Leon Elwin Page, one of the promoters of the Academy of Applied Osteopathy

Page invested a lot of energy in favor of the professional development of osteopathy, to the point that in 1961 the annual report of the Academy of Applied Osteopathy was dedicated to him for his 34 years of activity.

Known for having written a small volume on A.T. Still, he was also the author of various other works on the fundamentals of osteopathy and on anatomy. His 1952 reflections on the fascia are quoted by other authors in the osteopathic field (for example Mitchell,¹ Tozzi et al.,² Moon and Lee³).

Pagte was a Professor of Anatomy and Surgery at the ASO and subsequently he tought at the Chicago College of Osteopathy.

In 1921 he published an article on the body defenses, stating how the time was ripe to focus on the research in order to demonstrate that osteopathic treatments could increase the amount of antibodies.⁴

Around 1925 he published, probably in Kirksville, a volume entitled Laboratory Manual: Practical Anatomy, divided into two books, the first dedicated to the upper half of the body and the second to the lower half. After two years another volume on anatomy was issued, maybe an extended version of the previous work.⁵

In 1927 the book Osteopathic Fundamentals was published, a volume of 182 pages on the osteopathic principles, with illustrations.

Subsequently he wrote a small booklet containing the history of A.T. Still, which he called The Old Doctor.⁶ The work was published in 1932.

In 1952 Leon E. Page and T. L. Northup wrote together a volume on the principles of osteopathy.⁷ According to the bibliographic website worldcat the volume counts 292 pages, with illustrations and portraits, and it is divided in three parts as follows:

• Part I: The historical context of osteopathy (introduction, medicine of the ancient times, medieval medicine, medicine of the Renaissance, modern medicine, osteopathy: birth and development).
• Part II: The basis of the structural osteopathic therapy
  • Chap. I: The anatomical basis of the structural osteopathic therapy
  • Chap. II:The physiologic basis of the structural osteopathic therapy
  • Chap. III: The pathological basis of the structural osteopathic therapy
  • Chap. IV: The osteopathic structural lesion
• Parte III: Principles of structural therapy in osteopathy
  • Chap. I: The purpose of the osteopathic therapy
  • Chap II: The principles of the structural osteopathic therapy
  • Chap. III: Surgical therapy
  • Chap. IV: Structural physiotherapy
  • Chap. V: Replacement therapy and additional pharmacologic therapy
  • Chap.VI: Professional ethics

Some pages of part II and part III were reprinted in the AAO. Journal, in the  Summer, Autumn and Winter issues of the year 1998.

Between 1950 and 1961 he signed six articles on the Academy of Applied Osteopathy:

• 1950: an article concerning osteopathy as a system of structural therapy⁸ in which he highlighted how osteopathy was a complete therapeutic system, aimed at restoring homeostasis, which could (and in some cases had to) make use of drugs as “additional”.
• 1951: an article on headache, its possible causes, its structural and nervous factors, some experiments carried out to understand its dynamics.⁹
• 1952: an article on the role of the fascia in maintaining the structural integrity, later reprinted on the AAO Journal in 2012.¹⁰
• 1953: a brief article on the terminology to use to indicate the physiological movements of the spine, in which he declared himself in favor of a nomenclature that would describe the vertebral movements according to what really happens within the articulations when they are in motion.¹¹
• 1957: an article on the methods to be used to perform a structural diagnosis, linked to some clinical cases.¹²
• 1961: an article in which he questions if the structural osteopathic technique was destined to disappear while expressing his preoccupation with the developments of osteopathic medicine. He reminded that some osteopaths had already noticed the medicalization of osteopathy towards the end of the 30s, and that this had led to the establishment of the Academy of Applied Osteopathy in 1944, an institution aimed at treating strictly osteopathic matters as well as reprinting the early works of osteopathy. He pointed out how, in his opinion, it was essential for a better care of the patients that osteopaths could intervene with structural osteopathic techniques, for example in post-surgery cases, in the connections between obstetrics and neonatology, throat and lung infections.¹³

In a commercial of April 1922 Leon Page is listed among the internal staff of the Laughlin Hospital and Training School for Nurses of Kirksville.¹⁴

It is known that in 1919 Leon Page was elected to the ranks of the Vermont State Association, as a representative for advertising.¹⁵

In the 1950 Yearbook of the Academy of Applied Osteopathy Leon Page signed the introduction as the president of the editorial Committee,16 an assignment that he kept until 1955. On that occasion he specified how the aim of the Academy was to allow the free interpretation of the osteopathic principles not necessarily representing the Academy opinion or that of the AOA, according to the point of view of the single authors.

The 1961 Yearbook of the Academy of Applied Osteopathy is dedicated to Leon Page with the following words:

DEDICATION

The Academy of Applied Osteopathy
dedicates
The 1961 Year Book
a
LEON E. PAGE, D.O.
In the forty-three years of being an osteopathic physician Dr’ Page’s major interest has been the welfare of the profession. On a number of occasions he has conveyed this interest by using the ability to express himself on the printed page. As a teacher of anatomy and clinical subjects at two of our osteopathic colleges and as an author of books delineating the background in anatomy for the osteopathic concept, this 1965 Year Book is sincerely dedicated.

