Biography:

University professor, college president. Born– May 19, 1860, Snow Hill. Parents– Dabney and Martha A. (Simpson) Palmer. Married– Lulu Ranier, December 22, 1886. Children– Five. Education– Howard College (then located in Marion), 1877-1878; University of Alabama, A.M., 1881; B.E., 1882. Taught math at the University of Alabama, 1881-1907; served as dean of academic faculty, 1905-1907.  President of the Alabama Girls Industrial School (Montevallo), 1907-1926. Led in the expansion of the curriculum at the School to include teacher training,  home economics, and social work; under his leadership the school awarded its first degree (1922) and was accredited (1926).  Member and chairman of State Textbook Commission (1913-1918) and the State Board of Vocational Education (1917-1919); president of the Alabama Education Association, 1920-1921. Awarded LL. D. degree by the University of Chicago, 1906.  Thomas Waverly Palmer Hall on the University of Montevallo campus was named in his honor. Died January 7, 1926.

Source:

National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. 20 and Who Was Who in America, Vol. 1.

Publication(s):

A Register of the Officers and Students of the University of Alabama, 1831-1901. Tuscaloosa, Ala.; The University Press, 1901.

Papers;

A collection of papers related to Thomas Waverly Palmer’s research for _A Register of the Officers and Students of the University of Alabama_ is held by Hoole Special Collections at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa.