It was 8:02am, Monday morning, and my Dad had just sat down in his chair of the classroom of his very first hour of chiropractic education when Dr. B.J. Palmer went over to the classroom door and locked it! He had been told that "You'd better be there on time or Dr. Palmer will lock you out!"
What an attitude for an instructor, after all, he was originally going to attend Harvard Business School and get his Masters. My Dad thought, "Naaa, surely, not!", but he didn't want to take any chances, so he showed up early to class just in case. My Dad had heard of this action by Dr. Palmer occurring, but didn't believe it until it actually happened. And Yes, it happened! Dr. Palmer proceeded to the door, locked it, and started an hour long lecture that my Dad said felt like five minutes. Dr. Palmer was so passionate that every single person was enthralled and on the edge of their seats the entire time. In fact, you didn't dare to speak either as Dr. Palmer would probably kick you out!
Dr. Palmer was a very dynamic and charismatic person, which was needed back in the 1920's to 1960's, for the chiropractic profession to survived the dogmatic pressures brought on by the medical field. Interesting enough, the modern medical field was only 20 years older than chiropractic! The battle of economics were prevalent even back then.
That first hour was so dynamic that my Dad, as well as many other students, went on to be great pioneers in our field. Some create colleges, some had the biggest practices ever recorded, and some even went to jail for this profession, as my Dad did! He was so inspired and the experience was burned into his memory that he could tell me that story many times over the last thirty or so years.
In fact when my Dad went back home on fall break, he told his Dad's closest friend, a medical doctor, that "chiropractic was going to take over the health field and shut down the need for the medical pharmaceutical approach!" My Grandfather quickly pulled my Dad aside and told him that "Until you've been in practice for over 25 years you have no room to talk and don't embarass me!""
What a great story and time that had to have been!
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