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My Adventure in Chiropractic
By: William B. Gallagher, D.C.
Forty-seven years ago, I began my adventure at the Palmer School of Chiropractic. I had no real insight into what chiropractic could offer people, but the enthusiasm of the first D.C.s I met caused me to abandon my plans to enter Harvard Business College in order to pursue a career in chiropractic.
Many of my friends thought I had lost it! But there was something special about chiropractic. I just could not quite grasp it until my first hour in B.J. Palmer’s class. At the end of that hour, I was sure I had made the right decision.
Perhaps one of the best "classes" I had at Palmer was the time I spent the cafeteria talking with other students. We would discuss chiropractic for hours on end. Many of them had marvelous stories to tell about how chiropractic had saved their lives or how it had helped family members.
Some students related stories told to them by other D.C.s their families used. We would discuss the capabilities of the human body in healing and repairing itself with all types of diseases.
At that time, the instructors managed their own practices on the side to help support their families, because their salaries were very modest, at best. Some of the instructors had very healthy practices, even though they only had limited hours to practice. Therefore, they were able to explain how chiropractic practice related to the subjects they were teaching.
In some of the subjects, the instructors would tell about a case in their practice that they were helping with chiropractic adjustments.
In the rooming house where I lived, there was a student who, due to a birth defect, had only one arm. We came across a small kitten that was suffering with an inability to walk straight, because it would wobble from one side to the other. The student took the cat in and began to give it adjustments. Within a couple of months, the cat began to walk straight. How marvelous chiropractic is!
Whenever I would go home during breaks, I would always locate a D.C. so that we could talk about chiropractic and his practice. We would discuss the cases he had helped, and he would relate stories he had heard from other chiropractors or stories he had heard from B.J.
An Unshakable Belief
I never will forget the story – recorded in Dr. Joseph Maynard’s book Healing Hands – that B.J. told us about Dr. Heinrich Duerringer, a German immigrant who became a very successful D.C.
B.J. told a story about a visit to his New York office.
B.J. said he walked into Dr. Duerringer’s clinic, where two ladies were waiting to be adjusted. One of the ladies, obviously wealthy, was very well dressed and had a small poodle in her lap, while the other patient was a shabbily dressed cleaning lady who was standing in the corner of the room.
When Heinrich opened his office door, he didn’t see B.J. right away. He did see the two ladies and asked which one was first. The cleaning lady said nothing, but the rich lady spoke up, saying that the other lady was first, but that she was ready for her adjustment. Heinrich looked at his wealthy patient and said, "She was first; you wait." Although she was furious, the rich lady stayed, respecting the doctor’s concern for the patient, not the money.
Then, Heinrich saw B.J. and his face lit up. He invited B.J. into his office. After adjusting the two patients, it was noon, and he said to B.J., "It’s time to eat. Let’s go." As they opened the door into his reception room, they saw three more patients waiting. Heinrich looked at them and said, "I’ll be back. This is my lunch hour. See you in one hour," and out the door they went.
When they arrived at Heinrich’s favorite restaurant, there were people seated at his usual table. He began to yell at the top of his voice, "This is my table. I always eat here every day, and today I have Dr. B.J. Palmer with me. If I don’t get this table right now, I will never eat here again."
The owner asked the people if they would move, which they did. B.J. said to Heinrich, "These people were here first. We could have eaten at another table, and it would have been fine with me."
At which, he exclaimed, "No, I always eat at that table, and they know it! I have done so for over four years."
Heinrich’s stubbornness carried over into his belief in chiropractic and B.J.’s philosophy. He never bent the rules. If B.J. said it was so, it was so. It was his love for chiropractic and respect for B.J. that made him so special to B.J. He was one of the few D.C.s that B.J. would make an effort to visit.
Men like Heinrich were the ones who made chiropractic what it is today. These men had limited education in everything except chiropractic. In chiropractic, they were exceptionally strong, and they possessed an unshakable belief in it. That is why they were able to care for all types of conditions and get such outstanding results. They knew chiropractic worked. They also knew and believed they could find and correct subluxations, and when they did, they knew innate intelligence could heal the body.
When you were around these men, you could feel their passion for chiropractic. Helping the sick get well was their number one desire. They never seemed to worry about money, yet they always had plenty.
Most of them practiced in home offices, which were very modest by today’s standards. They did it this way so that they could still see their families and take care of large numbers of patients.
The chiropractors who B.J. used to say "got the Big Idea" always marked their calendars so that they could attend Lyceum in August each year. It was looked upon as a time to get together with old classmates and B.J., who had purchased for these events the largest possible circus tent, which could accommodate up to 8,000 people.
In August in Davenport, Iowa, it can be very hot and humid, but that didn’t seem to affect the attendance. Everyone would crowd into the tent to listen to B.J. tell about the latest happenings in chiropractic as well as some old stories. He was a very exciting speaker, and he spoke with great authority. He used to play down his lack of education, yet in physiology and neurology, he could whip any M.D. in a debate, and had done so many times over the years in a courtroom, defending D.C.s who had been charged with the practice of medicine without a proper license.
Catching The Passion
In speaking to a number of chiropractic groups, I have noticed that there is a tremendous hunger for the history and philosophy of chiropractic. Perhaps it’s a subconscious feeling, but inwardly I feel that D.C.s are searching for a purpose beyond just making money in chiropractic. If they would only seek out the so-called "old-timers" and take the time to hear their stories, maybe they could catch the passion these groundbreakers have within them.
For this reason, I share these thoughts, in the hope that they will help my fellow D.C.s begin to realize what a wonderful profession they practice. The profession needs no changes, but it does need more participation in telling the wonderful story of how chiropractic adjustments release the energy force within a body, which is controlled by innate. When this is accomplished, innate knows more about how to heal the body than any outsider ever will, with all of the most "scientific" machinery available.
While I was a student, our class sponsored a young boy’s care at the B.J. Palmer Research Clinic. He was suffering with muscular dystrophy, and his family had spent nearly everything they had on medical treatment with no results. One class provided the needed finances to pay his way at the clinic. As he began to receive adjustments, the young lad began to respond. How wonderful it was to see the expression on his mother’s face!
To raise money to help him, our class would do odd jobs around town, and some of my classmates would use some of their money from working at their night jobs. We were all eager to see this boy live a normal life again.
Looking back, my times at Palmer in the 1950s were actually great times. When I walk up Brady Street now, I recall that I used to be able to run all the way from downtown up the hill with little effort. Now, I merely walk it at a fast pace.
Although time does create change in many things, the spirit of chiropractic never changes. As has been said many times, what is true is always true. "Above down, inside out" remains just as true today as it did years ago when B.J. first uttered those words.
You can be proud to be a chiropractor, a professional who allows the body to heal naturally, without the need for drugs or surgery. You are a part of what the world is looking for, an answer to health without drugs or surgery. Our job today is to tell the chiropractic story over and over to the world.
You and I have a mission not to fight medicine, but to serve as many people as we can and help them to realize that their bodies have an innate intelligence capable of repairing itself when it is able to communicate properly with the body. You will find life will begin to have a greater meaning as you gain greater understanding of the science of chiropractic.
Personally, I enjoy practicing chiropractic more today than ever before. I hope you will be able to have this experience after 43 years of practice. Believe me, it’s truly a wonderful feeling.
About the author: William B. Gallagher, D.C., a 1958 Palmer School of Chiropractic graduate, is a noted practitioner and lecturer. A chiropractic pioneer, he was arrested in Shreveport, La., in 1968 for practicing without a license. Comments may be addressed to him at 9607 New Sapulpa Rd., Sapulpa, OK 74066; or call (918) 224-6426.
