Christine Stevens (animal welfare activist)

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

Christine Gesell Stevens
Born	March 10, 1918 St. Louis, Missouri
Died	October 10, 2002 (aged 84) Georgetown
Occupation	Animal welfare activist

Biography

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

• Women and animal advocacy

References

1. 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. 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. 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

• The Animals’ Angel Celebrating Christine Stevens’ Passionate Animal Activism. Animal Welfare Institute Quarterly (2003, Volume 52).