Palmer Method Palmer Method The Palmer Method of penmanship instruction was developed and promoted by Austin Palmer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was largely created as a simplified style of the "Spencerian Method", which had been the major standardized system of handwriting since the 1840s. The Palmer Method soon became the most popular handwriting system in the United States. Under the method, students were taught to adopt a uniform system of cursive writing with rhythmic motions. The method developed around 1888 and was introduced in the book "Palmer's Guide to Business Writing" (1894). Palmer's method involved "muscle motion"
Dorothea Palmer mounting a defence for Palmer in what would later be known as The Eastview Birth Control Trial. It lasted from 1936 to 1937. During the trial Palmer was the subject of attacks and abuse by those who opposed her. In one incident a man pulled her into an alley and attempted to rape her, telling her that he'd "show you what it's like without any birth control." Palmer managed to knee him in the groin and escape. On March 17, 1937, the court acquitted Palmer on the basis that her actions had passed the criminal code's "pro bono publico" clause: