Delta Sigma Chi () is an American

fraternal organization A fraternity (from Latin ''frater'': "brother"; whence, " brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club or fraternal order traditionally of men associated together for various religious or secular aims. Fraternity i ...

for professionals in the area of

Chiropractic Chiropractic is a form of alternative medicine concerned with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mechanical disorders of the musculoskeletal system, especially of the spine. It has esoteric origins and is based on several pseudosci ...

History

In 1913, there were three chiropractic schools in Davenport, Iowa: the Palmer School of Chiropractic, Universal College of Chiropractic and the

Davenport College Davenport College (colloquially referred to as D'port) is one of the fourteen residential colleges of Yale University. Its buildings were completed in 1933 mainly in the Georgian style but with a gothic façade along York Street. The college wa ...

of Chiropractic. On July 4 of that year, a group of chiropractic students representing those schools held an Independence Day picnic at

Credit Island Credit Island is an island in the Mississippi River on the south west side of Davenport, Iowa within the Quad Cities area. Its name was derived by the use of the island as an early Indian trading post. Credit could be obtained on the prom ...

. Within this large group, a smaller group of friends discussed the subject of a chiropractic

Greek letter The Greek alphabet has been used to write the Greek language since the late 9th or early 8th century BCE. It is derived from the earlier Phoenician alphabet, and was the earliest known alphabetic script to have distinct letters for vowels as ...

fraternity. On July 13, 1913, the first meeting of the fledgling organization took place, which is now the celebrated birth of the legacy of Delta Sigma Chi (ΔΣΧ). The founding fathers include Harold Hughes of

Medicine Hat Medicine Hat is a city in southeast Alberta, Canada. It is located along the South Saskatchewan River. It is approximately east of Lethbridge and southeast of Calgary. This city and the adjacent Town of Redcliff to the northwest are with ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada; J.D. Hills of

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

; John Reardon of

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

; Harry Cummings of Fort Lauderdale, Florida and S.E. Julander of

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

. At that meeting they completed their plans for a Greek letter Professional Chiropractic Fraternity by electing temporary officers and appointed a committee to draft a constitution and bylaws. The official name selected: Delta Sigma Chi (DSC) stands for ''Doctors of Straight Chiropractic''. It was decided to limit the charter membership to twelve men, however the membership was opened and extended to 20.

Notable brothers

On November 6, 1913,

B.J. Palmer Bartlett Joshua Palmer (September 14, 1882 – May 27, 1961) was an American chiropractor. He was the son of Daniel David Palmer (D. D.), the founder of chiropractic, and became known as the "Developer" of chiropractic. Early life B. J. Palme ...

was initiated into the brotherhood of Delta Sigma Chi. Five years later Brother Palmer was unanimously elected the honorary president of the fraternity.

Clarence Gonstead Clarence Selmer Gonstead (July 23, 1898 – October 2, 1978) was an American chiropractor. He created the Gonstead technique. He established a large chiropractic facility in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin. Early life Clarence Gonstead was born in Willo ...

was also a member.

Lasting goals and purpose

Delta Sigma Chi is pledged to promote straight unadulterated chiropractic principles (as set forth by B.J. Palmer). In addition, the members promote good fellowship and brotherhood as well as brotherly feeling amongst chiropractors, schools and students. Today, the fraternity has a membership of several thousand individuals all around the globe, who continue to guard the sacred trust of chiropractic. The fraternity has reprinted 9 of BJ Palmer's original books.

Fraternity mansion

The Alpha chapter's Victorian-style mansion is known as the J. Monroe Parker-Ficke House.Svendsen, Marlys; ''Davenport, Where the Mississippi Runs West''. (1982) Davenport, Iowa Construction began in 1881 and was finished three years later, with 38 rooms and call tubes for the servants. After completion, the final cost was $100,000. The home was originally constructed for James Monroe Parker, a wealthy Davenport financier. Later, however, it was acquired by C. A. Ficke. In 1978 the fraternity purchased the building.

References

External links

http://www.dscbooks.com
Delta Sigma Chi website for reprinted works {{Authority control Chiropractic organizations Fraternities and sororities in the United States Student organizations established in 1913 Professional Fraternity Association Professional fraternities and sororities in the United States 1913 establishments in Iowa