Happy National Women Chiropractors Day!

Included From the Start

June 5th is National Women Chiropractors Day! Chiropractic has a long history of including women in the profession. D.D. Palmer, the founder of chiropractic, included several women in his first class of chiropractic students. The first official chiropractic license went to Minora Paxson in 1904. She was licensed in Illinois under the 1899 Medical Practice Act, which had the first regulatory language allowing the legal practice of chiropractic.

The "First Lady of Chiropractic"

Mabel Heath Palmer is lovingly referred to as the "First Lady of Chiropractic" for her contributions to the profession, and National Women Chiropractors Day is celebrated on her birthday, June 5th. She was a chiropractor as well as a professor at the Palmer School of Chiropractic (now Palmer College of Chiropractic) and was married to B.J. Palmer, the developer of chiropractic. Dr. Mabel was active in encouraging women to enter the chiropractic profession, which was largely dominated by men. She authored an anatomy textbook and was the first anatomy professor at the Palmer School of Chiropractic.

In the 1920s, Dr. Mabel wrote the pamphlet "A Women's Appeals to Women" which encouraged women to consider a career in chiropractic. In this pamphlet, she wrote, "Never before has there been such wonderful opportunities for women to practice service, and in my opinion, there is not another profession in the world so splendidly adapted to women as chiropractic." We couldn't agree more!

Agape Family Chiropractic is owned by Dr. Kelly Kimball. Read more about her here!