Women's Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals records

Table of Contents

Summary Information

Background note

Scope and content note

Overview of arrangement

Administrative Information

Related Materials

Controlled Access Headings

Graphic content

Collection Inventory

1. Administrative records

2. Financial records

3. Scrapbooks, images, and clippings

Summary Information

Repository

Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Creator

Women's Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Title

Women's Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals records

ID

3156

Date

1870-1977, undated (bulk 1886-1969)

Extent

18.1 Linear feet ; 12 boxes, 106 volumes

Sponsor

Processing and conservation made possible by generous donations from Carol Ingald and the Young Friends of HSP, and by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.

Language

English

Abstract

Caroline Earle White, a Philadelphia activist, and about thirty other women founded the Women’s Branch of the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (WPSPCA) in 1869 after White had been shut out of a leadership role of the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Originally, the WSPCA's purpose was to provide for the inspection of and care of working horses in Philadelphia, but the scope quickly expanded to include livestock and small animals. Despite the nominal designation as a branch of the Pennsylvania SPCA, the society was fully independent from the beginning, and White served as president until her death in 1916. The group promoted animal welfare through youth education and legislative reform, providing fountains and drinking stations for horses and cattle, and by addressing individual cases of cruelty. Now legally known as Women’s Humane Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals the organization does business as the Women’s Animal Center, continuing the work started in 1869. It is a member of the Philadelphia No-Kill coalition and operates out of Bensalem, Pennsylvania. The collection includes photographs, correspondence, annual reports, minutes, their publication ("The Guardian"), newspaper clippings, business records, and other printed matter. The collection spans 100 years of the organization's history, with material dating from the 1870s to the late 1970s.

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Background note

In 1833, Caroline Earle White was born to wealthy abolitionist parents in Philadelphia. She was well educated, and her upbringing prepared her to become an activist. While White was also a suffragist, her greatest accomplishments were in animal welfare. In addtion to helping to found the Pennsylvania Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Women’s Branch of the Pennsylvania Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, she was also a founder of the Antivivisection Society.

In the 1860s, the treatment of animals, particularly horses working in cities, became a focus of reform. The American SPCA was established in 1866 in New York City, the first in the country. The Pennsylvania SPCA was organized the next year, the second such American society, chartered in 1868. Caroline Earle White was instrumental to its founding, but despite her skills and accomplishments, she was denied a role in the new society’s leadership because of her gender. In response, she organized a similar society to be run by women. She and thirty or so other women founded the Women’s Branch of the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals on April 14, 1869. White served as president until her death in 1916. Despite the nominal designation as a branch of the Pennsylvania SPCA, the society was fully independent from the beginning, and membership grew to almost 400 within a year. They petitioned the state legislature for a charter, which was granted early in 1870. The charter allowed them to be named as a beneficiary in wills and to receive bequests. In 1898, the organization officially changed its name to the Women’s Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The change had been deferred due to bequests received under the original name.

During the first year of operation, two agents were employed to inspect the condition and treatment of working horses. Cases quickly grew to include livestock, dogs, and cats. Humane education of children was recognized as another priority, and leaflets were printed and distributed to public schools and churches. The largest accomplishment of the first year was securing a contract with the City of Philadelphia to take over the dog-catching operation. At the time, stray dogs were routinely caught and killed. The WPSPCA wanted to establish a shelter and to keep them for a short time to reunite them with their owners or find new homes for them where possible. The remainder were to be humanely killed. The transfer of the operation to the WPSPCA also halted the sale of dogs for vivisection and experimentation. The city provided an acre and a half of land on Lamb Tavern Road, and the City Pound and Dog Shelter was established in 1870. In 1907, the city notified the WPSPCA that they would no longer be able to use the site of the City Pound. A plot of land on Clearfield Street was chosen for the new facilities, and construction was completed in the spring of 1908.

The society established the City Refuge for Lost and Suffering Animals in a house at 420 South 10th Street as a receiving station for sick or injured animals. An agent lived on-site to attend to the arrivals. The facility also provided temporary pet boarding for people who were traveling or unable to care for their pets for a time. The premises were quickly outgrown, and a larger property at 1242 Lombard Street was purchased around 1878. In 1889, a difference in opinion over management of the City Refuge precipitated its separation from the WPSPCA. In 1903, the society purchased another home to serve as a receiving station. The same agent from the earlier City Refuge occupied the premises with his wife and responded to after-hours calls for assistance.

Humane education efforts beyond literature distribution continued in the form of children’s groups. Julia Swift was hired in 1891 to establish Bands of Mercy in schools and churches to teach youngsters how to care for animals and treat them kindly. The group believed that youth education was a fundamental way to change how people would regard the animals in their care and the world at large. The program grew steadily, and in 1960, it reached 300,000 people.

The group championed the cause of animal welfare in other ways. From the beginning, they supported many legislative initiatives, including limiting the number of passengers on horse-drawn railway cars, ensuring more humane transport of animals to market and slaughter, a ban on pigeon shooting matches, and a ban on captive fox hunting. When electricity became a viable technology in the late 1800s, the society pushed for the electrification of streetcars in the city.

