VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 12345[6]78910 ]
Subject: Christine Stevens, a Friend to the Animals


Author:
dies @ 84
[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]
Date Posted: October 15, 2002 1:31:23 EDT

Christine Stevens, who devoted her life to protecting all creatures — elephants, whales and laboratory animals — died last Thursday at Georgetown University Hospital. She was 84 and lived in Washington, where she was a leader of social life.

She founded the Animal Welfare Institute in New York in 1951 and was president until her death. In 1955, she formed the Society for Animal Protective Legislation, the institute's lobbying arm, which helped write more than a dozen laws on behalf of wild and domestic animals. These include the hard-fought 1958 Humane Slaughter Act and the 1966 Laboratory Animal Welfare Act.

The institute also originated the Save-the-Whales Campaign, in 1971.

Known for her gently determined ways, Mrs. Stevens shunned confrontational tactics in favor of lobbying and made her points before Congress as well as in countless meetings and conferences.

She was the widow of Roger Lacey Stevens, the New York real estate magnate, Broadway producer, fund-raiser, arts patron and founding chairman of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. A supporter of her institute, he died in 1998 after a marriage of 60 years.

Christine Gesell Stevens was born in St. Louis in 1918. She attended the University of Michigan, and after her marriage she continued her fine-arts studies but soon made animal welfare a personal concern.

Her volunteer work was encouraged by her parents in Ann Arbor, where her father, Dr. Robert Gesell, headed the physiology department of the University of Michigan. Dr. Gesell was a pioneer in the compassionate treatment of research animals and helped his daughter shape the Animal Welfare Institute and its guiding principles.

In New York, in 1951, a syndicate led by Mr. Stevens bought the Empire State Building. Mrs. Stevens opened the institute in a rent-free vacant office, with a roster of scientists serving as advisers. One of the first issues she raised was the fate of farm-raised beagles destined for radiation studies by the Atomic Energy Commission.

Closer to home, she once rescued a songbird, a lucky survivor, that had strayed into her office when a large flock of migrating warblers crashed into the Empire State Building.

The institute, created to gather and disseminate facts about animals used in research, followed the Stevenses to Washington in 1972.

Mrs. Stevens's objective was to change methods of trapping, the treatment of farm and marine animals, slaughterhouse conditions and the trade in elephant tusks. She also lobbied for the protection of endangered species.

The institute rewards outstanding examples of "a compassionate attitude toward all creatures" with its Albert Schweitzer Medal.

Mrs. Stevens was a delegate and observer at national and international meetings, wrote for magazines and contributed to and edited publications of the institute and its affiliated society.

She is survived by a daughter, Christabel Gough of New York.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]


[ Contact Forum Admin ]


Forum timezone: GMT-5
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.