George Herbert Palmer (March 9, 1842 – May 7, 1933) was an American scholar and author. He was a graduate, and then professor at Harvard University. He is also known for his published works, like the translation of The Odyssey (1884) and others about education and ethics, such as The New Education (1887) and The Glory of the Imperfect (1898).
Early life
Palmer was born in Boston on March 9, 1842 to Julius Auboyneau and Lucy Manning Peabody Palmer. He had a brother, Frederic. He attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts.
In 1864, he graduated at Harvard College with a bachelor's degree and three years later with a master's degree. Between 1867 and 1869, he studied at the University of Tübingen, Germany. He graduated from the Andover Theological Seminary in 1870.
Career
In 1870, Palmer became an instructor of the Greek language. When someone commented that Palmer taught Greek, he said "You are mistaken. I do not teach Greek. I teach boys. Greek is what I start with." Between 1872 and 1876, Palmer curated the 'Gray Engravings' (a collection of engravings bequeathed to Harvard College by Francis Calley Gray), which he proposed to have photographed and make generally available the prints "to foster the growing taste in the community for the higher forms of Art" (thereby serving as a precursor to Harvard's Open Collection Program), as well as that Harvard's "students will soon prefer these to the inane works which now decorate too many of their rooms". Simultaneously (from 1872) Palmer also taught Philosophy, being elevated to the rank of Assistant Professor in 1873, and Professor in 1883 - a position he held for six years, when he became an Alford Professor of Natural Religion, Moral Philosophy, and Civil Polity at Harvard (a tenure that lasted from 1889 to 1913).
