March is Women's History Month and we are taking a look back at the First Lady of Chiropractic. Mabel Heath Palmer, D.C., FPAC is much heralded in the chiropractic field. She was a leader and inspiration to female chiropractors, successfully combining her role as wife and mother with teaching at Palmer for more than four decades. Mabel was born in Milan, Illinois, and attended Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, where she sang in the chorus. She met B.J. Palmer, D.C., while she was an apprentice organist. They married in 1904. She became a doctor of chiropractic in 1905. Mabel...

It all started because a custodian was emptying a trash can 125 years ago this fall. Seriously. “Your vertebra is out of position, Harvey,” Daniel David “D.D.” Palmer said, raising his voice above the din coming from the streets outside the window of his fourth floor office. From across the room of his office in the Ryan Building in downtown Davenport, Iowa, the building’s custodian Harvey Lillard had just bent over to empty a trash can. He couldn’t hear the noise from the street but could hear Palmer’s commanding voice. “More than a decade ago, D.D., I moved the wrong...

Foundational belief spanning generations and the world. [caption id="attachment_1361" align="alignright" width="300"] As a philosophy professor, Victor Strang, D.C., FPAC, gets to witness the full transformation of students.[/caption] Victor Strang, D.C., FPAC, (Main, ’77) has been teaching philosophy at Palmer for 42 years. In addition, he and his father, Virgil Strang, D.C., (Main, ’49) who served in multiple capacities, including dean of philosophy for Palmer College, ran a private practice for a combined 67 years. As the faculty member who teaches philosophy at every point in the curriculum, he has the unique privilege of being with students throughout their journey from...

David Daniel Palmer, D.C. sat at the desk he assumed after the passing of his father, B.J. Palmer, D.C., in 1961. He leaned back in his chair, deep in thought, considering solutions. The mantle of Palmer College —and the profession— rested on his shoulders. Dr. Dave knew that the months and years ahead would require leadership, professionalism and integrity, values that would forever leave an indelible imprint on the profession started by his grandfather more than six decades earlier. The school he now led needed a vision for the future. And it was up to Dr. Dave to create it....

From Canada to South Africa, Three Generations of Haldemans Push Passed Boundaries to Care for Patients When Almeda Haldeman’s husband was diagnosed with diabetes around 1904, there was no medical intervention available. Determined to do everything in her power to help him, she went to the Minneapolis School and Cure, and educated herself in the new healing art of chiropractic, receiving her degree in 1905. Then, following the advice to move her husband to a cold, dry climate, they relocated to Saskatchewan, Canada and Almeda Haldeman, D.C. became the first chiropractor in Canada, and one of the first female chiropractors...
