Palmer earned a bachelor's degree from
Barnard College in 1917, studied for a master's degree at
Bryn Mawr College from 1917 to 1918, as Carola Woerishoffer Scholar in Social Economy and Social Research, and completed a Ph.D. in 1924 at the
University of Pennsylvania. She became an instructor in
economics at
Vassar College and
Hollins College, and then moved to the Industrial Research Unit of the
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1931. By 1953 she was Research Professor of Industry and director of the Industrial Research Unit at the Wharton School. Beginning in the 1930s, she was also a frequent consultant for various federal agencies in Washington DC. ==Books==