became a GSA
laid the cornerstone for the Paleontological Research Institution Fellow (1935); received the award for “outstanding contributions to
(PRI) in 1932; it was literally in the backyard of his home, just the study of Mollusca” from the Western Society of Malacologists
across the gorge from Cornell University. Katherine worked actively (1974); received an honorary degree from Tulane University (1978);
with PRI and served on its board of directors. During World War II, and was the first woman to be awarded the Paleontological Society
she was also a special lecturer in paleontology at Cornell University. Medal (1973).
Though Katherine never had a full-time academic appointment, Truly a pioneer in geology and especially in paleontology, Katherine
over the years she served as curator of collections and technical Van Winkle Palmer died on 12 September 1982. Her last publication
assistant at several universities and museums. Her long association was a history of PRI. Fittingly, the second home of PRI, and now the
with PRI gave her a professional base from which and through administrative building, Palmer Hall, is named in her memory.
which she published much of her work.
She made many fossil-collecting trips over the years, often with ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Professor Harris, to Paleogene locations along the Eastern and I am indebted to the Paleontological Research Institution (PRI), Ithaca, New
Gulf Coasts of the U.S., and to Cuba in 1941 and 1947. She trav- York, USA, for preserving the Palmer Archive, and to the director, Dr. Warren
eled as far away as New Zealand in 1947, although appendicitis Allmon, for allowing me access to those files and reviewing an earlier version of
and surgery delayed the trip, but only by a few days. In 1959, this manuscript. Unless otherwise indicated, the material used in this presentation
is from the Palmer or Harris Archives at PRI.
Katherine and several others made a collecting expedition to
Panama. Sometimes a picture of a fossil she collected would end REFERENCES CITED
up on the annual PRI Christmas card. Allmon, W.D., 2007, The first 75 years. A history of the Paleontological Research
Frequently she would become involved with projects that, Institution: Paleontological Research Institution Special Publication no. 29,
though important to the field of paleontology, few workers would 135 p.
undertake, such as the fossil catalogues that she published. Later, Brice, W.R., 1996, Gilbert Dennison Harris—A life among fossils: Bulletins of
American Paleontology (single-paper issue), v. 109, #350, (16 Sept.), 153 p.
a colleague would say of these works, “Such work [the catalogues] Caster, K.E., 1973, Presentation of the Paleontological Society Medal to Kather-
is perhaps our greatest drudgery and most thankless endeavor, yet ine Van Winkle Palmer: Journal of Paleontology, v. 47, no. 3, p. 599–601.
when well done, far surpasses in general utility many a long Caster, K.E., 1983, Memorial: Katherine Van Winkle Palmer: Journal of Paleon-
monograph” (Caster, 1973). tology, v. 57, no. 5 (Sept.), p. 1141–1144.
Palmer, K.V.W., 1937, Gastropoda of the Claibornian mid-Eocene of the southern
United States: Bulletin of American Paleontology, v. 7, no. 32, 730 p.
DIRECTOR OF PRI Palmer, K.V.W., 1946, The Mollusca of the Jackson Eocene of the Mississippian
Due to Gilbert Harris’s illness, and before his death on 4 December embayment (Sabine River to Alabama River); Part II: Bulletin of American
1952, the board appointed Katherine director of PRI in April 1952. Paleontology, v. 30, no. 117, p. 207–563.
She was the logical successor as she had been associated with the Palmer, K.V.W., and Brann, D.C., 1965–1966, Catalogue of Paleocene and Eocene
institution right from the laying of the cornerstone some 20 years ear- Mollusca of the southern and eastern United States, Parts I and II: Bulletins of
American Paleontology, v. 48, no. 218, 1058 p., 5 plates.
lier. One of her main concerns as the new director was to find new Pruitt, C.M., 1963, Ephraim Laurence Palmer: Science Education, v. 47, no. 3,
quarters, for the little concrete block building in Harris’ backyard was p. 209–220.

6 For more on the history of PRI, see Allmon (2007).
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