| From | South Africa |
| Gender | female |
| Birth | 22 May 1876 |
| Death |
16 November 1958, Durban, eThekwini, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (aged 82 years) |
| Star sign | Gemini |
Mabel Palmer (1876–1958) was a British born, South African educator and academic.
Education
Palmer was the daughter of J.B. Atkinson, a Northumberland inspector of mines, and his wife Jane, an activist suffragette. Palmer enrolled at Glasgow University soon after it was opened to women, and obtained a Master of Arts degree in 1900. From 1904-1908 she lectured at Armstrong College, U.S.A. and from 1908-1915 at King’s College for Women, London.
Work in South Africa
Palmer arrived in South Africa in 1920 and in 1921 she took a teaching post at the Natal Technical College, Durban. Palmer was involved in the development of a university in Durban and was later appointed lecturer in economic history at the new Natal University College (which has now become the University of KwaZulu–Natal) in 1931.
After retiring from Natal University College in 1936 Palmer began her greatest work – the founding of university education for Non-Whites in Natal.
Palmer was active in numerous organisations including the South African Institute of Race Relations, the National Council of Women of South Africa, and many others. She also served on the senate of the University of South Africa and was active in the South African Association for the Advancement of Science.
Works
- Natal’s Indian Problem. Society of the Friends of Africa. 1945.
- The Indian as a South African: A Symposium. South African Institute of Race Relations. 1956.
- The History of the Indians in Natal. Greenwood Press Publishers. 1977.
- The Economic Foundations of the Women’s Movement. Kraus Reprint. 1914.
Honours and legacy
A hall of residence for women on the UKZN campus is named after her as is one of the houses at Westville Girls’ High School