A Legacy of Kindness: Nina Halvey and The Miss B’Kind Club
Animalearn: Following in the Footsteps of Miss B’Kind
In an effort to promote humane education, Animalearn was established in 1990. Following in the tradition of Nina Halvey’s Miss B’Kind Club, Animalearn works with teachers, students, and parents alike in providing humane education and alternatives to animal use in the life sciences for grades K-12, college, university, and veterinary/ medical school.
By Laura Ducceschi, MA, AAVS Education Director
Throughout its history, AAVS has been spreading the message of kindness to children and schools through humane education. One pioneer in humane education was Nina Halvey, an official of AAVS, who in 1927 formed the Miss B’Kind Animal Protection Club, which impacted the lives of children and animals around the globe. To children, Halvey was ‘Miss B’Kind,’ and she traveled to schools under this name to promote humane education. Believing this to be an important part of every child’s learning process and development, she was known for accepting virtually every invitation to speak with groups of children at schools, clubs, parties, and assemblies. Children frequently referred to her as “the lady who helps them be kind to animals.” The name ‘Miss B’Kind’ came to fruition during an assembly that Halvey was doing in Philadelphia schools during “Be Kind to Animals Week.” While hurrying to one of the assemblies, she asked a young boy to help her find the assembly hall. Halvey asked the child if he remembered her visit to the school last term. While the child could not remember her name, he remembered her message, to “be kind.”
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Halvey was pleased that her message of being kind was remembered, even if her name was not. It was at this point that Halvey vowed to become known to children as ‘Miss B’Kind.’ For over 40 years, Halvey worked to end vivisection. At least 20 of those years were spent working with the Miss B’Kind Club in an effort to inspire children to become active to help animals. As of 1935, there were 15 individual groups of children in the Philadelphia regions who met every other Saturday at AAVS’s headquarters. Miss B’Kind Club members were also allowed to use the AAVS library during the week. The club was open to
children between the ages of 8 and 16, and there were no dues required to belong to the club. Meetings took the form of parties to further engage the children. Students in the club pledged, “I will be kind to Animals now, and when I grow up.” There were many graduates from the program, who Halvey said had lived up to their word to be kind to animals when they grew up, indicating the lasting impact she had on students.
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Halvey promoted the club by placing announcements in newspapers inviting boys and girls to join the Philadelphia club. Children who responded received letters and a membership card. Almost 1,000 students were placed on the permanent list. Halvey made it clear to club members that if they observed animals who needed help, they could call her office, and someone would go to help the animal. Halvey’s humane education efforts took her out of Philadelphia, and into neighboring states as well as to other countries. She appeared on radio shows and delivered various lectures. In addition to the club in Philadelphia, Miss B’Kind had a correspondence membership for thousands of students in the United States, Australia, Canada, England, and Ireland. In 1949, on the World Day for Animals, AV MAGAZINE
AAVS was asked to ship 6,500 pieces of specially prepared Miss B’Kind leaflets and 800 posters for distribution in grade schools, which showed significant progress in humane education for AAVS at that time. Halvey was decorated internationally for her humane work with animals. She was awarded the Blue Cross of England for her work helping horses and dogs during World War I, and in 1931, she received the Humanitarian Award of the Geneva International Bureau for Protection of Animals. She was also active in opposing many attempts to remove a clause from Pennsylvania’s dog law, originally enacted in 1921, which banned the sale of impounded animals for vivisection. In 1950, she went to Geneva, Switzerland, for the International Conference on Animal Welfare.
Halvey served AAVS in various positions, including Recording Secretary and Managing Director from 1920 until her retirement in 1958. She was also Managing Editor of its publications for several years prior to her retirement. Nina Halvey died in 1972 at the age of 80, but her legacy of teaching children to “be kind” lives on at AAVS.
In 1996, Animalearn established The Science Bank, which has grown into the largest lending library of humane science products in the United States, and has over 400 CD-ROMs, models, videos, and manikins, all available for free. Traveling to various national education conferences, Animalearn showcases The Science Bank and Next of Kin, Animalearn’s humane education curriculum, along with Animalearn’s other outreach programs. In addition, Animalearn presents workshops to teach educators how to easily integrate the latest in humane alternatives into their classrooms. Animalearn is also active in helping students and educators establish student choice policies in their schools, campuses, or states. Currently, 10 states have student choice laws for students in grades K-12, and Animalearn is working to expand student choice so that students in other states have the option to choose an alternative. Animalearn also travels to colleges and universities to help students, educators, and administrators implement student choice policies for their campuses.
A PUBLICATION OF THE AMERICAN ANTI-VIVISECTION SOCIETY
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