Although he did not personally conduct any cynical research, Leon Page was aware that, for the progress of osteopathy, it was indispensable to carry out research studies, as evidenced by a document bearing his signature, without date, kept at the ATSU Museum with the title “Research.” It contains some reflections on the importance of conducting methodologically rigorous research in order to be able to be certain of the results achieved. https://momicoh.pastperfectonline.com/Archive/017C17BB-C527-4C89-9D4A-127846263024 (the text is very similar to the introduction of a section regarding the research published in the 1955 Yearbook of the AAO .¹⁷)

• Page, L. E.: Laboratory Manual: Practical Anatomy. ?Kirksville, MO, 1925.
• Page, L. E. Manual of Clinical Anatomy. Kirksville, MO: Journal of Osteopathy, 1927.
• Page, L. E.: Osteopathic Fundamentals; Journal Printing Company, Kirksville, MO, 1927.
• Page, L. E.: The Old Doctor. Kirksville, MO: Journal of Osteopathy, 1932.
• Page, L. E. & Northup, T.L. The Principles of Osteopathy. Kansas City, MO: Academy of Applied Osteopathy, 1952.

By way of example:

• Page, L.E. “Osteopathy and the Body Defences” JAOA, October 1921:79-80.
  
• Page, L.E. Osteopathy – A System of Structural Therapeutics. In: The Academy of Applied Osteopathy Year Book, Gushing, Malloy, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1950:13.
  
• Page, L.E. Structural Factors in Headache. In: The Academy of Applied Osteopathy Year Book, Cushing, Malloy, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1951:94-97
  
• Page, L.E. “The Role of the Fascae in the Maintanance of Structural Integrity”. Newark: Academy of Applied Osteopathy Yearbook; 1952. p. 70.
  
• Page, L.E. Concerning the terminology of physiologic movements of the spine. In:The Academy of Applied Osteopathy Year Book, Cushing – Malloy, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1953:1-2.
  
• Page, L.E. Some aspects of structural diagnosis. In:The Academy of Applied Osteopathy Year Book,1957:39-42.
  
• Page, L.E. Is osteopathic structural technic becoming a lost art? In:The Academy of Applied Osteopathy Year Book 1961:49-52.
  

• Leon Page was the father of the famous American actress Geraldine Page.
• The Museo keeps some 1955 letters containing the correspondence between Charles Kauffman, H.V. Hoover, Leon Page and George Snyder regarding some articles to be published on the Annual Record of the Academy of Applied Osteopathy. https://momicoh.pastperfectonline.com/archive/2BA6D115-1B7B-4D57-A247-498122654579

1. Mitchell, F. L. (1984). The Respiratory-Circulatory Model: Concepts and Applications. In Concepts and Mechanisms of Neuromuscular Functions (pp. 19-33). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
2. Tozzi, P., Liem, T., & Chila, A. (2018, January). Il sistema fasciale in ambito osteopatico. Edra.
3. Moon, H. J., & Lee, Y. K. (2011). The relationship between dental occlusion/temporomandibular joint status and general body health: part 2. Fascial connection of TMJ with other parts of the body. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 17(12), 1119-1124
4. Page, L.E. “Osteopathy and the Body Defences” JAOA, October 1921:79-80).
5. Page, L.E. Manual of Clinical Anatomy. Kirksville, MO: Journal of Osteopathy, 1927.
6. Page, L.E. The Old Doctor. Kirksville, MO: Journal of Osteopathy, 1932.
7. Page, L.E. The Principles of Osteopathy. Kansas City, Mo., Academy of Applied Osteopathy, 1952.
8. Page, L.E. Osteopathy – A System of Structural Therapeutics. In: The Academy of Applied Osteopathy Year Book, Gushing, Malloy, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1950:13-17.
9. Page, L.E. Structural Factors in Headache. In: The Academy of Applied Osteopathy Year Book, Cushing, Malloy, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1951:94-97.
10. Page, L.E. “The Role of the Fascae in the Maintanance of Structural Integrity”. Newark: Academy of Applied Osteopathy Yearbook; 1952. p. 70 (ristampato nel 2012: AAOJ, March 2012, vol. 22, n.1:30-34).
11. Page, L.E. Concerning the terminology of physiologic movements of the spine. In: The Academy of Applied Osteopathy Year Book, Cushing – Malloy, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1953:1-2.
12. Page, L.E. Some aspects of structural diagnosis. In: The Academy of Applied Osteopathy Year Book,1957:39-42.
13. Page, L.E. Is osteopathic structural technic becoming a lost art? In: The Academy of Applied Osteopathy Year Book 1961:49-52.
14. The Osteopathic Physician, April 1922, vol XLI, n.4:12.
15. “Osteopathic Associations – Vermont”, The Journal of Osteopathy, November 1919, vol.26, n.11:668-674.
16. The Academy of Applied Osteopathy Year Book, Gushing, Malloy, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1950
17. L.E.P. “Section 2 – Research. The Academy of Applied Osteopathy Year Book, 1955:106