Chiropractic Founders Day: Honoring The History And Practice Of Chiropractic Care

Reviewed by: Dr. Steven Knauf, D.C.

By: Janett King

Every great movement begins with a single spark. For chiropractic, that spark ignited on September 18, 1895. What began as a single adjustment in a small Midwest town has grown into a healthcare profession trusted by millions of people worldwide. This September 18, 2025, we celebrate something extraordinary: the 130th birthday of chiropractic.

Chiropractic Founders Day is more than a date. It is a story of bold ideas, determination, resistance, and resilience. It is the story of a profession that refused to be silenced, that continued to grow even when the odds were stacked against it. And it is a story about people, both doctors and patients, who believed in a philosophy of care that put the body’s natural ability to heal at the center.

Let’s step back in time and walk through the history that shaped chiropractic into what it is today.

Medicine in the late 1800s: A time of experiment and uncertainty

The late 19th century was an era of enormous change. Trains were expanding across the country, electricity was beginning to light city streets, and industries were booming. But when it came to healthcare, science and trust lagged behind.

Medicine was recognized as a profession, but it was far from reliable. Many treatments offered little relief and often did more harm than good. Patients seeking care were met with options like bloodletting, harsh purges, laxatives, or attempts to balance the “humors” of the body. Cocaine was even prescribed for pain and fatigue. Understandably, people were skeptical. They wanted care that made them feel better, not worse.

This was the world that Daniel David Palmer, known as D.D., stepped into.

D.D. Palmer: A curious entrepreneur with a vision for health

To understand the beginnings of chiropractic, you first need to understand the man behind it. Daniel David Palmer, or D.D. as he is often called, was a man of remarkable curiosity. He had the heart of an entrepreneur and the mind of an investigator, constantly searching for ways to solve problems and improve lives. Over the course of his lifetime, Palmer wore many hats. He worked as a beekeeper and a grocer, and he even owned a radio station that would eventually become famous as the place where Ronald Reagan got his broadcasting start. No matter what venture he pursued, Palmer’s deepest passion was always health.

Unlike many of his contemporaries, Palmer believed that science and careful observation could reveal answers that traditional medicine was overlooking. He studied anatomy and physiology closely, often teaching himself from the texts available at the time. He asked questions few others dared to ask. Why do people get sick? Why do some recover quickly while others do not? What role does the structure of the body play in its overall function?

In the years leading up to 1895, Palmer practiced what was then known as magnetic healing, a form of care that sought to restore balance to the body’s systems. Magnetic healing was widely practiced in that era, but Palmer’s approach was different. He did not see himself as simply applying a temporary treatment. Instead, he used his practice as a way to study patients, observe patterns, and form new ideas about the way the body healed.

At the same time, mainstream medicine was still leaning heavily on purges, bloodletting, and medications that often caused more harm than good. Palmer watched as patients suffered through these aggressive methods and began to believe that there had to be a better way. He focused on root causes rather than symptoms, reasoning that lasting health could not be achieved if doctors were only chasing after pain or illness without addressing the underlying dysfunction.

It was in this environment that Palmer began to develop his concept of innate intelligence, the idea that the body has natural, built-in mechanisms for healing, and that disruptions to the body’s communication systems could interfere with that ability. To him, health was not just about fighting disease. It was about supporting the body’s own capacity to repair, restore, and thrive.

This philosophy may have sounded unconventional at the time, but it reflected both logic and observation. Patients were not simply numbers in a medical ledger. They were people who wanted to feel better and live more fully. Palmer’s willingness to think differently, combined with his determination to find a safer and more effective way to care for the body, set the stage for a groundbreaking discovery that would come in the fall of 1895.

1895: The first adjustment

On September 18, 1895, history was made in a small office in Davenport, Iowa. D.D. Palmer was working with a patient named Harvey Lillard, a janitor who had gradually lost most of his hearing years earlier. Lillard described the onset of his condition after he had felt something “give” in his back while working in a cramped position. Ever observant, Palmer examined his spine and noted what he believed to be a misalignment.

Trusting both his studies of anatomy and his growing conviction that the body could heal itself if properly aligned, Palmer applied a careful, manual adjustment to Lillard’s back. To their shared astonishment, Lillard’s hearing improved.

For Palmer, this was not simply a fortunate coincidence. It was evidence that disruptions in the spine could affect the body in profound ways, and that correcting those disruptions could restore function. For Lillard, it meant relief from a condition that medicine of the time had failed to improve.

