Special Collections and Archives staff will help you find the resources you need for your historical or genealogy research. Special Collections offers access to its collections and reference assistance Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Literature searches on historical questions are performed as time permits.
Reference
Reference queries are accepted in person, by telephone at 563-884-5893, by e-mail to Special Collections & Archives Head Librarian, Rosemary Riess, or by mail to:
Special Collections and Archives
David D. Palmer Health Sciences Library
Palmer College of Chiropractic
1000 Brady Street
Davenport, IA 52803-5214
Genealogy Research
Have a family member who went through Palmer? We can find them in our collection of yearbooks, class composites and graduation programs.
To help us find information for you, we will ask you to provide the following information:
- The date the family member graduated from Palmer. If you do not have an exact date, please give us a date range (i.e., 1920-1924).
- Name of the family member. Bear in mind they may be listed under a different name (i.e., maiden name, so please give all possibilities).
- Location and dates when they first practiced chiropractic. If we know that they started a practice in 1924, we can determine that they attended the school before that point.
- Any additional information, (i.e., birth and death dates, can help if no other information is available).
After the initial inquiry, we consult our matriculation files, graduation programs, yearbooks and class composites.
- Matriculation files: Database listing of students from early 1900s to 1970s.
- Graduation Programs: Our graduation programs range from 1915-Present.
- Yearbooks: Our yearbooks start in 1921 and end in 1988.
- Class Composites: Our class composites range from 1910-Present
Photograph Services
Looking to decorate your chiropractic office, or need an image for a presentation?
Special Collections can provide digital reproductions of selected images from our collections for a fee. We provide images to patrons for personal/research purposes. Additionally, we can put together a collection of images to tell story (i.e., the first adjustment or the Palmer family for display purposes.)
Requests to publish materials will be directed to the copyright officer.
A selection of images can be requested for reproduction.
Photographs are copyrighted by Palmer College of Chiropractic. For permission to use, contact us.
To place a photograph reproduction request:
- If you already have an image in mind, be detailed in exactly what you are after. For instance, we have many images of B.J. Palmer, so are you interested in a profile picture, from the 1930s, or one of him adjusting, etc.?
- If you see an image in a book or online, send us a link or screenshot so we know exactly what you are looking for.
- If you do not know what you are looking for exactly, please browse our digital collections online. The Upper Mississippi Valley Digital Image Archive Project includes approximately 200 Palmer images.
All images will be scanned at 300 dpi unless otherwise requested. All images are delivered electronically so no tax is charged. Charges are priced per image for one-time use only.
Palmer Students/Alumni/ Faculty and Staff:
Personal Use: $8
Academic Use: $12
Commercial Use: $15
Non-Palmer Researchers:
Personal Use: $10
Academic Use: $15
Commercial Use: $20
If printing more than 1,000 copies or publishing image in a media other than a book, fees will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
Rights, Permissions, and Fees
For all requests a permissions form needs to be completed and signed. New users need to fill out a researcher registration form. We accept cash, credit card or check.
Library staff has the right to refuse any request which may cause damage to the archival material or if the amount of images/documents requested will tax department resources. Please allow adequate time for large document/image requests.
Photocopying
Palmer Students/Alumni/ Faculty and Staff: $.15 per page
Non-Palmer researchers: $.25 per page
Document Scanning
Palmer Students/Alumni/ Faculty and Staff: $12 for the first 10 pages, $.15 each page after
Non-Palmer researchers: $15 for the first 10 pages, $.25 each page after
Image Reproduction
All images will be scanned at 300dpi unless otherwise requested. All images are delivered electronically so no tax is charged. Charges are priced per image for one-time use only.
Palmer Students/Alumni/ Faculty and Staff: Personal Use: $8.00 Academic Use: $12.00 Commercial Use: $15.00
Non-Palmer Researchers: Personal Use: $10.00 Academic Use: $15.00
Commercial Use: $20.00 If printing more than 1000 copies or publishing image in a media other than a book, fees will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
Audiovisual Reproduction
We do make copies of audiovisual materials in CD/DVD format. We will convert VHS to DVD.
Palmer Students/Alumni/ Faculty and Staff: $15 per item + tax + shipping (approx. $5)
Non-Palmer Researchers: $20 per item + tax+ shipping (approx. $5)
User Fee
We charge $25 for extensive use of the archives.
Download the Archives Rights, Permissions and Fees PDF