In the late 1880s, a change in liquor licensing laws caused the closure of many establishments which had provided public watering troughs for horses and cattle. The WPSPCA installed a trough near the Callowhill Street bridge on Thirtieth Street in 1889. The organization assumed the water rent for another trough at Woodland Avenue and Thirty-Fifth Street. The troughs served hundreds of animals daily. Over time, more troughs were installed, and in 1903, six granite fountains were erected which could provide water for horses and dogs. For locations where a trough or fountain was not feasible, the society operated watering stations for eight months of the year. At peak use, the society had 39 fountains and 40 watering stations, and well over 100,000 horses and mules were watered annually. In 1918, the watering stations were equipped with first aid supplies. By 1933, the number of watering stations had dropped to 15 and the operating season shortened, but they still served 26,000 horses in four months. The WPSPCA continued this service into the 1950s.

In the city, humane agents routinely responded to calls about sick, injured, and stray animals and dealt with cases of cruel treatment. The society maintained horse and small animal ambulances to transport animals for care. Over time, agents, both hired and volunteer, were authorized to operate in other Pennsylvania counties and throughout the state. They investigated claims of cruelty and inspected livestock trains.

In 1908, founding member and long-time society vice president Annie L. Lowry died. In her will, she bequeathed $60,000 to the WPSPCA with $10,000 specified for watering fountains and $20,000 specified to provide a home for smaller animals. In 1912 a suitable property was acquired on Eastwick Avenue, and the Annie L. Lowry Home for Smaller Animals was established as a receiving station and temporary home for animals until they could be adopted. The facility was the nation’s first animal shelter, and it served hundreds of animals annually. By 1930, the home had outgrown its location, and property was purchased on Clearfield Street adjacent to the City Pound. The new Annie Lowry Home was completed in 1931. A few years later, the society’s headquarters joined the pound and the shelter at 30th and Clearfield. In the mid-1950s, the clinic at this location was replaced with a state of the art animal hospital.

In December 1909, the WPSPCA used another portion of Lowry’s bequest to open the Caroline Earle White Dispensary at 315 South Chadwick Street to provide free and low-cost veterinary care for animals large and small. The facility, inspired by the dispensaries of Florence and London, was the one of the first of its kind in the United States. The number of animals treated grew steadily, exceeding 7600 by 1927. Operations at this address continued at least through the mid-1960s.

Now legally known as the Women’s Humane Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals the organization does business as Women’s Animal Center, continuing the work started in 1869. It is a member of the Philadelphia No-Kill coalition and operates out of Bensalem, Pennsylvania.

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Scope and content note

Series 1, Administrative records (1870-1971) includes minutes, annual reports, publicity materials, and a few miscellaneous items. The minutes, which span nearly a century, and the annual reports dominate the series. The annual reports contain much information about operations and activities of the organization. There is very little correspondence. The miscellaneous material includes a call log (Volume

Series 2, Financial records (1886-1977) contains mostly ledgers and account books. There are a few volumes of financial reports. Three volumes of payroll and compensation records are closed to researchers for 75 years from the date of creation. Please see the inventory for more information.

Series 3, Scrapbooks, images, and clippings (1888-1932) contains nine scrapbooks, and a modest amount of prints, photographs, and various clippings. The scrapbook dates range from 1871 to 1966 with some gaps in coverage. Images include Audubon bird prints and horse prints. A small number of photographs are present, mostly unlabeled and undated, but there is a portrait of first president, Caroline Earle White. A few folders of newspaper and magazine clippings round out the series.

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Overview of arrangement

1. Adminstrative records (1870-1971, undated)

1.a. Minutes (1877-1971, undated)

1.b. Annual reports and year books (1870-1953)

1.c. Publicity materials (1940s-1968, undated)

1.d. Miscellaneous (1908-1961, undated)

2. Financial records (1886-1977, undated)

3. Scrapbooks, images, and clippings (1871-1966, undated)

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

 Historical Society of Pennsylvania ; 2019.

Revision Description

 Revised and updated by Sara H. Nash. 2022

Access restrictions

Payroll and compensation records are closed to researchers for 75 years from the date of creation. Please see inventory for restriction information for specific items.

Provenance

Gift of the Women's Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 1984.

Processing note

Two scrapbook volumes have been dismantled and rehoused in folders in order to preserve the materials within. Old Volume 3 is now housed in Box 3 folders 8-15, and old Volume 4 is now housed Box 2 folders 5-8. Volume 40, Call log, has been treated for mold, and researchers should exercise caution when handling this item.

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Related Materials

Related materials

At the Historical Society of Pennsylvania:

Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals records, 1867-1921 (Collection 1709)

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Controlled Access Headings

Corporate Name(s)

• Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Woman's Branch.
• Women's Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Personal Name(s)

• White, Caroline E. (Caroline Earle), 1833-1916.

Subject(s)

• Animal shelters.
• Animal welfare.
• Animals.
• Benevolent Societies--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--20th Century Child Welfare.
• Horses, Care of--late 19th Century.
• Pets.
• Women's History--19th century.
• Women's History--Charitable Organizations--Philadelphia.
• Women's History--Clubs and Organizations.
• Women's history--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia.

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Graphic content

Researchers are advised that this collection contains many graphic descriptions of animal cruelty and trauma. Many occur in Volumes 39 and 40 and in the early decades of annual reports.

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Collection Inventory