Many chiropractic patients ask, “How did
chiropractic get started?” Well, Chiropractic got started
in Davenport Iowa a little over 100 years ago. In 1895 a “magnetic
healer” as he was called, by the name of DD Palmer operated
an office on the corner of Second and Brady street in downtown
Davenport. Dr. Palmer, as he was known, noticed on that day the
janitor who worked in his building was nearly totally deaf.
This janitor was a black gentleman by the name of Harvey Lillard.
Upon questioning, (probably very loud questioning) Harvey explained
to Dr. Palmer that he had lost most of his hearing 17 years
earlier when he was bending over and felt a “pop”
in his upper back or neck. Dr. Palmer examined the area and
noticed a bump which he determined to be spinal vertebrae out
of position. It seemed that Harvey noticed this bump right after
he lost his hearing. Having knowledge of anatomy, Dr. Palmer
convinced Harvey to allow him to try to fix it by pushing the
bone back into place.
History is uncertain as to whether it was one visit or several,
but the result was Harvey got his hearing back! From that point
DD Palmer changed his practice over to this new method of replacing
bones that were out of position and allowing people to heal.
His practice grew and the profession of chiropractic was born.
Within two years Dr. Palmer opened the first school of Chiropractic
on Brady Street in Davenport. It was his son Dr. BJ Palmer,
who continued the school after the death of DD. It is the son
BJ, who is given credit today for growing and developing the
profession into what it has become today.
In 1902, B.J. graduated from the Palmer school started by DD,
and before long with his wife, and fellow graduate Mabel, was
helping patients and taking on more and more responsibility
for the school and the clinic. He also was instrumental in getting
chiropractic recognized as a licensed profession.
Although the profession has advanced tremendously since the
days of DD and B.J., the basic tenets and understanding of chiropractic
as a drug-free method of correcting vertebral subluxations in
order to remove nerve interference still stand.