That single adjustment became the spark that lit an entirely new approach to healthcare. Palmer would call it “chiropractic,” a term he created by combining Greek roots that mean “done by hand.”

It's important to note that healing by hand was not a new idea. Practices involving manipulation of the body had been documented for centuries in places like China, India, and Greece. But what made Palmer’s work revolutionary was not just the adjustment itself. It was the way he organized these ideas into a philosophy and a profession. He gave chiropractic a structure, a language, and a foundation on which future generations could build.

1897: A practice takes shape

By 1897, D.D. Palmer had refined his philosophy enough to take the next step. He opened the Palmer School of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa, the very first institution dedicated to training doctors of chiropractic. What began as a handful of curious students quickly became the birthplace of an entirely new branch of healthcare.

This was not a casual endeavor. Students studied anatomy, physiology, and clinical application. The goal was to train practitioners who could bring Palmer’s discoveries into the wider world with both skill and consistency. Chiropractic was establishing itself not as a passing trend but as a legitimate practice of healthcare grounded in science and philosophy.

Palmer’s son, Bartlett Joshua (B.J.) Palmer, joined the work and eventually became known as the “Developer of Chiropractic.” For fifty years, B.J. served as president of the Palmer School, tirelessly expanding the scope and influence of the profession. He introduced new teaching methods, invested in research, and even harnessed mass communication tools like radio to spread awareness of chiropractic care across the country.

One of his most memorable contributions was the Safety Pin Model, a metaphor illustrating the way the nervous system links the brain to the body. In this model, the clasp represents the brain and the spring represents the body’s cells. The two sides of the pin illustrate nerve impulses traveling in both directions. When the “pin” is closed, communication flows freely. When the “pin” is open or disrupted, communication is broken, and the body cannot function at its best. It was a simple but powerful way to help patients and students understand the importance of alignment and nervous system integrity.

Together, D.D. and B.J. Palmer did more than plant a seed. They laid the foundation for a practice that would endure against enormous odds. Chiropractic began to grow not only as a healing art but as a science-based discipline with a clear philosophy: when the body is aligned and communication flows without interference, health can be restored and maintained.

The work started in Davenport would soon spread far beyond Iowa. And in the decades to come, chiropractors would find themselves tested in ways few new healthcare practices ever had to face.

Early resistance: Chiropractors in jail

As chiropractic began to spread in the early 20th century, it quickly drew sharp opposition from the established medical community. The American Medical Association (AMA) viewed chiropractors not as colleagues but as competitors. At a time when medicine itself was still struggling to earn public trust, the idea that another branch of healthcare could win over patients so quickly was seen as a threat. The AMA began working aggressively to suppress the young profession.

In 1906, D.D. Palmer himself was arrested and jailed for practicing medicine without a license. His charge was not fraud or malpractice. His “crime” was simply adjusting patients outside the framework of traditional medicine. Palmer’s case set a precedent, and in the decades that followed, many other chiropractors found themselves behind bars for doing the very same thing.

The 1920s and 1930s were particularly fraught. Across the country, chiropractors were targeted, fined, and imprisoned. Entire communities sometimes lost access to their chiropractors overnight. But the patients were not silent. They gathered outside jailhouses carrying hand-painted signs that read, “We want our doctor.” The message was simple: chiropractic care was not a novelty or a sideshow. It was real, it was effective, and it was valued by the people receiving it.

Inside the jails, chiropractors continued to live their philosophy. Passionate about their calling, they adjusted fellow inmates and sometimes even the guards. These stories are not exaggerated folklore. They are well-documented accounts of a profession so committed to its purpose that it refused to stop, even behind locked doors.

This defiance created something more than short-term survival. It forged a culture of pride and resilience that still defines chiropractic today. No other healthcare practice has endured such direct and sustained persecution, and no other group of doctors has demonstrated such unshakable commitment to their patients in the face of legal and social resistance. Chiropractors earned respect not only through the outcomes they provided but also through their refusal to abandon the people who trusted them.

The trials of those early decades left an indelible mark on the profession. They explain why chiropractors celebrate their history with such intensity and why symbols of pride, like the bell tower at Life University, still resonate so strongly. The struggle was real, the resistance was fierce, and the survival of chiropractic is a testament to the passion of both doctors and their patients.

