The short life & enduring influence of the American Chiropractic Association, 1922-1930

The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) of the 1920s is an ancestor of today's ACA. Established in 1922 as an alternative to B.J. Palmer's protective society, the Universal Chiropractors' Association (UCA), the ACA floundered under its first administration, but found its way when Frank R. Margetts, D.D., LL.D., D.C. was elected its second president in 1923. A skilled orator, Margetts toured the nation to rally support for the new society's policies and programs: independence from any school, higher educational standards, opposition to basic science legislation, national publicity, a clinical research program, and malpractice insurance and legal aid for its members. The ACA accepted straight and mixing chiropractors, but rejected applicants with only correspondence school diplomas. The ranks of the ACA grew after Palmer's 1924 introduction of the neurocalometer and the consequent decline in UCA membership. Following BJ's ouster from the UCA, the two societies commenced the lengthy negotiations for amalgamation which produced the National Chiropractic Association (NCA) in 1930. The NCA became today's ACA in 1963; the enduring influences of the 1920s ACA upon the present day ACA are considered.