The man who discovered chiropractic was Daniel David Palmer (The Founder, "DD"). He did so in 1895.
His son
was Bartlett Joshua Palmer (The Developer, "BJ") whom this
web site is about.
BJ and his wife Mabel had a son "Dave" Palmer (The
Educator). The history is fascinating, well documented and
would make an exceptional Hollywood saga if any filmaker
would care to see the amazing relevance to the history of
healing and America also.
There is some wonderful history at the Palmer College site where these photos
come from.
Still
living today is Ms. Vicki Palmer, Daughter of Dave Palmer,
who chairs Palmer College of Chiropractic. During my time
there from 1994-7, it was a magical place to learn.
Here is a picture of me, my wife and Vicki on Founders day
1995, one hundred years to the day after the first
adjustment, signing my picture of the Ryan Building; site
of the first chiropractic adjustment.
In my office I have following images: a bust of DD, and
above it a painting of his son, BJ, who developed upper
cervical adjusting, and a picture of me with my teacher Roy
W. Sweat of Atlanta, Georgia, USA. I explain to the
patients that is my lineage of tutelage; from DD right to
me in 4 generations.
I also keep images of other healers as inspiration. It so
happens that DD Palmer was interested in healing, and the
science and anatomy surrounding such issues. Basically he
asked the question why one man got sick, and his
counterpart, working at the same bench, did not. He had an
extensive grounding in the science of the day, but also in
his interest in the human spirit. To the dismay of some,
Palmer alleged that he got the gift of chiropractic from a
spiritual source. He tried it on the spine of 17-years-deaf
janitor Mr. Harvey Lillard on September 17, 1895 and made
history when his hearing returned in three days.
BJ
later attested that the atlas, or C1 vertebra, at the top
of the neck was the only one that could sufficently be
"subluxated" enough to affect the flow of mental impulses
from the brain and block bodily information returning, like
a safety pin cycle of nerve electricity. He loved
electrical analogies, unlike his rivals the (somewhat
similar profession) osteopaths who spoke much about
circualation as the primary system. The
medical men also seemed to worship the heart, practically
and poetically, as the major influence after Harvey
described the circulatory system. After all, it's not very
romantic to say "I love you with all my electrical mental
impulses".
BJ
also developed a system of spinography to depict images of
the relationship of the atlas to the skull and the rest of
the body below. He devised a marvellously disciplined art,
science and philosphy of how to use the hands to make the
corrective forces necessary to fix the atlas
misalignment (You can
view this in a brief movie at my site www.atlasvertebra.com ).
So
Upper Cervical Specific Technique was born. It was also
nicknamed "Hole in One" or HIO by BJ. This
legacy was carried on through Grostic technique, to Atlas
Orthogonal (AO) technique after that.
So, even though BJ had some ideas that are outdated and
plainly wrong today, he is the one that can lay claim to
being the originator of this specific technique which
refined discoveries made by his father.
Importantly, DD did not lay claim to having discovered
spinal manipulation, but a system of using the spinous and
transverse processes as levers to rack misaligned vertebra
back into normal position. This was paramount in seperating
chiropractors from all the other professions claiming to
influence the spine, to this day: chiropractors were
specific enough, focused enough and demanded enough
physiological and anatomical knowledge in order that they
not merely perform a generalised manoeuver called a
"manipulation" but a procedure known as an adjustment, in
order that only one joint, or joint complex, was affected.
Whether or not they always achieved it was debatable to
this day, but the intent was there from the start.
BJ
said chiropractic was specific or it was
nothing.