Jesse Mercer Gehman

Jesse Mercer Gehman (January 17, 1901 – 1976) was an American naturopath, vegetarianism activist and amateur wrestler associated with the natural hygiene and physical culture movement.

Biography

Gehman graduated from the American College of Naturopathy and Chiropractic in 1925. He obtained a doctorate in natural philosophy in 1931. He was a vegetarian and wrote articles for the American Vegetarian-Hygienist and the Health and Strength magazine. He was Vice-President of the International Vegetarian Union (1960–1977), he was also President of the American Naturopathic Association. Gehman was Benedict Lust's successor. He wrote an authorized biography of Lust, but the work was never published. Gehman worked as an associate editor for Bernarr Macfadden's Physical Culture magazine. He founded his own naturopathic resort near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Gehman was a founding member of the American Natural Hygiene Society.

Gehman was an anti-vaccinationist. He commented that naturopaths do not believe in "vaccination, inoculation, contagion, infection or drugs of any kind." He was secretary of the Citizens Medical Reference Bureau from the 1930s–1950s, which had connections to the Anti-Vaccination League of America. He recommended clean living, exercise, fasting and a vegetarian diet to treat cancer, he commented that "the cure of cancer is in simple natural physical culture living".

Gehman was an amateur wrestler, under the name Jim Mercer.

Publications

Smoke Over America (1943) A Commemorative and Descriptive Book on the Light of Naturopathy (1947) Living Today for Tomorrow (1947) Is Smoking Harmful? (1950) Why?: Use Suncooked Juice Foods Daily (1959)