History of Chiropractic in Minnesota

Chiropractic, the alternative form of healing through hands-on spinal manipulation, was developed in 1895 in Davenport, Iowa by David D. Palmer. Chiropractors came to Minnesota to set up practices and open schools beginning in the late nineteenth century.  Some of the Chiropractic schools in Minnesota history include:

• The National School of Neuropathy and Psycho-Magnetic Healing (1899)
• The Hygeia Institute of Psycho-Therapeutics (1900)
• Northwestern College of Chiropractic and Cure (Mankato, 1900?)
• Minnesota Chiropractic College (1920)
• The Lincoln College of Chiropractic (1910s)
• The St. Paul College of Chiropractic (1914)
• Midwest College of Chiropractic (1921)
•  Northwestern College of Chiropractic (1941-1999)
• Northwestern Health Sciences University (1999 to present)

Since the advent of chiropractic medicine, it has been an uphill battle to establish it as a legitimate form of medicine. Minnesota chiropractors worked hard to combat opposition to the profession. These efforts included establishing both educational and licensing requirements for all students and practitioners. After more than a century of chiropractic being seen as dubious, members of the medical community now see chiropractic as a legitimate form of medicine.  In Minnesota chiropractors are practicing in hospitals and clinics all across the state.  There are currently over 3,000 licensed chiropractors in the state.

In 1941 Dr. John B. Wolfe and others started Northwestern College of Chiropractic and began classes on June 2, 1941 at their campus on the sixth floor of the Medical Block, an office building on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis. Northwestern College of Chiropractic changed its name to Northwestern Health Sciences University in 1999, and is currently the state’s only chiropractic college.