Lillian McNeill Palmer

Lillian McNeill Palmer (1871–1961) was an American coppersmith and metalsmith whose work was part of the California Arts and Crafts movement. She worked in tandem with her longtime companion, architect Emily Williams and was the founder of the Women's Business and Professional Club in San Francisco.

Biography

Lillian Palmer was born in 1871, in Stonington, Connecticut, the daughter of Donald Palmer. Donald Palmer worked in the mining industry and traveled widely. Palmer moved to California with her family around 1890. By 1899 they were living in San Jose. Palmer was a second cousin of painter James McNeill Whistler, through Whistler's mother, Anna Matilda McNeill (1804-1881).

In early 1908, Lucy Washburn sold a property at 218 and 220 Chestnut, Pacific Grove, to Emily Williams to build two houses, for Williams (220) and Palmer (218). Both houses still stand today, and while Williams' house has been expanded and remodeled, Palmer's house is still in its original state.

Palmer went back to metal work in 1932 and sometime in the late 1930s, Williams and Palmer moved to Los Gatos, where Williams designed their house. Williams died in 1942. Lillian Palmer died in 1961 and they are now resting together at the Los Gatos Memorial Park.

Exhibition At Home With Arts & Crafts was an exhibition hosted by the SFO Museum at the International Terminal, running from April 22, 2017, to December 10, 2017. The exhibition featured works by Lillian Palmer among others.