Who Was B.J. Palmer? The Life and Legacy of Chiropractic’s “Developer”

If you’ve spent any time in the chiropractic profession, you’ve likely heard the name B.J. Palmer. But his story, and his role in shaping the profession as we know it today, is worth understanding in full.

From Founder to Developer

Chiropractic was founded by Daniel David (D.D.) Palmer in 1895. But it was his son, Bartlett Joshua Palmer, known as B.J., who took the fledgling practice and built it into a distinct and powerful profession.

B.J. was born on September 10, 1881, in What Cheer, Iowa. In 1906, he took over the Palmer School of Chiropractic from his father and spent the next five decades expanding chiropractic education, research, and public recognition. That distinction, between the man who founded chiropractic and the man who developed it, is why B.J. Palmer is known throughout the profession simply as “The Developer.”

Building the Profession

B.J. Palmer’s contributions went far beyond running a school. He was one of the earliest adopters of X-ray imaging in chiropractic care, a technique he called spinography, placing equipment directly in classrooms and clinics so students could learn from real cases rather than theory alone.

He was also a prolific communicator. He authored dozens of books, mostly referred to as the “Green Books”, gave countless lectures, and he understood early on that chiropractic’s growth depended on public awareness. He launched his own radio station, WOC, in Davenport, Iowa, to bring health programming directly to the public, an unusually forward-thinking move for the era.

Later in his career, B.J. developed what he considered his most refined contribution to technique: the Hole-In-One (HIO) method, a precise, upper-cervical specific approach that he believed represented the culmination of everything he’d learned.

Why His Recorded Words Still Matter

B.J. Palmer was known as a uniquely compelling speaker, and much of his philosophy was communicated not just through his books but through his lectures. For chiropractors and students today, hearing his actual voice and reading his original words offers a different kind of understanding than a textbook summary can provide, a direct link to the thinking that shaped the profession’s founding philosophy.

That’s part of why we’re proud to offer our BJ Palmer Audio Collection, over 20 hours of B.J. Palmer’s original recorded speeches, complete written transcripts, and rare archival photographs, officially licensed by Palmer College of Chiropractic. It’s a resource for anyone who wants to go beyond the summary and hear the philosophy in Palmer’s own words.

Learn More

Whether you’re a practicing chiropractor, a student, or simply someone curious about the roots of a profession that’s helped so many people, B.J. Palmer’s story is worth knowing. If you’d like to explore his own recorded words directly, you can find the full collection here: BJ Palmer Audio Collection.