Biographical Database of NAWSA Suffragists, 1890-1920
Biography of Amy Hernandez Palmer, 1888-1972
By Arin McLaughlin, Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Chairman of the Bronx branch of the Woman's Suffrage Party
Amy Ernin Hernandez was born in New York on November 26, 1888. Her parents were Pedro Antonio Hernandez, born in 1858 in Cuba, and Emilia (Merlo) Hernandez. Before Amy was born, her parents emigrated to New York City and remained residents there until Pedro's death. On July 11, 1905, Amy married Daniel Appleton Palmer in New York City. Their son Daniel Appleton Palmer Jr. was born in 1907.
Amy Palmer became involved with the New York Suffrage movement in the first decade of the 20th century, mostly participating in moderate organizations that rejected the radical protest techniques of some other suffrage groups. For many years, Palmer served as both the secretary and the chairman of the Bronx branch of the Woman's Suffrage Party. Palmer worked to distance the Bronx branch from more militant suffrage tactics. For example, Palmer's group held up signs during a 1917 parade that explicitly declared that they were not affiliated with the women picketing the White House. During her time in the movement, Palmer also participated in many different suffrage activities. She marched at the front of the Bronx Day Parade representing the Woman's Suffrage Party in June of 1916. She served as one of the forty-five New York delegates to the National American Woman Suffrage Association convention in Washington D.C. in December of 1917. In March of 1919, Palmer attended a luncheon at the Hotel Commodore in celebration of the suffrage amendment's victory.
After enfranchisement, Palmer worked as a writer. In 1925, she embarked on a solo world-wide tour to Cuba, Japan, China, India, Egypt, Palestine, Greece, France, Germany, and England for research. In 1952, after her husband Daniel died in New Jersey, she and her son moved to California where she died in 1972 at the age of 87.
Amy Hernandez Palmer, 1925. Ancestry.com. U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007 from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; Roll #: 2669; Volume #: Roll 2669 - Certificates: 491850-492349, 18 Nov 1924-20 Nov 1924
Amy Hernandez Palmer is identified as the sixth woman from the left. http://www.crusadeforthevote.org/working-women-movement/
Sources:
Amy Hernandez Palmer, 1925. Ancestry.com. U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007 from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; Roll #: 2669; Volume #: Roll 2669 - Certificates: 491850-492349, 18 Nov 1924-20 Nov 1924
"Suffrage Allies to Meet." New York Times (1857-1922): 25. Mar 02 1919. ProQuest. Web. 30 . (LUNCHEON), Page 338 (BRONX)
Brooklyn Daily Eagle Almanac, Volume 32, American Almanac Collection (Library of Congress), Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 1917, Original from the New York Public Library, Digitized Mar. 14, 2008
Ida Husted Harper, ed, The History of Woman Suffrage, Volume 6, (National American Woman Suffrage Association, 1920), 10, 25, 466-67. [LINK]
The Woman Voter, volumes 7-8, Mary Ritter Beard, Florence Woolston, eds., 1916, 10, 25. https://books.google.com/books?id=zlc9AQAAMAAJ&dq=%22the%20woman%20voter%22%20vol.%207&pg=RA6-PA8#v=onepage&q&f=false
Report of the Secretary, Harvard College (1780- ). Class of 1863 (Publisher John Wilson and Son, 1913), 91. https://archive.org/stream/reportsecretary06goog#page/n166/mode/2up.
"Suffragists Thank Men of All Parties." New York Times (1857- 1922): 13. Dec 04 1917. ProQuest. Web. 30 Mar. 2018. (CONVENTION)