February 2025 & Black History Month and Chiropractic
Updates
Happy February! We’ve officially made it through the darkest ten weeks of the year… we can look forward to a 6:00 pm sunset on February 28th!
Dr. Hubbel is set to celebrate his 65th Chiropractic Anniversary on March 4th of this year. We are planning to celebrate his anniversary with an Open House on Friday, March 14th from 2:00-5:00 p.m. We hope you’ll be able to join us for a photo, light refreshment and congratulate Dr. Hubbel on a tremendous milestone in his career.
Dr. Johnston is out of the office on February 10th and our clinic is closed on Monday, February 17th for Family Day.
We celebrated Alexandria Johnston Tannahill’s SEVENTH birthday on January 25th. It is hard to believe that Dr. J has a seven year old! We are looking forward to celebrating Dr. Johnson’s birthday on February 16th and Myranda’s on February 18th. Karen is set to leave for her month-long adventure in Aruba this year on February 13th, and returns on the 13th of March.
As you may know, Dr. Hubbel and Dr. Leguard survived their family trip to the Hawaiian Islands of Kaua’i, O’ahu, and Maui. Highlights included many excellent humpback whale sightings, a wonderful night of traditional Hawaiian Steel guitar, a sunset swim at Waikiki beach, sunset at the top of the inactive volcano Haleakela, biking along the coast and many days together exploring every corner of each island. Dr. Hubbel’s personal highlight included eating at all of the “hot spot” restaurants on each island. While in the Waimea Canyon and hiking the Napili Coast on Kauai, Drs. H and L found a whale vertebrae just begging to be adjusted!
Black History Month and Chiropractic
The first patient of chiropractic, who prompted the development of the profession was a black man named Harvey Lillard. Lillard was born in 1856, the son of an English nobleman and one of his slaves in Virginia (1). Lillard later moved to Davenport, Iowa, and started a Janitorial business in which he would provide service to local office and medical buildings (1).
Lillard was working in an office building that housed the office of a “Magnetic Healer” and later founder of chiropractic, D.D. Palmer (originally of Port Perry, Ontario). As the story goes, in 1895, D.D. Palmer overheard a lively conversation in the hall between Lillard and a friend, and with laughter, Palmer slapped Lillard on the back. Lillard had been partially deaf for 17 years after an upper back injury, and noted that his hearing improved after the slap to his back. Palmer then treated Lillard with a thrust to his upper back, which Lillard reported restored his hearing and began Palmer’s development of chiropractic care - and the Palmer School of Chiropractic (1).
Lillard’s daughter later remarked that she wished that she had enrolled in the Palmer School of Chiropractic as a legacy to her father and her own ambitions. However, from the school’s inception in 1897 to 1950’s, Palmer College restricted enrollment to only white students (1).
In the early to mid 1900’s, it was common for medical schools and chiropractic colleges to practise such racial discrimination. The first known black chiropractor was Dr. Fred Rubel, who graduated from National School of Chiropractic in Chicago in 1913. At that time, it was noted that most black graduates used “subterfuge” or denying one’s racial background to pass as white, or enrolled in American College’s correspondence degree (1).
Reaver College was opened in 1945, after Dr. Clarence Reaver (a white graduate of Palmer College) tried to persuade D.D. Palmer to admit a promising young black woman to his program. Reaver College and several other segregated colleges in the US allowed for a small community of black chiropractors to be educated. As of the 1960’s, only 3 chiropractic colleges had black students on campus, and Palmer College had many complicated complaints of discrimination (1).
Today, chiropractic colleges in Canada and the US do not have admissions restrictions based on race; however, in a 2022 study of the demographics of Canadian chiropractors, 0.52% identified as black, while 80.33% identified as caucasian (2). Although black chiropractors make up a minority in practice, leaders are making a big difference in the profession. Dr. Jerry Hardee was the first black president of a Chiropractic College - Sherman College of Chiropractic in South Carolina from 2001-2005. In 2020, Dr. Rodney Williams was the first black Doctor of Chiropractic to be inducted as a fellow of the International Council of Chiropractors (3). The American Black Chiropractic Association focuses on representing the growing population entering chiropractic colleges and providing a voice for the numerous practicing minority Doctors of Chiropractic (4).
As we celebrate Black History Month in February in the chiropractic profession, we are reminded that racial equity is underway but there is still a lot of work to do (3). We know the importance of chiropractic care in any community, and together, we can continue to support one another in building a healthier future.
References:
1. Vernon, L. (2016). Chiropractic’s Continued Legacy of Racism and its Effect on Minority Population Utilization. Journal of Philosophy, Principles & Practice of Chiropractic.
2. Southerst, D., Bakaa, N., Côté, P., Macedo, L., Carlesso, L., MacDermid, J., & Mior, S. (2022). Diversity of the chiropractic profession in Canada: A cross-sectional survey of Canadian Chiropractic Association members. Chiropractic & Manual Therapies, 30(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12998-022-00463-z
3. Brown, L. (2021, February 23). Black history moments in chiropractic. ACA Today. https://www.acatoday.org/news-publications/black-history-moments-in-chiropractic/ 2. Vernon, L. (2016). Chiropractic’s Continued Legacy of Racism and its Effect on Minority Population Utilization. Journal of Philosophy, Principles & Practice of Chiropractic.
4. American Black Chiropractic Association. ABCA Chiro. (n.d.). https://abcachiro.com