LOOKING BACK
17th International Herb Symposium
September 12–14, 2025 · Memorial Hall · Cincinnati, OH
The 17th IHS came home to Cincinnati — the city where the Eclectic physicians once trained, and where the Lloyd Brothers built their pharmacy.
Memorial Hall, this symposium’s venue, once hosted the graduation ceremonies of the Eclectic Medical Institute. Nearly 600 herbalists, healers, farmers, and students gathered there for three days of classes, ceremony, and community.
A Homecoming for Eclectic Medicine
Fifty-six teachers led classes across five tracks: eclectic medicine, clinical herbalism, plant spirit work, folk medicine, and herbal business. More than thirty vendors filled the Herbal Emporium.
Throughout the weekend, Amikaeyla Gaston held the gathering with warmth and artistry as emcee, opening with a land acknowledgment for the Shawnee and Miami peoples and a ceremony calling in the six directions.
John Uri Lloyd Takes the Stage
Ashley Lloyd Ford, great-grandson of Lloyd Brothers co-founder Nelson Ashley Lloyd, addressed the room in the very building where Eclectic Medical Institute graduates once received their diplomas.
The Lloyd Library & Museum, whose director Pat Van Skaik welcomed attendees, stayed open all day Saturday for the community, with Christopher Hobbs and David Winston sharing stories from the stacks.
The Herbal Product Contest
Each IHS, the community enters its finest handmade medicine into the Herbal Product Contest, judged blind by teachers and staff. This year’s Grand Prize went to Chelsea Joel of Conscious Seed Apothecary (Loveland, OH) for her Kava Chai, which also took first in the Anything Goes category.
Category winners: Purely Medicinal — Alex Williams (Black Walnut/Wild Cherry Bitters). Salves, Oils & Creams — Erica Macrum (Get The Funk Out). Congratulations to every winner, and to everyone who entered.
What Carries Forward
The Eclectic tradition didn’t fade for lack of results — it was pushed aside by the 1910 Flexner Report, which sought to standardize American medicine around a single scientific model and left no room for plant-based, individualized approaches to coexist alongside it.
More than a century later, that same spirit of patient-centered, plant-based care is exactly what continues to draw hundreds of herbalists back to Cincinnati every two years. The 18th IHS is already on the horizon.
Read the Full Recap
Susan Leopold’s full write-up of the 17th IHS — with more photos and the complete story of the weekend — is published on the United Plant Savers site.
Read on UnitedPlantSavers.org →