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Post by Sue on Feb 1, 2024 14:48:19 GMT -5
Dr. Margaret Virginia Palmer was an extremely accomplished and respected doctor!
I found a reference to her passing in a 1970 Bulletin of the University of Maryland School of Medicine and College of Physicians and Surgeons. (Volume 55)
Dr. Palmer, who was a graduate of the above named school, had died in November 1969.
One sentence in her tribute is this:
"From college she joined the staff of the Bellevue Hospital and during the Lindbergh trial was assigned to question the convicted kidnapper, [Bruno Hauptmann.]"
I then contacted the Talbot County Historical Society and the Maryland Room of the Talbot County Free Library.
In the first sentence of the two obituaries that were sent to me, Palmer is lauded for her connection to the Lindbergh case!
In an obituary entitled "Dr. Virginia Palmer's Life was one of Accomplishments," from the Easton Star Democrat for November 19, 1969:
"Dr. Margaret Virginia Palmer, a qualified psychiatrist who served in the [Lindbergh] kidnapping case, passed away in Memorial Hospital, Easton, Nov. 11."
"At that time Dr. Palmer was serving in the psychiatric division of Bellevue Hospital, as a practicing psychiatrist. In [1934]? she was assigned to question Bruno [Hauptmann], suspected of kidnapping the [Lindbergh] child." This was in cooperation with the court in New York City."
"This was only one of many interesting experiences of Dr. Palmer, who was recognized as one of the most brilliant physicians in the state of Maryland."
From another newspaper obituary (I believe this one is from the Baltimore Sun, but I do not have a date for it.):
DR. PALMER SERVICES SET
Kidnap-Case Psychiatrist Died Tuesday in Easton
Easton, Md., Nov. 15 (Special)
"--Private funeral services for Dr. Margaret Virginia Palmer, a distinguished physician who in 1935 was assigned to question Bruno [Hauptmann], convicted [kidnapper] of the Lindbergh child, will be Wednesday at Dr. Palmer's home here."
"Dr. Palmer died last Tuesday in the Easton Memorial Hospital after a brief illness. She was 56."
"At the time of the Hauptmann case, she was serving in the psychiatric division of Bellevue Hospital in New York city as a practicing psychiatrist."
There is an online yearbook picture of Margaret Virginia Palmer from Goucher College in Baltimore. (Donnybrook Fair Yearbook, Class of 1934)
Also, she was recognized many times under the name M. Virginia Palmer. Her areas of expertise were thyroid disease and psychosomatic medicine. Her father was a physician, and Margaret won many flower awards, particularly for camellias and daffodils.
Anyway, did she ever, in fact, speak with Hauptmann?
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Post by xjd on Feb 1, 2024 22:33:58 GMT -5
sue, you always find the most amazing stuff! i will be following this for more info. i was always fascinated by the Shoenfeld profile of the kidnapper.
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Post by Sue on Feb 2, 2024 1:41:02 GMT -5
xjd,
Thank you. I enjoy finding stuff about this case!
By the way, I have been listening to Assassination Vacation on audiobook, and think Sara Vowell is charming!
She makes me think about taking the John Wilkes Booth Escape tour again!
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Post by Michael on Feb 2, 2024 22:52:30 GMT -5
Dr. Margaret Virginia Palmer was an extremely accomplished and respected doctor! ...... Anyway, did she ever, in fact, speak with Hauptmann? Hi Sue. Ever since reading this post, I've attempted to verify this because the name didn't ring a bell. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to do this. Hauptmann was interviewed by a number of "Alienists" (Psychiatrists) on October 3rd. Everything that I have backs up the Huddleson Report. That is, Doctors Connolly and Spradley represented NJ. Doctors Goodhart and Hoffman represented the Bronx, and Huddleson represented Fawcett. It could be that she had been contacted but never actually interviewed him, or that she came in some other time to see him. If she did, my guess would be that it was earlier and prior to October 3rd at the Bronx County Jail prior to Fawcett and perhaps during the Salomon fiasco. But again, if that happened I don't have any record of it.
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Post by Sue on Feb 3, 2024 13:19:52 GMT -5
Hi Michael,
Thanks for looking for her name! Do you know if she is mentioned in Shoenfeld's book The Crime and the Criminal? What exactly was Shoenfeld's position at Bellevue Hospital? Palmer worked as a clinical psychologist at Bellevue from 1935-1938, but I can't recall where I saw that information.
I also believe, like you, that she may have been asked to question Hauptmannn, but for some reason it did not happen! Unless, maybe, Shoenfeld overlooked her in his book?
If Palmer did speak with Hauptmann, it is unclear from the information if this was in 1934, 1935, or 1936.
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Post by Michael on Feb 3, 2024 19:03:53 GMT -5
Hi Michael, Thanks for looking for her name! Do you know if she is mentioned in Shoenfeld's book The Crime and the Criminal? What exactly was Shoenfeld's position at Bellevue Hospital? Palmer worked as a clinical psychologist at Bellevue from 1935-1938, but I can't recall where I saw that information. I also believe, like you, that she may have been asked to question Hauptmannn, but for some reason it did not happen! Unless, maybe, Shoenfeld overlooked her in his book? If Palmer did speak with Hauptmann, it is unclear from the information if this was in 1934, 1935, or 1936. Not among those in the index of Shoenfeld's book. Sometimes a name might not be but can still find its way into a book at times but in this case I don't think that happened because I don't remember it. Of course that's not bullet proof either.
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Post by Sue on Mar 3, 2024 20:05:20 GMT -5
Thanks for looking, Michael.
As you know, sooner or later these names show up somewhere!
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