Summerfield Saunders Still (1851–1931), nephew of
Andrew Taylor Still
Andrew Taylor Still (August 6, 1828 – December 12, 1917) was the founder of osteopathic medicine. He was also a physician and surgeon, author, inventor and Kansas territorial and state legislator. He was one of the founders of Baker University ...
, was an osteopath and founder of a school of
osteopathy
Osteopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine that emphasizes physical manipulation of the body's muscle tissue and bones. In most countries, practitioners of osteopathy are not medically trained and are referred to as osteo ...
.
Early life
Still was born in
Macon County, Missouri
Macon County is a county located in the northern portion of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 15,209. Its county seat is Macon. The county was organized January 6, 1837, and named for Nathaniel Macon, a R ...
, the son of James Still,
a medical doctor trained in
Chicago, Illinois
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, and Rahab Saunders Still.
The Still family moved to
Kansas
Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
, where S. S. Still was educated in
Blue Mound,
Eudora, and at
Baker University
Baker University is a private university in Baldwin City, Kansas, United States. Founded in 1858, it was the first four-year university in Kansas and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Baker University is made up of four schools. Th ...
at Baldwin.
Education
At the age of 15, Summerfield Still enrolled at Baker University, a Methodist college in Baldwin, Kansas where he was studying from 1876 to 1878. After graduating, he taught school in Douglas County, Kansas. Upon marrying, Still and his wife moved to Maryville, Missouri and then on to
Kirksville
Kirksville is the county seat of and most populous city in Adair County, Missouri, United States. Located in Benton Township, Adair County, Missouri, Benton Township, its population was 17,530 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Kirk ...
in 1893.
In 1893, he enrolled at the American School of Osteopathy (now the
A.T. Still University
A.T. Still University (ATSU) is a private medical school based in Kirksville, Missouri, with a second campus in Arizona and third campus in Santa Maria, California. It was founded in 1892 by Andrew Taylor Still and was the world's first ost ...
) in Kirksville, which was founded by his uncle,
Andrew Taylor Still
Andrew Taylor Still (August 6, 1828 – December 12, 1917) was the founder of osteopathic medicine. He was also a physician and surgeon, author, inventor and Kansas territorial and state legislator. He was one of the founders of Baker University ...
, the developer of
osteopathic medicine in the United States
Osteopathic medicine is a branch of the medical profession in the United States that promotes the practice of science-based medicine, often referred to in this context as allopathic medicine, with a set of philosophy and principles set by its ...
and the president of the school. He and his wife both studied osteopathy at the American School of Osteopathy
[Still, Summerfield Saunders](_blank)
Retrieved on February 1, 2018 and in 1895, S. S. Still graduated with a Diploma of Osteopathy, and then stayed at the school in Kirksville to teach.
Still was considered an expert in
anatomy
Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...
.
Still studied law at
Drake University
Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. The University offers over 140 undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, education, Legal education, law, and pharmacy. Drake U ...
, receiving degrees in 1903 and 1904.
Founding a medical school
In 1898, after Iowa legalized the practice of osteopathy, Still and his wife, Ella Daugherty Still, established an osteopathic medical school in Des Moines, the Dr. S. S. Still College of Osteopathy, the second such osteopathic school in the United States. Throughout its history, the school has been renamed several times and was renamed the Des Moines College of Osteopathy and Surgery in 1945, and in 1958 was renamed again to the Des Moines College of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery.
The College of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery went on to become part of the University of Osteopathic Medicine and Health Sciences in 1981, and is now known as the
Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine. While his being a president of the college, Still entered Drake University's law school, graduating in 1903 and although he never practiced law he took an active part in politics.
Later career
In 1905, Still sold his interests in the school and devoted himself to private practice until 1913. He then became an anatomy professor at the Kirksville school and, after his son's accidental gunshot death in 1922, succeeded him as president of the facility, serving two years.
[Woman's Christian Temperance Union
The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program that "linked the religious and the secular through concerted and far ...]
. He also contributed as an editor
in the ''American Journal of Physiologic Therapeutics''.