Herbert Ross Reaver was the most jailed chiropractor in history, having been arrested a total of 12 times. The first 8 times, he just paid his fine and went about his way. The next four carried harsher consequences, with one of the terms being six months of labor.
At the time of his arrests, he lived in Ohio, where it was illegal to practice without a license at the time.
He was grounded in the principle of chiropractic and in his belief of Innate Intelligence’s true power. His sacrifices deserve our attention.
Here is the first video of Dr. Reaver telling some of his story at a seminar before he died.
After Dr. Reaver’s last jail term, he moved his family and his practice to St. Petersburg Florida, where he practiced for 15 years, before going back to Ohio. Dr. Reaver didn’t just have to fight against the Ohio State Medical Board.
Dr. Reaver was also a target of the Ku Klux Klan. His wife Millie talks about that in this video.
Dr. Reaver also served as vice-president to B.J. Palmer in the ICA. He was very principled in what he believed in. He did not go to jail to improve ranges of motion, or to have the ability to perform ultrasound on his patients. He went to jail because he removed subluxations and allowed people’s Innate Intelligence to take hold.
He talks about removing subluxations in this last video. You might laugh out loud on this one, especially at the question asked at the 3:45 mark.
Herbert Ross Reaver lived back in a time when men were men and chiropractors were chiropractors, not pseudo-physical therapists or personal trainers. He was a true inspiration to thousands and thousands.
He died on February 7th, 2000 at the age of 93. He continued practicing up until the Friday before he died.
In total, he practiced for 71 years.
Truly amazing.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow, I can’t believe he practiced that late. Unbelievable!
He’s my personal chiropractic hero, so glad to see this! Best thing about Reaver is that when chiropractic became legal in Ohio, he told them to stuff their license, so he never did get a license! Also, because of his strong belief in human rights, he started a chiropractic college that operated for a number of years that had no discrimination policy.
I just love it. I bet he wouldn’t/didn’t get involved in all the sensitivity and bashing we all get into among chiropractic. He wasn’t an UC doc. He just did what he did and was passionate about it. He focused on serving others and wouldn’t let anyone tell him he couldn’t. What a great example to us all!
I was a guest several times of Herb and Millie’s in Pisgah. I know he would enjoy you reading Max Sutter DC, this I believe.
Hello,
Dr. Jay Victor Kaufman, Max Sutter was my grandfather. Unfortunately, I never knew him since he died before I was born. He passed away in 1956 and was trained directly under BJ Palmer. His son, Theodore (Ted) J. Sutter, who is my father, went on with the practice, which was located in Huntington Park, CA . My father has been long retired and is still living in California.
If interested, here’s the link to Max Sutter D.C.
“This I Believe”
Incidently, Years after Max Sutter’s passing, my grandmother, in had married Dr. Leonard K. Griffin D.C.in 1961. They lived in Ft. Worth, TX, where he had been in practice for many years. Leonard K. Griffin was involved for many years with helping to secure legislation, of a widely accepted definition of chiropractic science.
I don’t know if you or anyone here posting had heard of Leonard Griffin or my father Ted Sutter?
Best regards.
my comment is regarding steves message fom march 2010. herbs brother clarence reaver dc not herb operated an all black chiropractic college in dayton ohio. IT WAS CALLED THE REAVER SCHOOL OF CHIROPRACTIC.clarence wrote agreat book called the 5th cervical key. it is still available thru palmer. pierce and stillwagon incorporated alot of this in their technique. ebony magazine once featured an article on the reaver school. turn life loose luv jay