Building Community by Sue A. Leary
COAST TO COAST The magazine included news of regional efforts; here are two reports, the first in a letter regarding an anti-vivisection ballot measure in California: A Word from California2
Nov. 10th, 1920 My Dear Mrs. Halvey: Well, the election is over and we did not win. But personally I am not at all disappointed as I have been in the work too long not to realize the tremendous odds that we are up against, and I never looked upon our bill as anything but an AAVS ANNUAL MEETING, 1956: Recipients of Certificates of Merit (left to right) Mrs. Mildred McDowell, Mrs. Sarah Swinford, Mrs. Victor F. Lecoq, Mrs. Marie Olson, Mrs. Caroline Niedospial, and Miss Virginia W. Sargent.
educative measure. I did not think it was humanly possible to win the first time. No great reform has ever done that. Look at woman’s suffrage, prohibition, etc. However I think we did fairly well considering all things, and I was really surprised that we got as far as we did. We are not at all discouraged and will keep right on. Our cause is right and MUST and SHALL win in the end. Faithfully yours, Venia Kercheval Los Angeles Tea in New York3
The New York Anti-Vivisection Society is “at home” the first Monday of every month, when the members and their friends gather for an hour’s discussion of the work they are doing and a friendly cup of tea... . Mrs. Diana Belais, President of the Organization, was the first hostess of the season and...Miss Nellie C. Williams the second. It has been planned to have a speaker for each occasion and Miss Williams invited Mr. Robert R. Logan, our editor, to address her guests.... A real spirit of working together for the coveted goal of Abolition of Vivisection abounded... . Mrs. Diana Belais introduced Miss Williams, who is somewhat a stranger in the New York ranks, having been, until recently, an earnest worker in the Baltimore Society. Miss Williams...then presented Mr. Logan to her guests, and he spoke for about half an hour on the cruelty and moral aspect of vivisection. ...[E]veryone was then asked to talk informally and help one another with their ideas. When we saw the success of that afternoon, we were tempted to hurry our plans...for just such afternoons here.... [W]e hope many societies will follow the New York lead in this new plan of theirs, so that every month many friends of our Cause may meet socially, yet with earnest thoughts, to discuss over the tea-tables ways and means to reach the people so that a great many more shall unite their efforts with ours in behalf of those who suffer in the laboratories throughout the world. —N.H. [Nina Halvey] THE RICH AND FAMOUS Celebrities attracted interest for AV Magazine readers in days past as much as they do today. These three news items went beyond vivisection to address other issues of animal cruelty. For example, in 1929, former Maine governor Percival P. Baxter was compelled to write to the magazine to set the
16
AV125
PHOTOS COURTESY OF AAVS ARCHIVE
BEFORE THE INTERNET, there was the AV Magazine. In these pages, people who cared about animals in an uncaring world found each other, and found ways to speak out against animal suffering and injustice.The intent of the magazine was to inform and empower readers. It was also to build the community of advocates for animals, learning from shared strategies, successes, and setbacks. This is how our movement was built: on the passion of individuals and organizations, networked across the miles. The community was very much in evidence when dozens of tributes were received and published after the death of AAVS founder and leading humanitarian Caroline Earle White in 1916. In a special issue,1 the magazine shared pages of messages. The California Antivivisection Society wrote, “Though separated by the space of a continent, and never having met her face to face yet the spiritual bond existed, and we are ever loath to lose those to whom we have been drawn by the tender ties of an unselfish desire to alleviate suffering and distress...”