Palmer, Daniel David

Palmer, Daniel David

(1845–1913) founder of chiropractic; born near Toronto, Canada. He moved to Iowa about 1880. Largely self-taught, he was a small businessman who became interested in alternative forms of medicines such as magnetic healing, osteopathy, and vertebral manipulation. In 1898 he founded the Palmer School of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa, the first school to train chiropractors by his system. (Chiropractic—from Greek words meaning "hand-practice,"—was suggested to Palmer by an educated patient.) The school was not at first successful—his son, Bartlett Joshua Palmer, was one of the few graduates—and in 1903 he tried to start another one in Portland, Ore. He returned to Davenport where his son was now running the school. In 1906 he was jailed for six months for practicing medicine without a license. He went back to Portland, Ore., and had to restrict himself to his own private practice. His Textbook of the Science, Art and Philosophy of Chiropractic (1910) attacked just about everyone who practiced any kind of medicine, including his son. He returned uninvited to a school reunion and died from injuries after being struck by a car while leading a parade. His son Bartlett and grandson David Daniel persevered to make chiropractic the accepted alternative it has become.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.