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Discovering Osteopathic Antiquity in Historical Osteopathic Pamphlets

  • Lori Fitterling and Robyn Oro
Published/Copyright: January 1, 2018
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Journal of Osteopathic Medicine
From the journal Journal of Osteopathic Medicine Volume 118 Issue 1

In the early 20th century, information about the osteopathic profession was circulated by way of pamphlets, leaflets, and brochures (Figure). These publications exhibited striking illustrations and explanations of the benefits of osteopathic medicine. To preserve these iconic sources of osteopathic history, the D'Angelo Library at the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences has begun a digitization project that includes 23 osteopathic pamphlets, originally published from 1910 to 1928.1

Figure. Covers of osteopathic pamphlets published in the 1920s.
Figure.

Covers of osteopathic pamphlets published in the 1920s.

These eye-catching pamphlets were produced by 3 publishers: Williams Publishing Co, Bunting Publishing Co, and the American Osteopathic Association. The pamphlets were marketed as literature that would explain the benefits of maintaining good health and inform people about osteopathy. The Bunting Publishing Co had a unique pamphlet distribution method. They solicited patient mailing lists from osteopathic physicians and offered patients a 1-year subscription to the pamphlet. Physicians paid a fee to have their professional cards inserted into the pamphlets sent out to the recipients on the list they provided.2

The pamphlets covered various subjects, including taking care of one's liver and the ways in which osteopathy could benefit women.3,4 A prevalent theme was the broad scope of osteopathy. One pamphlet, Health at PAR: Osteopathy for the Business Man, exemplified how the osteopathic principle of maintaining one's health was regarded. Treleaven explains,

The field of Osteopathy is limited only by those comparatively few diseases in which the pathologic destruction of the tissues has gone so far that regeneration is physically impossible and for which there is no known cure. Its practice actually includes all of mankind's ailments which the general practitioner of any system is called on to treat. It is common sense, combined with the application of physiologic laws, in the correction and prevention of abnormal influences which cause human illness and suffering.5(p15)

This common sense, combined with the application of physiologic laws, illustrates an early osteopathic emphasis on using good judgement coupled with science in the prevention of disease, which resonates in osteopathic practice today.

The osteopathic medical field is in great debt to the resolve of these early promotors for inspiring the profession. By preserving these historical pamphlets, members of the osteopathic medical community can better understand the osteopathic approach to patient care today.

From the D'Angelo Library at the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences in Missouri.
Support: None reported.
Financial Disclosures: None reported.

*Address correspondence to Lori Fitterling, MLS, Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences, 1750 Independence Ave, Kansas City, MO 64106-1453. Email:

References

1. Early osteopathic literature. D'Angelo Library Digital archive website. http://kcumb.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/p16788coll3. Accessed November 28, 2017. Search in Google Scholar

2. Gevitz N. The DOs: Osteopathic Medicine in America. 2nd ed. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press; 2004:64.Search in Google Scholar

3. Bunting HS . Osteopathy the haven for suffering women.Osteopath Health.1926;19(3).Search in Google Scholar

4. Walmsley AG. How is your liver? Osteopath Health. 1928;53(6):3-8.Search in Google Scholar

5. Treleaven H. Health at PAR Osteopathy for the Business Man. 1924:1-15.Search in Google Scholar
Received: 2017-06-06
Accepted: 2017-07-18
Published Online: 2018-01-01
Published in Print: 2018-01-01

© 2018 American Osteopathic Association

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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  2. Stand Up and Climb Out of Ankle Spasticity
  3. OMT MINUTE
  4. OMT for Cancer Patients After Bowel Resection
  5. STILL RELEVANT
  6. Discovering Osteopathic Antiquity in Historical Osteopathic Pamphlets
  7. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
  8. Chronic Pain Management: Perspective of an Osteopathic Medical Student in New Mexico
  9. ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION
  10. Variations in Progression and Regression of Precancerous Lesions of the Uterine Cervix on Cytology Testing Among Women of Different Races
  11. Medical Student Decision-Making: Standard Surgical Excision or Mohs Micrographic Surgery to Manage Basal Cell Carcinoma
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  15. Effect of Ultrasonography on Student Learning of Shoulder Anatomy and Landmarks
  16. CASE REPORT
  17. Toxic Injury to the Gastrointestinal Tract After Ipilimumab Therapy for Advanced Melanoma
  18. Nephroblastoma Arising in a Primary Testicular Teratoma in a Nonatrophic Testis of a 50-Year-Old Man
  19. THE SOMATIC CONNECTION
  20. It Makes a Difference What You Are Thinking When You Touch Someone Clinically
  21. OMT May Be Helpful in the Management of Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo
  22. CSF Flow Has a Significant Respiratory Component
  23. Lymphatic Vessels Found in the Brain—Osteopathic Considerations, Part 2: Now in Humans and Monkeys
  24. CLINICAL IMAGES
  25. Pott Puffy Tumor
  26. IN YOUR WORDS
  27. Gratitude: Reflections and Belonging in the Osteopathic Family
https://doi.org/10.7556/jaoa.2018.001
Creative Commons
BY-NC-ND 4.0

Articles in the same Issue

  1. THE SOMATIC CONNECTION
  2. Stand Up and Climb Out of Ankle Spasticity
  3. OMT MINUTE
  4. OMT for Cancer Patients After Bowel Resection
  5. STILL RELEVANT
  6. Discovering Osteopathic Antiquity in Historical Osteopathic Pamphlets
  7. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
  8. Chronic Pain Management: Perspective of an Osteopathic Medical Student in New Mexico
  9. ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION
  10. Variations in Progression and Regression of Precancerous Lesions of the Uterine Cervix on Cytology Testing Among Women of Different Races
  11. Medical Student Decision-Making: Standard Surgical Excision or Mohs Micrographic Surgery to Manage Basal Cell Carcinoma
  12. BRIEF REPORT
  13. Evaluating the Effectiveness of One-on-One Conversations to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening in a Community-Based Clinical Setting
  14. JAOA/AACOM MEDICAL EDUCATION
  15. Effect of Ultrasonography on Student Learning of Shoulder Anatomy and Landmarks
  16. CASE REPORT
  17. Toxic Injury to the Gastrointestinal Tract After Ipilimumab Therapy for Advanced Melanoma
  18. Nephroblastoma Arising in a Primary Testicular Teratoma in a Nonatrophic Testis of a 50-Year-Old Man
  19. THE SOMATIC CONNECTION
  20. It Makes a Difference What You Are Thinking When You Touch Someone Clinically
  21. OMT May Be Helpful in the Management of Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo
  22. CSF Flow Has a Significant Respiratory Component
  23. Lymphatic Vessels Found in the Brain—Osteopathic Considerations, Part 2: Now in Humans and Monkeys
  24. CLINICAL IMAGES
  25. Pott Puffy Tumor
  26. IN YOUR WORDS
  27. Gratitude: Reflections and Belonging in the Osteopathic Family
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