Mabel Palmer

From 1904 to 1908 Atkinson lectured at Armstrong College, in Durham on the classics and philosophy.^[1] While still in Durham, she proposed opening summer schools sponsored by the Fabian Society to help spread their ideals through the countryside. The first of these, she organised in 1907 and the following year, she published in the International Journal of Ethics, The Struggle for Existence in Relations to Morals and Religion.^[2] Relocating to London in 1908, she became a tutor for the Workers' Educational Association (WEA) and lectured on economics from 1908 to 1915 at King's College for Women.^[1] She published articles in the Daily News on feminist and political themes including topics on celibacy as a prerequisite for women's employment, suffrage, the gold standard and trade unions and wrote an economics textbook with Margaret McKillop in 1911.^[1]

Serving as vice-chair of the Federated Council of Women's Suffrage Societies, Atkinson spoke often on the topic of women's voting and took part in demonstrations. In 1910, her position on suffrage thwarted an attempt to stand for the London County Council. In 1914, she published for the Fabian Society, a tract The Economic Foundations of the Women's Movement, evaluating the benefits of socialism for women's economic emancipation. She argued that barring married women from working forced them to be celibate and childless. At the outbreak of World War I Atkinson began lecturing on peace and supported creation of an organisation such as the League of Nations to act as an authority over nationalist concerns. However, her anti-war stance did not stop her new husband, Andrew Robert Barratt Palmer, an Australian journalist whom she had married on 2 July 1914 in Kensington, from joining the war effort. Atkinson continued her work on women and social concerns publishing in 1916, Life-Saving in War-Time, which evaluated infant mortality and its relationship to poverty. The study, looking at the economic realities of working-class mothers, was completed for the Infant Welfare Propaganda Committee.^[1]

En 1920, siguiendo a su esposo a Sídney, comenzó a usar el nombre de Palmer. A principios de 1921, la pareja se mudó a Durban , Sudáfrica. ^{[ 1 ]} donde Palmer comenzó a enseñar en el Natal Technical College . Se le encomendó la tarea de impartir cursos de educación para adultos a través de la WEA, que estaba afiliada a la universidad. ^{[ 3 ]} Palmer y su esposo se separaron y él regresó a Australia. ^{[ 4 ]} También enseñó en la Escuela Técnica Superior y en la escuela normal , en materias como educación cívica e historia, e impartió cursos en sindicatos y en la YWCA sobre temas relacionados con la banca, la moneda, la industria y el costo de vida. ^{[ 5 ]} Además de su labor docente, Palmer continuó su participación en causas progresistas, uniéndose al Círculo de Estudio de la Liga de las Naciones, el Consejo Nacional de Mujeres de Sudáfrica , la Asociación Sudafricana para el Avance de la Ciencia , el Instituto Sudafricano de Relaciones Raciales , varios sindicatos y otras organizaciones, lo que le permitió continuar escribiendo artículos sobre temas socioeconómicos. En 1929, se unió al senado de la Universidad de Sudáfrica . ^{[ 1 ] [ 4 ]} Palmer participó en el desarrollo de una universidad en Durban y, después de una década, los esfuerzos dieron fruto. En 1931 comenzó a trabajar como profesora de historia económica en el nuevo Natal University College (NUC), más tarde conocido como la Universidad de KwaZulu-Natal . ^{[ 3 ]}

After retiring from NUC in 1936 Palmer began her noted work to found university education for Non-Whites in Natal.^[6] Initially holding classes in her home for part-time students who were working as teachers, the courses were offered free of charge because many of the students had to travel immense distances to attend.^[1] Later, she convinced university staff to hold lectures at venues like Sastri College, the first high school and normal school for Indian students living in Durban.^[7][8] In 1945, NUC set up a segregated section of courses for non-European student's education with Palmer as director. She supported the segregation of non-white students as a step within the colonial framework to expand education to non-elites,^[1][7] as during her own education, segregating women from men allowed women university education for the first time.^[9] During her tenure, the enrolment increased from 19 to 350 and while many of her students were grateful for the education,^[1] her lack of understanding of African and Indian cultures created some frictions.^[10][11] In 1955, Palmer retired for the second time,^[1] but continued publishing. She was one of the main collaborators of the 1956 Council of the South African Institute of Race Relations publication, The Indian as a South African. In 1957, she published The History of the Indians in Natal, one of the first works on Southeast Asians in the region.^[10]