In the nearly 20 years since then, as Florida’s dean of clinics, Dr. Carter is grateful to serve Palmer’s mission for the next generation of students. Over that time, he’s also witnessed the equally steady growth of the campus, from its ambitious origins to the large and dynamic place it’s known as today.
“I’M A PROUD MEMBER of the first class,” says Dr. Carter from his office in the Clinic building on South Clyde Morris Boulevard, the campus’s only building in 2002. “We all came here with nothing but a strong belief in chiropractic and the value that comes with holding a Palmer degree.” By the time he graduated in December 2005, he found
himself not just ready for the next step but transformed for good. “The training and experience I got, the friendships I made during those years, influence my work,” says Dr. Carter. “I cherish them to this day.” While few Palmer alumni are better positioned than Dr.
Carter to speak to the history of the Florida campus, its earliest beginnings reach back before he was born. By 1951, B.J. Palmer, D.C., was in his late 60s and had come to spend an increasing share of his time in the Sunshine State. He owned a home on St. Armands Key in Sarasota, near the winter headquarters of the Barnum & Bailey Circus, of which he was a devoted fan. Among the other remarks in his homecoming address that year, he cited the opportunities for chiropractic in Florida. The comment is foretelling to the college’s future. In the years following, the Palmers maintained a presence in Florida. B.J.’s son, David Daniel Palmer, D.C., would become accustomed to the 1,400-mile trip from Davenport to Naples, where he had set up a Palmer broadcasting station and had a hand in the founding of the Royal Poinciana Golf Club, and remained active with Palmer alumni in the state. Finally, half a century after the
HOW FAR WE’VE COME The Allen Green Civic Center in Port Orange was the original location of Palmer Florida.
prescient passing comment, Port Orange city leaders and the Palmer Board of Trustees, led by Dr. Dave’s daughter, Vickie Anne Palmer, H.C.D. (Hon.), worked out a mutually beneficial plan to establish the College’s third campus in the idyllic spot so well-loved today. For eager students like Dr. Carter, that moment couldn’t come soon enough. And as the last two decades have proven, many more were ready to follow in his footsteps. Peter Martin, D.C. (Main ’68), has a long history with Palmer beginning with
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