D.D. Palmer Studies

By 1880, D.D. Palmer was raising raspberry bushes and also writing about Spiritualism. He published a pamphlet called A Day in the Night with Spirits. The 35 page pamphlet was aimed at debunking frauds. This is consistent with his earlier tribute to Abba Lord. He believed in verifiable spiritual experiences and non-ordinary events but he also recognized that the frauds made the entire field seem fraudulent. In the pamphlet D.D. referred to himself as a Spiritualist. He also described the Spiritualist philosophy as noble and mentioned a future existence for earthly life. These ideas would influence his later philosophy of chiropractic.

Starting in 1904, D.D. Palmer wrote regular articles for his journal The Chiropractor. The articles published between December 1904 and March 1906 were included in The Science of Chiropractic. The book became known as Volume 1 of the Green Book series.

After leaving Davenport, D.D. Palmer wrote several letters. Some letters have been preserved, including  his letters to John Howard.

Soon after D.D. Palmer moved to Portland, Oregon from Oklahoma in 1908, he started writing again. His articles were published in his new journal The Chiropractor Adjuster. These articles became his 1910 tome,  Textbook of the Science, Art, and Philosophy of Chiropractic for Students and Practitioners. In that book he expanded on his definition of chiropractic.

Several letters have survived from D.D. Palmer’s final years including the classic letter to P.W. Johnson as well as his final letter written to J.B. Olsen. The second letter was reproduced by Dr. Joe Foley in his article D.D. Palmer’s Second Book: The Chiropractor 1914 – Revealed. In the article Foley demonstrates how D.D. Palmer’s final typed lectures were published posthumously by his widow. This book included Palmer’s classic treatise on The Moral and Religious Duties of the Chiropractor.