The Palmer family seal: an oak tree with exposed roots, a lit lantern hanging in its branches beneath the North Star, bordered by a chain with one broken link. The ring reads Memento Vinctorum; the banner reads Libertas, Iustitia, Solidaritas.
THE PALMER FAMILY

Memento Vinctorum

Remember those in bonds.

How to Read the Seal

Five figures, taken from the seal itself.

Detail of the oak's trunk and exposed root system
FIG. I · THE OAK

The Oak and its Roots

The roots honor the memory of those who struggled before us, grounding the family in enduring principles and reminding us that strength and growth come from deep connections to our history and community.

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground.”

FREDERICK DOUGLASS · 1857
Nothing grows without the ground being worked. That is why the roots are drawn showing.
Detail of the lit lantern hanging in the branches
FIG. II · THE LANTERN

The Lantern

The lantern commemorates the lights that guided those fleeing slavery to safety. It represents an enduring promise that the door remains open, the light remains lit, and that refuge and solidarity will always be offered to those in need.

“There was such a glory over everything; the sun came like gold through the trees, and over the fields, and I felt like I was in Heaven.”

HARRIET TUBMAN
Her first morning free, crossing into Pennsylvania. Gold light in the trees is what freedom looked like. The lantern keeps it burning.
Detail of the North Star above the tree
FIG. III · THE STAR

The North Star

A symbol of hope, moral guidance, and the enduring pursuit of freedom and justice, serving as the fixed point by which the family navigates its principles.

“Right is of no sex. Truth is of no color. God is the Father of us all, and we are all brethren.”

THE NORTH STAR
Douglass named his newspaper The North Star, after the same star that crowns this seal. These words ran beneath its name on every issue.
Detail of the border chain with one link broken open
FIG. IV · THE BROKEN LINK

The Broken Link

The broken chain around the seal proclaims that no chain is eternal. A single shattered link bears witness that oppression can be resisted and overcome. It represents the enduring belief that freedom is won through courage, solidarity, and the willingness of ordinary people to break the bonds that bind them.

“I hear the mournful wail of millions, whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are today rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that reach them.”

FREDERICK DOUGLASS · JULY 4, 1852
From “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” The chain on this seal is that chain. The broken link is the answer to it.
Detail of the banner reading Libertas, Iustitia, Solidaritas
FIG. V · THE BANNER

The Banner

Libertas. Iustitia. Solidaritas. Freedom, justice, solidarity, in the order that matters. Freedom without justice is just privilege. Justice without solidarity is just paperwork.

“I pity the poor in bondage that have none to help them; that is why I am here. It is my sympathy with the oppressed and the wronged, that are as good as you, and as precious in the sight of God.”

JOHN BROWN · OCTOBER 1859
Questioned after his capture at Harpers Ferry. Liberty, justice, solidarity, in his own order: help, right, and kinship.

The Words

Where the mottoes come from.

Memento Vinctorum
Remember those in bonds.

The line comes from the letter to the Hebrews, and in the years before the Civil War it was a watchword among American abolitionists. John Brown carried it into the courtroom that sentenced him, in the same breath as the golden rule:

“It teaches me, further, to remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them. I endeavored to act up to that instruction.”

JOHN BROWN
Address to the court, November 2, 1859. This is where the seal’s motto comes from.

This family keeps both together, the way he did. Treat others as your own. Remember the ones still bound.

What This House Holds

No person is property... not by chain, not by contract, and not by debt.

The door is open for the weary, light the lamp as an offer of refuge, solidarity, and aid to those in need.

Work with your hands, own your hours, and treat others as you would wish to be treated. Strength is found in community, and dignity belongs to every man.

And when what is legal and what is right disagree, this house already knows which one it answers to.