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Florence Palmer honored for her contributions to ECC

Posted April 04, 2014 1:01 am

By Christopher Hankins

Elgin Community College honored a longtime teacher and poet Thursday with a display honoring the late Florence B. Palmer.

The Writers Center at Elgin Community College held a poetry wall dedication ceremony to celebrate the 15-year anniversary of the Palmer Poetry Contest, named for Palmer and her contribution to poetry and the arts at ECC.

Palmer was a longtime Elgin resident who in 1999 established a foundation to fund ECC's annual poetry contest with prizes of $1,000 for first place, $500 for second and $250 for third. In the 15 years the contest has been held, hundreds of students have entered the competition. Palmer's generosity has helped to invigorate ECC's student writing community.

Former Palmer Contest winners and ECC alumni read at the event.

Palmer died in 2005 at the age of 97, according to ECC.

Jason Conglis, who created the graphics for the poetry wall, gets a hug from Rachael Stewart, an associate professor of English at Elgin Community College, during Thursday's event that honored former teacher Florence B. Palmer. courtesy of Elgin Community College

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