The History of Chiropractic

The Classical World

There is some evidence that the practice of chiropractic can be traced back to ancient Egypt (4000 B.C.), China (2700 B.C.) and Greece (1500 B.C.). Moreover, the famed “Father of Medicine,” Hippocrates (500 B.C.), who was renowned for ridding medicine of superstition and quackery, may have practiced chiropractic. Historians have used Hippocratic quotes like “Get knowledge of the spine, for this is the requisite for many diseases” as evidence of his involvement with chiropractic.

In many ways, the early history of chiropractic is the history of three generations of Palmers.

Daniel David Palmer, usually called D.D.; his son, Bartlett Joshua Palmer, called B.J.; Mabel Heath Palmer, B.J.’s wife; and B.J. and Mabel’s son, David D. Palmer, often called Dr. Dave.

The Beginnings of Modern Chiropractic

D. D. Palmer — The Founder

(March 7, 1845 – October 20, 1913)

At the end of the 19th century, when D.D. Palmer came on the health care scene, medicine was leaving an era of proclaimed cure-alls to pursue more scientific investigation into the treatment of disease. D.D. reasoned that the body had an ample supply of natural healing power transmitted through the nervous system. If a single organ was sick, it must not be receiving its normal nerve supply. That led to the premise of spinal misalignment, or subluxation, and from there to a procedure for adjusting the vertebrae. D.D. performed his first adjustments in 1895, relieving one man of deafness and another person of heart trouble. Arrangements were made to train others in the application of the chiropractic principle. The Palmer School and Cure was founded in 1897 and was later incorporated under the laws of Iowa. The school later became the Palmer School of Chiropractic.

B. J. Palmer — The Developer

(September 14, 1882 – May 27, 1961)

Dr. B.J. Palmer launched his colorful career by assuming the responsibility of the Palmer School of Chiropractic in 1906. His contributions included extensive research, improved methods of spinal adjusting and analysis, higher standards for chiropractic education, and increased appreciation for chiropractic worldwide. B.J. battled on many fronts — legal and legislative obstacles to the licensing of chiropractors and financial challenges to the school. He was often the center of controversy, but well before his death in 1961, chiropractic had secured a place among the health sciences.

Mabel Heath Palmer — The First Lady of Chiropractic

(1881-1949)

A guiding influence in B.J. Palmer’s life was his wife, Mabel Heath Palmer, who became a Doctor of Chiropractic in 1905. A recognized authority on anatomy and an instructor at the school for more than 30 years, Mabel Palmer was a close and valued adviser to her husband in all phases of the chiropractic profession.+

David D. Palmer — The Educator

(January 12, 1906 – May 24,1978)

David Palmer, the grandson of chiropractic’s founder, assumed the presidency of Palmer in 1961. An initial step toward accreditation was to change the corporate name of the Palmer School of Chiropractic to Palmer College of Chiropractic. Then the campus was modernized, with classrooms renovated and modern teaching aids installed. Two other key contributions were the establishment of non-profit status for Palmer College and the organization of the Palmer College of Chiropractic International Alumni Association. After Dr. Dave’s death in 1978, the College received accreditation from the Council on Chiropractic Education and the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

The Gonstead Method

Clarence Selmer Gonstead — Inventor of the Gonstead Method

(1898-1978)

Clarence Gonstead took chiropractic practice from back alley bone setting to an understandable bio-mechanical science. His life was dedicated to clinical competency. In the 1930s, the chiropractic profession was dominated by its iconoclastic leader B. J. Palmer and his Hole-In-One upper cervical specific technique. At that time the technical skills of the typical graduating chiropractor were crude and rudimentary. Gonstead changed that and gave the profession a logical and bio-mechanically sound system for practicing chiropractic. With a gift of solving mechanical problems, he developed his own ideas on subluxations, x-ray, and adjusting bones through the empirical data he gathered from his large practice. Although perhaps not his intent, Gonstead redefined the very nature of chiropractic. With the adoption of the Gonstead technique by Palmer School of Chiropractic in the early 1960s, his technique assisted the profession in restoring chiropractic to its full-spine roots.

Life in Primrose, Wisconsin
Gonstead was born in Willow Lake, South Dakota on July 23, 1898, the son of Carl and Sarah Gonstead. A few years later his father decided to relocate the family to Primrose, Wisconsin and become a dairy farmer. Growing up a rural farm provided young Gonstead with plenty of opportunities to explore the mechanical world. His enthusiasm for repairing tractors and early automobiles provided him with the kinesthetic tools for his later calling in life.

The Eureka Moment
Surprisingly, little is known about Gonstead’s education, but while in trade school Gonstead became terribly sick. In his own words:
“I developed acute rheumatoid arthritis… One morning I woke up and my toe next to the little toes was really sore. I could hardly step on it. It hurt all day and the next morning it got worse and the third day the whole foot swelled up. I couldn’t walk on it so I couldn’t go to school… that was about a week and it was just getting pretty good and it jumped into my left knee, and that puffed way up one morning. It hurt so much I couldn’t step on it and then it went into my right knee, so I was out of school for about four weeks. For about two weeks I was in bed, I couldn’t even stand having the (bed) covers over my knee. I had a box over it… the knee was that sore. The University doctors were taking care of me then, they’d come out to the house. I stayed on the east side with my aunt. About the second week she said, “Now you’ve fooled around with those University doctors long enough. Now I’m going to call in my doctor.”

Her doctor happened to be J. B. Olson, a chiropractor. Olson came to the house to care for Gonstead and after a series of adjustments and rest, he could walk again. It was a life changing event for Gonstead.

After trade school, young Gonstead took a job working as an automotive engineer. The job allowed him to save enough money to pay for chiropractic school.

The rest was history. Combining his knowledge of mechanical engineering with his understanding of the body as a functional structure, he developed what is now known as the Gonstead Method of Chiropractic Analysis and Adjusting.

Modern Chiropractic Care

We envision a world of natural health and healing from within, filled with communities where hospitals are empty and children are living drug free lives. We are on a mission to reach the world with chiropractic by helping as many families and children in this community reach an optimal level of health and improved quality of life by removing neurological interference through specific scientific chiropractic adjustments. Our team is honored to have the opportunity serve the Whitehouse, Monclova, Perrysburg, Bowling Green, Haskins, Grand Rapids, Liberty Center, Swanton, Neapolis, Toledo and Maumee, Ohio communities, along with the Anthony Wayne School District through chiropractic!

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