Anti-Vaccination Pamphlet Collection

Anti-vaccination activism in the United States has its origins in resistance to inoculation and vaccination for smallpox in the 19th century. In 1879, the Anti-Vaccination Society of America was founded after a visit from the British anti-vaccinationist William Tebb. The Anti-Vaccination Society of America largely focused on opposing mandatory vaccination laws, particularly mandatory smallpox vaccinations. Other societies were formed in the following decades, including the Anti-Vaccination League of America, which was founded in 1908. Like the Anti-Vaccination Society, the Anti-Vaccination League opposed vaccine mandates, particularly in New York and Pennsylvania. These early anti-vaccination activist movements not only opposed compulsory laws, but also called into the question the safety and efficacy of vaccines.

The link between anti-vaccination activism and chiropractic begins with Daniel David and Bartlett Joshua Palmer, the founders of chiropractic. Both men rejected the germ theory of disease, instead postulating that disease originated in the spine. This belief permeated the chiropractic community, with chiropractors well into the 20th century doubting the efficacy of the polio vaccine and opposing compulsory vaccinations in favor of individual choice.