Origins of the LACC, 1901-1922

The Los Angeles College of Chiropractic (LACC) can trace its history from D. D. Palmer through Thomas H. Storey, D.C. to Charles A. Cale, D.C., N.D., the LACC's founder. The formation and early history of the College is intimately intertwined with the naturopathic movement and to a lesser extent the osteopathic profession in southern California during the first two decades of this century. Although the school would eventually become the largest producer of chiropractors in the densest chiropractic jurisdiction in the world, its early survival was not always certain, and its later status as a bellwether for the rest of the profession was not yet in evidence. Organized by Charles Cale in 1910 and chartered in 1911, the school would suspend operations for several years (1914-6) while Charles and Linnie Cale acquired osteopathic credentials. The school's rebirth in 1916 marked the beginning of the final push for the initiative act of 1922 that licensed chiropractors and ended some of the most intensive legal persecutions by organized medicine that chiropractors would ever experience. This initial phase of LACC's history (through 1922) set the stage for at least 12 subsequent mergers and reorganizations to form today's LACC. The College would later lead the state's and the profession's efforts to broaden and deepen the chiropractic curriculum during the middle ages of chiropractic.