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Chronicling America is a searchable digital collection of historic newspaper pages through 1963 sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress.
Follow ChronAm by subscribing to email alerts and RSS feeds.
Also, see the Directory of U.S. Newspapers in American Libraries, a searchable index to newspapers published in the United States since 1690, which helps researchers identify what titles exist for a specific place and time, and how to access them.
Alternative medicine, also known as “complementary medicine,” “homeopathic medicine,” and “osteopathic medicine” refers to medical practices not administered in conventional healing systems of the west. Alternative medicine includes practices such as homeopathy, osteopathy, herbal medicine, traditional medicine, naturopathy, chiropractic, Ayurvedic medicine, Chinese medicine and mineral based medicines. Read more about it!
The information in this guide focuses on primary source materials found in the digitized historic newspapers from the digital collection Chronicling America.
The timeline below highlights important dates related to this topic and a section of this guide provides some suggested search strategies for further research in the collection.
| May 5, 1887 | President of Texas’ Homeopathic Medical Association announces Homeopathy a “New Era medicine.” |
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| October 6, 1895 | Missouri Valley Association addresses importance of Homeopathic School of Medicine at Annual Medical Convention. |
| June 2, 1902 | Story reports on 1825 founding of Reformed American Medicine movement led by Dr. Wooster Beach. |
| May 13, 1906 | First listing of active ingredients on Alternative medicine bottles bolsters medical industry’s credibility. |
| March 3, 1913 | Olive Tablets offer safe alternative to Calomel for easing bowel movements with minimal liver damage. |
| October 10, 1916 | 7.5 million bottles of Tanlac sold as Americans accept alternative methods for easing indigestion, rheumatism kidney, and liver pains. |
| October 4, 1918 | Studies conclude that chiropractic therapy treats up to 95% of common illnesses. |
