Mrs. A. B. Palmer was born in Shreveport, Louisiana on December 24, 1894 and died on January 20, 1979. She was a lifelong resident of Shreveport, having lived in the Lakeside-Allendale area of the city.

Mrs. Palmer was a very special person. Mrs. Palmer liked to provide a helping hand to others. It was something she did for a good part of the 20th century. She tended to foster children, opened her home to black soldiers during World War II, and help found several civic and benevolent organizations.

The work Mrs. Palmer is best known for is that with the Joy Fund. The Joy Fund, sponsored every other year by The Shreveport Times, traditionally provided baskets of food so the poor of the area could enjoy a special meal on Christmas Day.

Mrs. Palmer helped found the 4th District Parent Teacher Association and the Black YWCA. In 1927 she was named Zeta Phi Beta Woman of the Year. She was also elected Story Hour Leader of the Louisiana State FBU, served as treasurer for the Colored Joy Fund, elected Senior Air Raid Warden of District 19, Chairman of the Women’s Division of War Bonds, and was a member of Interracial Committee of the Negro Girl Scouts.

Memoirs of Mrs. A. B. Palmer

My Creed To live, as gently as I can:
To be, no matter where, a woman;
To take what come of good or ill
And cling to faith an honor still.
To do my best, and let that Stand
The record of my brain and hand;
and then should failure come to me,
Still work and hope for victory.

To have no secret place wherein
I stoop unseen to shame or sin;
To be the same when I’m alone
as when my every deeds known,
To live undaunted, unafraid
of any step that I have made.

To be without pretense or shame,
Exactly what men and women,
boys and girls think I am.
To leave some simple mark behind to
keep my having lived in mind;
If enmity to aught I show,
To be an honest generous foe,
To play my little part, not whine
That greater honors are not mine.
This I believe, is all I need
for my philosophy and creed.

We salute Mrs. A. B. Palmer!