1913: The first chiropractic licensure

Progress came slowly, but each step forward represented a monumental achievement. In 1913, the state of Kansas became the first in the nation to formally license chiropractors. That decision acknowledged chiropractic as more than an emerging idea. It was an official recognition that chiropractic care had value and deserved legal standing.

Licensure gave chiropractors the ability to practice without fear of immediate arrest, but it did not mean the profession was suddenly free from opposition. In many states, battles raged for decades. Physicians’ groups lobbied against chiropractors, regulators resisted change, and legal challenges stacked up. Yet state by state, chiropractic earned its place.

The process was long and exhausting. It would take more than sixty years for the final state, Louisiana, to pass licensure laws in 1974. That moment was celebrated as a collective victory. For the first time, chiropractors in all fifty states could legally practice. The achievement represented more than legitimacy. It represented survival. A profession that had endured arrests, jail sentences, lawsuits, and organized campaigns of suppression had prevailed, not because it was tolerated, but because patients demanded access to the care that helped them.

1963: Propaganda and the Committee on Quackery

Even with licensure advancing, the challenges were far from over. In 1963, the American Medical Association created what it called the Committee on Quackery. The name itself revealed its intent. The committee’s mission was to discredit chiropractic, label chiropractors as frauds, and ultimately eliminate the profession altogether.

The campaign was aggressive and highly coordinated. Pamphlets circulated that described chiropractic as dangerous and unscientific. Propaganda was mailed directly to homes, warning families not to seek chiropractic care. Medical students were told to avoid collaboration with chiropractors, and hospitals were pressured to deny them privileges. The campaign even attempted to isolate chiropractors socially, discouraging cooperation with other health professionals.

What the campaign failed to anticipate was the strength of the patient experience. People who had received chiropractic care trusted their doctors because they felt better. They saw improvement when other treatments had failed them. Families told their friends, neighbors, and coworkers about their results. Word of mouth became stronger than propaganda, and lived experience outweighed scare tactics.

The Committee on Quackery did succeed in slowing the profession’s growth and in shaping public opinion for a time, but it did not succeed in erasing chiropractic. Instead, it set the stage for one of the most significant legal battles in healthcare history.

1987: Victory for chiropractic in the U.S. Supreme Court

The battle between the chiropractic profession and organized medicine reached its climax in the landmark case Wilk v. AMA. For decades, the American Medical Association had worked to marginalize and suppress chiropractic. Through the Committee on Quackery, the AMA’s policies instructed its members to avoid any association with chiropractors, to discourage patients from seeking chiropractic care, and to publicly label the practice as fraudulent. The intent was not subtle. The stated goal was to “contain and eliminate” chiropractic.

By the 1970s, several chiropractors, including Dr. Chester Wilk, decided that the time had come to fight back. They filed a lawsuit alleging that the AMA and other medical groups were violating antitrust laws by conspiring to restrain trade and monopolize healthcare. The case wound through the courts for more than a decade, with both sides presenting testimony, evidence, and expert witnesses.

In 1987, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a ruling that the AMA had indeed engaged in an unlawful conspiracy against chiropractic. The decision was groundbreaking. It confirmed that chiropractors had the right to exist as part of the healthcare system and that no single organization could dictate or monopolize what counted as legitimate medicine.

The ruling was celebrated as a vindication of the profession’s legitimacy. For chiropractors who had endured arrests, ridicule, and decades of propaganda, it was proof that their fight had been justified. For patients who had stood outside jail cells carrying signs that read “We want our doctor,” it was validation that their trust had not been misplaced. Yet the victory was not a free pass. The court also made it clear that chiropractic, like any healthcare discipline, would be expected to uphold strict professional standards. Chiropractors would need to expand research, strengthen education, and continue demonstrating the safety and effectiveness of their care.

Far from resisting these expectations, chiropractors embraced them. The profession had long believed that science would ultimately validate its philosophy, and now the door was open to prove it on a national stage. The Wilk case not only ended an era of systematic suppression but also ushered in a new era of accountability and opportunity. It was a turning point that transformed chiropractic from a persecuted practice into a recognized and respected branch of healthcare.

1996: A growing body of chiropractic research

By the mid-1990s, chiropractic reached a turning point. For the first time in history, significant government funding was directed toward chiropractic research. Agencies such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and its National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM, now NCCIH) began to support studies designed to evaluate chiropractic in the same rigorous way that other healthcare interventions were studied. This recognition alone was a milestone. It signaled that chiropractic care was worthy of systematic examination at the national level.

