FILE 02 · DETROIT EDUCATION
SCHOOL
YEARS
Ralph's school years ran through Detroit's public-school system, including Munger Intermediate and Northwestern High School. He completed high school in January 1938, just as the city's industrial economy was pulling a generation of young Detroiters toward skilled trades and factory work.
School was only part of the picture. In 1936, the teenage Palmer entered Detroit's Golden Gloves boxing program—an early glimpse of the competitive, disciplined side of his life.
DETROIT · 1930s
Classroom to skilled trade.
By the end of high school, Detroit offered a direct route from education into highly skilled industrial work. For Ralph, the next door was Ford's apprentice program and the exacting world of tool making.