January 2006
Chiropractic's secret history
by Simon A. Senzon, MA, DC
There's a trend in the
scholarship of chiropractic history that suggests the philosophy of
chiropractic developed solely as a legal strategy in order to make the early
profession "separate and distinct" in the courts. This is partly true, but
it is not the whole truth. It's mostly lacking D.D. Palmer's personal
studies of philosophy and spirituality prior to his discovery of
chiropractic and, most notably, an historical and philosophical context for
his later writings.
This view of the
emergence of the philosophy as a legal maneuver, was largely developed by
Cyrus Lerner, a New York attorney, who, in 1950 was paid $1,000 per month by
a group of New York chiropractors to research the true history of
chiropractic in order to support a NY licensing law. Lerner's 400‑page
history was never published, perhaps because of its inflammatory nature as
it depicts a cover‑up in chiropractic that goes back to 1907.
Lerner's controversial
allegations were, in part, based on the first legal victory for
chiropractic, the landmark case of Wisconsin vs. Morikubo. The case was won
by attorney Tom Morris, who proved that chiropractic had a unique science,
art, and philosophy. Taken by itself, this may show that the philosophy of
chiropractic came into existence in that very courtroom. According to
Lerner, both Palmers eventually accepted this new legality of chiropractic
but did not give due credit to the source of the ideas used in the case and
kept this from the profession in order to keep the Palmer name at the center
of chiropractic.
Morris utilized the
first chiropractic textbook, "Modernized Chiropractic," written by one of
D.D.'s students, Solon Langworthy. Langworthy was by far one of the most
important figures in chiropractic history as he introduced the ideas of
subluxation, intervertebral foramina and the unseen force in the brain, as
well as the idea that chiropractic has a distinct philosophy.
Here is where the truth
gets complicated. "Old Dad Chiro" hadn't written anything down yet. Except
for his early advertising copy, which consisted of many testimonials and a
few articles, as far as history shows, Langworthy is the first to claim that
chiropractic has a philosophy. If we were to accept this as the only
plausible truth (as many historians do), we would be missing out on a great
deal ‑‑ namely D.D. Palmer's actual beliefs on the subject, beliefs that we
can infer from his private library and his books. This is why things get
complicated because Palmer only started writing after the Morikubo case.
If we were to only
follow Lerner's account, we would be told a story, where a young B.J. Palmer
‑‑ with the council of Morris ‑‑ wove philosophy into the profession as if
it had always been there. And in some regard, this was the case. After the
trial in 1907, B.J. renamed volume one and had the faculty grant him the
first PhC degree (Doctor of Chiropractic Philosophy), and thus he became the
philosopher of the profession. This strategy managed to win 15,000 cases
against chiropractors by 1931! The inclusion of philosophy can only be
understood when we honestly examine D.D.'s response to these new
developments, and the source of his response, his beliefs and ideas that
went back 30 years.
What was D.D. to do?
After being jailed in 1906 for practicing medicine and osteopathy without a
license (because he had no legal defense), banished from his school and
exiled to Oklahoma (where he opened a grocery store/school), then to Oregon
(where he opened another school), he had to confront the realities. He had
to not only accept that philosophy must be legally included into his
scientific chiropractic, but also the new concepts of subluxation and IVF.
And the amazing thing is, not that he changed everything, but that he used
these new ideas to advance chiropractic even further.
D.D. did several things
that proved his real genius. He incorporated the best of the new theories
and metaphors, and then went beyond them in science and philosophy. For
example, he used the theory of subluxation as a basis to expound on his
extraordinary new concepts of tone and the neuroskeleton as the regulator of
tone. He also took the philosophy and added to it his own spiritual beliefs
and philosophical studies that dated back to his private library of books
from 1871‑87. After all, if his original revelation could not become a
credible science only (which is what he originally attempted), why not
embrace his deepest understandings of reality and explain things as he truly
saw them?
To expound upon both of
these strategies, he started a new journal called, The Chiropractor Adjustor
which developed into his first book. These writings were designed to
"adjust" the mistaken theories and scientific explanations of his many
students who were starting schools, writing books, and trying to claim his
creation. He wrote to explain chiropractic his way, and we have every reason
to believe that much of Langworthy's theory originated with Old Dad Chiro.We
may give to Langworthy the coinage of the term "subluxation," but to D.D.
should remain the distinction of philosophy, scientific rigor, and art.
Palmer sought nothing
less than offering humanity a way to transcend the limits of rational
thinking and embrace a spiritual view of the cosmos that encompassed
rationality but also included experience. It is with this paradoxical
relationship that D.D., only approached before his untimely death, that the
true secrets of chiropractic lie.
(Dr. Simon Senzon, is
the author of "The Secret History of Chiropractic" (2005), and "The
Spiritual Writings of B.J. Palmer" (2004). He is in private practice in
Asheville, NC. He can be contacted at: www.PhilosophyOfChiropractic.com)
