Tullius de Florence Ratledge graduated in the first class from the Carver-Denny School in Oklahoma City. Immediately upon graduation in 1907, he collaborated with fellow chiropractors in then unsuccessful attempts to obtain chiropractic licensure in Oklahoma. He organized a free clinic – or "adjustory" – for members of the state legislature and their families in the state’s first capital city, Guthrie. And in that city, in 1908, he created the first of at least four branches of the Ratledge System of Chiropractic Schools. In true missionary fashion, he started additional schools in Arkansas City, Kansas, and in the Kansas capital of Topeka.

In March of 1911, Dr. Ratledge established the Los Angeles branch of the Ratledge System of Chiropractic Schools, and became the champion of pure chiropractic on the West Coast. In 1916, he endured 90 days of imprisonment in the Los Angeles County Jail on the charge of illegally practicing medicine. His self-sacrifice for the principles of chiropractic inspired and prompted the first favorable press for the beleaguered chiropractic profession, ultimately leading to the passage of California’s chiropractic law by referendum in 1922.

Approaching retirement after over 40 years in the profession, in 1951, Dr. Ratledge transferred management of his Los Angeles college, its single converted residence building, and its 17 students to colleague and fellow chiropractic activist, Dr. Cleveland Sr. Ratledge College was rechartered in 1955 as Cleveland Chiropractic College of Los Angeles.