This week we celebrate the 121^st birthday of chiropractic! It was on September 18, 1895 that D.D. Palmer reasoned that he could use a bony prominence of a vertebra as lever to re-align that same spinal bone which had become racked from its normal position. The patient was Harvey Lillard. He was deaf and that adjustment restored his hearing. Chiropractic was born… and now we feast on cupcakes in celebration! (Hey, any reason for a Crossroads party, right?)

Below is Harvey’s testimony as it appears in the The Chiropractor, January, 1897. A copy of this original testimonial can be at Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa.

“I was deaf 17 years and I expected to always remain so, for I had doctored a great deal without any benefit. I had long ago made up my mind to not take any more ear treatments, for it did me no good. Last January Dr. Palmer told me that my deafness came from an injury in my spine. This was new to me; but it is a fact that my back was injured at the time I went deaf. Dr. Palmer treated me on the spine; in two treatments I could hear quite well. That was eight months ago. My hearing remains good.”

– HARVEY LILLARD, 320 W. Eleventh St., Davenport, Iowa

After D.D. realized that he was onto something BIG, gave name to his new discovery using the Greek roots: “praxis” and “cheir“, meaning to treat or practice using hands. Then D.D. opened the Palmer School of Chiropractic in 1897 and went to work developing this new art, science and philosophy of healing. (Dr. Stephanie, Dr. Graham and Dr. David all graduated from this “Fountain Head of Chiropractic” in Iowa over 100 years later!)

While D.D. is forever known as the “Founder of Chiropractic,” the profession really survived as a separate and distinct form of healing due to the work of D.D.’s son, B.J. Palmer. B.J. credited himself as the “Developer of Chiropractic.” An original 1950’s oil painting of B.J. Palmer can be seen hanging by table one at our Pembroke Crossroads location. These oil paintings were given by B.J. Palmer himself as a gift to the top academic graduates of his school. This particular oil painting was given to a 1959 New Hampshire graduate of Palmer School of Chiropractic.

Please join us in celebrating the birth of chiropractic this week and allow us to show our appreciation for you too. We are so thankful you’ve chosen us as your team to keep your brain connected to your body without the interference of subluxations! We love the opportunity we have to help your body heal itself, naturally, through the unique hands-on-healing of chiropractic care.