Christine Stevens (animal welfare activist)

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Christine Gesell Stevens
BornMarch 10, 1918
DiedOctober 11, 2002 (aged 84)
OccupationAnimal welfare activist

Christine Gesell Stevens (March 10, 1918 – October 11, 2002) was an American animal welfare activist and conservationist.

Biography[edit]

Stevens was born in St. Louis, Missouri.[1] She studied at the University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (1936-1938) and at the Society of Arts and Crafts in Detroit (1938-1942). She married Roger L. Stevens in 1938. They had a daughter, Christabel.[1]

Stevens founded the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) in 1951 and the Society for Animal Protective Legislation (SAPL) in 1955.[1][2][3] Under Stevens's leadership the SAPL succeeded in helping to pass animal protection laws including the Animal Welfare Act, Humane Slaughter Act, Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act.[3]

Stevens was the president of AWI until her death in 2002.[4][5][6] She is considered the mother of the Animal Welfare Act and the Endangered Species Act. She took no salary for her AWI work.[7] Stevens was an honorary trustee of the Bat Conservation International and the New York State Humane Association.[1]

She died at Georgetown University Hospital.[6] The Christine Stevens Wildlife Awards was named in her honour.[8]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations For 2001. U.S. Government Printing Office. Washington, 2000. p. 540. ISBN 0-16-060511-3
  2. ^ Epstein, Charlotte. (2008). The Power of Words in International Relations: Birth of an Anti-Whaling Discourse. MIT Press. p. 140. ISBN 978-0-262-55069-7
  3. ^ a b Magoc, Chris J. (2011). Chronology of Americans and the Environment. ABC-CLIO. p. 98. ISBN 978-1-59884-411-5
  4. ^ Phelps, Norm. (2007). The Longest Struggle: Animal Advocacy from Pythagoras to PETA. Lantern Books. pp. 190-191. ISBN 978-1-59056-106-5
  5. ^ "Animal Rights Network Oral History Collection 1999-2002". NC State University Libraries. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  6. ^ a b Saxon, Wolfgang. (2002). "Christine Stevens, 84, a Friend to the Animals". The New York Times. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  7. ^ Guither, Harold D. (1998). Animal Rights: History and Scope of a Radical Social Movement. Southern Illinois University Press. p. 41. ISBN 0-8093-2158-0
  8. ^ "Christine Stevens Wildlife Awards". Animal Welfare Institute. Retrieved February 28, 2020.

Further reading[edit]