M. Louise Thomas

M. Louise Thomas ( Palmer; May 14, 1822 – February 14, 1907) was an American feminist and clubwoman. She founded the American Woman's Sanitary Association during the American Civil War. She served as president of the Woman's Centenary Association of the Universalist Church (WCA), as the fourth president of Sorosis, and as the treasurer of the National Council of Women.

Biography Maria Louise Palmer was born on May 14, 1822, in Mount Holly, New Jersey, during the temporary residence there of her parents, both of whom were natives of Pottsville, Pennsylvania. Her father, Judge Strong W. Palmer, She was interested in the religious training of youth and involved in the different aid societies associated with the church. They lived in Brooklyn, New York; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where for 15 years, she worked in the church.

She and the children accompanied Rev. Thomas in an 18 month tour through Great Britain and Europe. Her written descriptions of her travels were published and widely circulated.

During the American Civil War, Philadelphia became a busy center for the North including for the treatment of injured soldiers. Thomas helped organize the Woman's Sanitary Association, to nurse and care for sick and injured soldiers. Thomas brought up and educated a large number of boys and girls, mostly orphans of various nationalities. Some of them were helpers on her farm.

In religion, Thomas was a Universalist. For six years, she was the secretary of the Pennsylvania Universalist Convention. She was an active member of the WCA. She was elected vice president for Pennsylvania at its organization in Buffalo, New York, in September, 1869, and retained that office eleven years, when she gave it up to become the organization's second president. In 1871, she was one of a committee of three, appointed to submit a constitution for its re-organization, and in 1873, she became one of its incorporators for National Work in the District of Columbia. She also had the exclusive charge of the publication of tracts and books for the WCA, the only organized Tract Society of the Universalist Church.

In 1880, a month after she was widowed, Thomas was elected to the office of president of the WCA. She served as president of the women's club Sorosis, from 1886 to 1889. She served as vice-president of the Medico-Legal Society of New York, judge of the Silk Culture Association of Philadelphia, and director of the Bee-keepers' Association. along with Dr. De Witt Talmage, to travel to Russia and investigate the conditions. She spent several months abroad and personally supervised the distribution of food and clothing.

Publication Centenary Voices; or A Part of the Work of Women of the Universalist Church from Its Centenary Year to the Present Time., Philadelphia: Women's Centenary Association, 1886