The studies that followed were groundbreaking. Researchers conducted randomized controlled trials, long-term cohort studies, and cost-effectiveness analyses. They focused heavily on conditions that brought patients into chiropractic offices most often: low back pain, neck pain, headaches, and musculoskeletal disorders.

One of the most influential studies came from the U.S. Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) in the mid-1990s. Its clinical guidelines concluded that spinal manipulation was an effective treatment for acute low back pain and recommended it over more invasive medical interventions. This was a powerful statement, especially considering how common back pain was at the time and how common it continues to be today.

Other studies explored chiropractic care for tension headaches and migraines, showing significant improvement in frequency and intensity of headaches among patients receiving spinal adjustments. Research into upper back pain, lower back pain, and neck pain demonstrated that chiropractic adjustments could provide relief equal to or greater than standard medical treatments, without the risks associated with long-term medication use.

Perhaps most compelling were the cost-effectiveness studies. Analyses revealed that chiropractic care often produced better outcomes at lower cost compared to traditional medical approaches such as surgery or long-term drug therapy. This caught the attention not only of patients but also of policymakers and insurance providers, who recognized that chiropractic could play a valuable role in reducing the burden on the healthcare system.

Year after year, the body of evidence grew. Budgets increased, peer-reviewed studies multiplied, and chiropractic earned recognition not just from patients but also from researchers, policymakers, and healthcare systems. What had begun as a philosophy in a small office in Iowa was now supported by measurable outcomes published in respected journals.

By the end of the decade, chiropractic was no longer dismissed as fringe care. It had entered a new era where data, science, and clinical research confirmed what patients had been saying for more than a century: chiropractic works.

1999: The Joint Chiropractic is founded

Innovation has always been part of chiropractic’s story, and the late 1990s marked another turning point. In 1999, The Joint Chiropractic was founded with a bold mission to improve quality of life through routine and affordable chiropractic care. The idea was to remove common barriers such as insurance requirements, complicated scheduling, and high costs. The model emphasized affordable chiropractic care, convenience, and a patient-centered model.

The results speak volumes. By 2024, The Joint delivered 14.8 million patient visits in a single year, averaging more than 1.2 million adjustments every month. These numbers are unmatched in the profession and reflect the dedication of the nation’s largest network of chiropractors while also emphasizing the trust and loyalty of patients who rely on this care as part of their everyday lives.

A practice with many voices

Throughout its history, chiropractic has included diverse perspectives. Different schools of thought have used different terms. Some describe spinal dysfunction as a subluxation, others as a fixation or a restriction. Some practitioners call their intervention an adjustment, others call it a manipulation.

The terminology may differ, but the foundation is the same. Chiropractic is built on the belief that people are better off with regular care than without it. That philosophy unites chiropractors across generations and across varied approaches.

The seriousness of chiropractic is also reflected in its training. Becoming a Doctor of Chiropractic requires years of rigorous study in anatomy, physiology, neurology, and clinical practice. The coursework closely mirrors that of medical education, with the difference found not in the level of training but in the philosophy of care.

Chiropractors approach health with the perspective that structure and function are inseparable, and that alignment and nervous system integrity are central to wellness. This is not a casual profession. It is a healthcare practice that demands both scientific knowledge and skilled application. The rigor is undeniable, and the respect it earns is well deserved.

Celebrating 130 years of chiropractic

From a single adjustment in Davenport, Iowa, to millions of visits every year, the story of chiropractic is one of resilience, determination, and growth. It is the story of doctors who faced jail cells, propaganda campaigns, and courtroom battles, yet never abandoned their patients or their philosophy. It is the story of a practice that fought for survival and ultimately secured its place as an essential part of modern healthcare.

As we celebrate the 130th anniversary of chiropractic, we honor D.D. Palmer for sparking a movement, and B.J. Palmer for carrying it forward. We honor the countless chiropractors who sacrificed their freedom and their comfort to keep the practice alive. Most importantly, we honor the patients who stood by their doctors, trusted their care, and demanded their right to access it.

Chiropractic Founders Day is about recognizing the progress of today and imagining the possibilities of tomorrow. With research continuing to grow, with access expanding through organizations like The Joint, and with millions of people choosing chiropractic as part of their health journey, the future is brighter than ever.

Here's to the next 130 years of chiropractic care, and to the patients and doctors who will write the next chapter in this remarkable story.