Edith Morse grew up in Concord, Massachusetts, was graduated from the School of Nursing of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in 1928, and in 1929 married Dr. Robert S. Palmer. They lived in Brookline and had four children: Robert, Charles, Samuel, and Judith. After working as an industrial nurse for three years and for several years at home with her children, EMP in 1935 began an active career of volunteer work. Her affiliations have included birth control clinics of the Planned Parenthood League, a Hypertension Clinic during World War II, various activities at MGH, and the League of Women Voters. Besides health, her major interests have been peace; local and state politics; and prisoners' rights, prison reform, and the abolition of the death penalty.
From the guide to the Papers, 1940s-1970s, (Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute)