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Part 6 of 7 - 1921 to Present
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Science is knowledge reduced to law and embodied in a system. Art relates to something to be done. Science teaches us to know and art to do. The philosophy of a science is the understanding of its principles. Science is accepted, accumulated knowledge, systematized and formulated with reference to the discovery of general laws..."
D.D. Palmer, 1910 |
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Daniel David Palmer
Chiropractic's Founder
1845 — 1913 |
Bartlett Joshua Palmer
Chiropractic's Developer
1881 — 1961 |
In 1921, B.J. was interested in an early radiophone station owned by a gentleman by the name of Robert Karlowa in Rock Island. I was a ham operator much interested in receiving radiophone voices over the air. Nightly I went up to the Pigeon Roost of the mansion as it was called by the family. (Really, the technical name is belevedere. Why Mother dubbed it so I don't know.) Radio excited B.J. After a few months of becoming more intrigued with this new form of communication, he entered this risky business, buying the 100 watter from Karlowa for a few thousand dollars. It was moved to the 4th floor of our Administration building. [but see also "Our respects...", 1961, which suggests BJ's purchase was in 3/22] B.J. applied to the federal government for permission to broadcast voice and music and received the call letters WOC. During this period, radio stations were under the direction of the Department of Commerce with Herbert Hoover serving as Secretary of the Department. At that early date there was little rhyme or reason for the call letters received by stations. Many years later all stations west of the Mississippi were given the first letter "K;" those east of the Mississippi "W." We went on the air in 1922 broadcasting weather reports, stock market conditions and farm information. The station was run as a "family affair." I was one of the office boys handling the mail, in addition to running down Brady Hill to the Post Office for weather reports.
Speaking of weather reports recalls to mind one of B.J.'s most original ideas in this regard. In the backyard of our home on Brady Street he erected a 150 ft. flag pole. He gave me the responsibility of raising the American flag each morning plus a series of Navy alphabet flags indicating the weather for the day. It was my task to contact the Post Office for the weather report, go to the flag box, pick out the alphabet to indicate the weather for the day and raise them to the top of the flag pole. "F" for fair, "R" for rain, "C" for clear, "S" for snow, "W" for warm. So this would have meaning to the citizens of Davenport, B.J. published a card with the flags in color. The people of Davenport would refer to their card when looking at the pole, determining for themselves weather conditions of the day.
Citizens of Davenport were very pleased with this "weather service" which later was followed by reports over WOC Radio. B.J., always a man for a play on words, soon made a national identification for Davenport as a place "Where the West Begins." To substantiate his statement of "Where the tall corn rows" both radio stations in Des Moines and Davenport had tall corn contests -the stalks were sent in to Davenport and for many months were put outside the Administration Building for the public to view. Stan Barnett, a P.S.C. student, was the first station manager of WOC. In those early days, announcers used their initials only. The announcer's full name was never permitted. Barnett had been an operator of a Coast Guard radio unit.
Similarly, our first radio engineer, Rex Willetts, known as Radio Rex, had also been a wireless operator aboard an ocean going freighter. All of our employees doubled in brass and so the voices were heard all over our continent, identified, as in the case of Barnett, as B.W.S. B.J., when announcing, was B.J.P. In fact, I was known as D.D.P.
Stan Barnett now lives in Michigan. He has remained a close friend of mine throughout the years. When we get together, we enjoy reminiscing about the early days of broadcasting. A finer gentlemen never lived. We were very fortunate to have Stan Barnett pilot us through the rough waters of early day radio. In those days WOC had a very sweet sound and a wide frequency band which covered the entire North American continent from Alaska to the Panama Canal Zone. At that time, we were only one of ten stations on the air. [but see Lewis, 1991, p. 162: says 30 stations in 1922]
Today, you know, there is nothing but "cat and dog" sounds on the A.M. band as you struggle through the overlapping cacophony of some 6,718 stations on the air in the United States. We were very fortunate to have the use of the music room in my father's mansion for a studio because it contained a Chickering piano and Aoelian pipe organ. The combination was used to produce church music. Because it was unique in this respect we had a tremendous audience across the country.
I might add the piano was purchased from the Schmidt Music Company, one of Davenport's earliest and most reputable concerns. We also acquired much of the talent heard over WOC in the early years from them.
Our organist, Irwin Schwindel, was our first music director. I believe even today, he was Davenport's finest organist. I wish to recall in my memoirs an incident which is amusing to me.
One Sunday evening the family, Mother, Dad and myself, were in the music room listening to a beautiful program. Grace Lohmiller (wife of Davenport civic leader H.G. "Sky" Lohmiller) was a vocalist for the program. Grace was a leading artist of Davenport.... she sang at all patriotic and other important events. She was very well known and very respected for her talents.
Before continuing with this story it is well to note our St. Bernard dog, Big Ben, had died while we were on a trip to the Orient. Dad had him mounted and stuffed by Mr. Warmbath who Teddy Roosevelt had used to preserve his trophies. Then Dad positioned Ben under the piano, in the customary spot where he had always slept.
It was not a bit unusual for Grace to turn and look at Big Ben as she had done so many times previously. During one of her vocal numbers it suddenly dawned on her that Big Ben was not alive. She paused suddenly and let out a scream, "MY GOD, HE'S DEAD!" Nothing was done to stop the accompaniment - it continued with the hymn, "Nearer My God to Thee." Dad and I were so startled by her scream we were immobilized and stunned. We couldn't think quickly enough to make an explanation on the air so we let it go and did nothing about it. You can imagine the consequences of this to the millions of radio listeners. Can you picture a couple up in South Dakota somewhere listening to the beautiful church music in the silent void of a quiet and snowy night and hearing with earphones. "My God - he's dead?" This left questions in the minds of thousands of people across the North American continent wondering what had occurred. WOC and B.J. printed up an explanation of this incident which was mailed in response to the countless people sending letters and postcards of inquiry.
It was indeed a dramatic experience. Many years later, there was an occasion which, in a fashion, paralleled our experience. That was the Orson Wells presentation of "The War of the Worlds." The shock, surprise and dismay indicated by listeners was very evident in both instances.
-photos of: (Palmer, 197?, p. 111)
1) "Early broadcasting of a music program"
2) "Radio Rex (seated) and Frank Pierce, engineer"
3) "Preparing for a remote broadcast of the world series from
the Davenport Daily Times."
...Also a pioneer in broadcasting, he [Frank W. Elliott] was named general manager of the Palmer-owned radio station WOC in 1922, and was an organizer of the National Association of Broadcasters. He was named president of the organization in 1926 and was a member of its first board of directors. He was also vice president and general manager of the Central Broadcasting Company, operators of WOC, Davenport, and WHO, Des Moines. 1922: there are 30 broadcasting stations in the USA; 100,000 radio receivers are produced (Lewis, 1991, p. 162)
iIn an article entitled "Has the P.S.C. enrollment slumped?" BJ writes: (pp. 8-9)
Later the enrollment dates were designed to meet three times a year, January, May and September. That is the present plan. A carefully prepared chart of the enrollments of the past ten years shows that the September class is always the largest of those three. The January class is next in size and the May class is the smallest.
Further study of this chart shows that, year by year, each successive year is a larger year than the year before. The September of a certain year would be larger than the September of the year before, the same being true of January and May, so that the scale kept gradually climbing.
Then came the declaration of the Great World War. Many changes became necessary, but we kept on our climb even tho smaller jumps were indulged in for a few years.
Then came the Armistice in November, 1918. From that day each successive class took a boom, what we now call our post-war boom classes.
Why We Boomed
This was accounted for in three ways:
First - Many boys who contemplated taking up Chiropractic were called to war. When they were discharged THEY came.
Second - Many boys first heard of Chiropractic taking adjustments during the war, and then and there resolved to take it up when discharged, when THEY came.
Third - The vocational trainees were entitled to training. The Government saw fit to recognize our school first, and saw fit to pay more money for training at THE PALMER SYSTEM OF CHIROPRACTIC than any other vocational training in any other school of any kind in the United States. THEY began coming in now.
-graph derived from data given in above article established.
"...In 1930 one of its [WOC's] sportscasters was President-to- be Ronald Reagan, who wrote in his autobiography, Where Is the Rest of Me? (1965, p. 47), that WOC stood for "'World of Chiropractic'...Founded by Colonel B.J. Palmer of the Palmer School of Chiropractic, it was located in the top floor of the school." (B.J. had gotten himself appointed to the governor's staff as a lieutenant colonel, and characteristically relished wearing his uniform.) However, WOC was more popularly believed to stand for "Wonders of Chiropractic." B.J. often used WOC for late-evening soliloquies, in which he would introduce comments on the benefits of chiropractic. HE also authored an innovative text, Radio Salesmanship (1942).
Throughout its history, chiropractic has often found itself at odds with the organized medical establishment. Perhaps the most famous confrontation in recent years began in 1976 when four doctors of chiropractic, later to be called the Chicago Four, filed suit against the American Medical Association and numerous medical co-conspirators for restricting cooperation between individual MDs and doctors of chiropractic. The four courageous doctors who took on the A.M.A. head-to-head were Chester Wilk, D.C., Patricia B. Arthur, D.C., James W. Bryden, D.C., and Michael D. Pedigo, D.C. Their case proved to be one of the biggest victories in the history of the chiropractic profession.
Judge Susan Getzendanner heard the evidence in U.S. District Court and issued her opinion on August 27, 1987. She ruled that over the previous 25 years the actions of the A.M.A. and its coconspirators, the American College of Radiology and the American College of Surgeons, had resulted in serious damage to the cooperative process in health care, to the profession of chiropractic as a whole, to individual doctors of chiropractic, and to the patients they served.
The effectiveness of chiropractic was questioned at this trial, but the evidence was in its favor. Studies introduced at the trial showed that doctors of chiropractic were twice as effective as medical doctors in returning injured workers to their jobs. Further evidence regarding orthopedic patients showed that those under the care of doctors of chiropractic in hospital settings were discharged from the hospital in five to seven days, compared with an average of 14 days in a comparable hospital without doctors of chiropractic.
But the central question brought to court revolved around organized medicine's attempt to eliminate chiropractic as a competitor in the U.S. health care system. judge Getzendanner's landmark finding was that the A.M.A. was guilty of engaging in a conspiracy "to contain and eliminate the chiropractic profession," and was in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act.
As far back as 1963, the court declared the A.M.A. had been working aggressively to "overtly and covertly" eliminate the profession of chiropractic. judge Getzendanner issued a permanent court injunction against the A.M.A. to prevent such future behavior. The A.M.A. was required to send copies of the injunction order to each of its 275,000 members, as well as publish the injunction order in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Although the decision is still being appealed, the way has now been cleared for a cooperative relationship between doctors of both professions, as has been sought by chiropractic for many years. The end result of this landmark decision will ultimately be to the advantage of the patient. Now more than ever, doctors of different specialties can work together and share their expertise for the benefit of the patient.
After the mid-'20s, chiropractic mirrored the nation as it descended into the Great Depression. However, licensing legislation continued to pass, and in the 1940s two events spared a resurgence of chiropractic.
In 1941, John Nugent, DC, director of education for the National Chiropractic Association, established the first criteria to accredit chiropractic colleges and schools. Twelve schools were accredited that year.
Nugent's stringent standards transformed chiropractic schools into professional, non-profit organizations; he helped set the standard of quality that chiropractic education has today.
The other chiropractic milestone of the 1940s was the G.I. Bill. Starting in 1944, World War II veterans wanting to study chiropractic could get government benefits. As a result, returning soldiers quickly flooded chiropractic colleges.
The '50s and '60s heralded increased amounts of research, licensure, legislation and professional journals relating to chiropractic, which continued to advance the profession.
For instance, in 1963, the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners required that chiropractic graduates pass a nationally uniform exam before they began practicing.
There have been numerous formal government inquiries into the effectiveness of chiropractic throughout the world. All of these government inquiries found contemporary chiropractic health care safe and effective, and recommended licensure and government funding. They have all criticized the level of conflict and misinformation between chiropractic and the medical professions, and expressly called for cooperation and understanding in the better interest of the patients they serve.
The following is a list of studies and information illustrating the effectiveness of chiropractic care.
An 18-month study conducted in 1979 by the Royal New Zealand Commission of Inquiry on Chiropractic determined the following:
"Doctors of chiropractic have unsurpassed expertise in caring for neuromusculoskeletal conditions. The commission found beyond any reasonable degree of doubt that chiropractors have a more thorough training in spinal mechanics and spinal manual therapy than any other health professional."
"Chiropractors are the only health practitioners who are necessarily equipped by their education and training to carry out spinal manipulation."
"Spinal manual therapy in the hands of a registered chiropractor is safe."
"The responsibility for spinal manual therapy training, because of its specialized nature, should lie with the chiropractic profession. Part-time or vacation courses in spinal manual therapy for other health professionals should not be encouraged."
In 1956, an analysis was made in Florida of 19,666 worker's compensation cases. This study revealed that the average number of workdays lost by an injured employee was nine when they were treated by medical doctors, but only three days when the workers were treated by doctors of chiropractic.
A detailed back-injury study was performed in 1971 using the records of the Worker's Compensation Board of Oregon. According to this study, 82 percent of claimants who were under chiropractic care returned to work after one week of time lost. For workers under care of medical doctors, only 41 percent were able to resume work after one week.
In the Congressional Record of the United States Senate proceedings of May 9, 1979, a study by Dr. C. Richard Wolf, M.D., on back injuries in California was cited with these striking comparisons: the average number of workdays lost by a patient under the care of a medical doctor was 32, compared with an average of only 15.6 workdays lost by patients under the care of a doctor of chiropractic. In the same study, 34.8 percent of the cases under a medical doctor's care reported complete recovery, compared with reports of complete recovery by 51 percent of those patients under chiropractic care.
In a paper entitled "Health Economics and Chiropractic," Dillon, a prominent Australian economist, has this to say about the cost effectiveness of chiropractic care ...
"Undoubtedly, in terms of economic appraisal of the current health scene ... chiropractic is in a very strong position. Compared to medical services, it is an extremely inexpensive avenue of health care for those who seek it. Unlike primary medical practice, it does not spiral costs into the system through ancillary and specialist services, hospitalization and pharmaceuticals. On average, a dollar spent on a chiropractor's service causes no further costs."
To be continued . . .
Much of this information was obtained from Joseph C. Keating, Jr., Ph.D from the Chiropractic History Archives. |
