From Canada to South Africa, Three Generations of Haldemans Push Passed Boundaries to Care for Patients
When Almeda Haldeman’s husband was diagnosed with diabetes around 1904, there was no medical intervention available. Determined to do everything in her power to help him, she went to the Minneapolis School and Cure, and educated herself in the new healing art of chiropractic, receiving her degree in 1905. Then, following the advice to move her husband to a cold, dry climate, they relocated to Saskatchewan, Canada and Almeda Haldeman, D.C. became the first chiropractor in Canada, and one of the first female chiropractors in the world.
While little is known about her career, these choices began a chiropractic family legacy that would span multiple countries and generations. When her son, Joshua Norman Haldeman, began to lose his eyesight following a head injury, he wrote to B.J. Palmer for help. With B.J.’s encouragement, Joshua attended Palmer College of Chiropractic and graduated in 1926.
“He (Joshua Norman Haldeman) became a mover and shaker within the profession in Canada,” says Scott Haldeman, D.C., M.D., Ph.D. (Main, ’64).“He was responsible for piloting the legislation to license chiropractic in Saskatchewan, Canada and was a member of the first board of directors of the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College.
Dr. Almeda Haldeman’s legacy continued when Dr. Joshua Norman Haldeman moved his family and his practice to South Africa in 1950, built one of the largest chiropractic clinics and actively pursued legislation to recognize chiropractic in the country. He then encouraged his son, Dr. Scott Haldeman, to attend Palmer College.
Following graduation from Palmer, Scott Haldeman, D.C. went on to earn a degree in physics and physiology followed by master’s and doctorate degrees in neurophysiology based on chiropractic theories he had studied at Palmer.
“That’s when I realized someone had to do clinical research in chiropractic, so I enrolled in medical school. This was in the 1970s when medical doctors weren’t allowed to refer to or take referrals from chiropractors. I had a classmate who liked to crack jokes and he asked the professor, ‘what if you’re both a doctor and the chiropractor?’ Of course, everyone knew he was referring to me.”
Through three generations, Drs. Almeda, Joshua and Scott Haldeman crossed international borders, challenged professional boundaries, and contributed to the growth of the chiropractic profession, all while caring for thousands of patients. True to his grandmother’s legacy, Dr. Scott Haldeman ended up as one of the individuals who testified before legislative task forces considering licensing of chiropractors in Quebec in 1972, New Zealand in 1978, at the Wilke verses AMA trial in 1981 and before the U.S. Congress that established the U.S. Department of Defense Chiropractic Demonstration Project in 1995. He has supported similar initiatives in multiple countries over the subsequent years. In this way he was completing what his grandmother started two generations prior.
READ MORE from Palmer Proud Magazine
