Josephine Ludlow Palmer

Josephine Ludlow Palmer is a little-known American writer whose name is most clearly preserved through The Lighting of the Christmas Tree. Project Gutenberg identifies her as one of the credited authors of the work, and the text itself describes it as an adaptation by Josephine L. Palmer and Annie L. Thorp from Selma Lagerlöf’s “The Christmas Guest.”

The play was originally published in the United States by Samuel French in 1917, with copyright credited to Palmer and Thorp. It also appeared in the Vassar Series of Plays, a collection described in the book as featuring work written by members of the play-writing class at Vassar College, which suggests Palmer was connected with that creative circle.

Reliable biographical details about her life appear to be scarce online, so it is safest to remember her chiefly through this collaborative holiday play. Even from that limited record, she comes across as a writer interested in adaptation, performance, and storytelling shaped for a live audience.