Christine Gesell Stevens (March 10, 1918 – October 10, 2002) was an American

animal welfare Animal welfare is the well-being of non-human animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures such as longevity ...

activist and conservationist.

Biography

Stevens was born in St. Louis, Missouri.''Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations For 2001''. U.S. Government Printing Office. Washington, 2000. p. 540. She studied at the

University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts The University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA) is the liberal arts and sciences school of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Established in 1841 with seven students and two teachers, the college is current ...

(1936-1938) and at the Society of Arts and Crafts in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

(1938-1942). She married

Roger L. Stevens Roger Lacey Stevens (March 12, 1910 – February 2, 1998) was an American theatrical producer, arts administrator, and real estate executive. He was the founding Chairman of both the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (1961) and the National ...

in 1938. They had a daughter, Christabel. Stevens founded the

Animal Welfare Institute The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) is an American non-profit charitable organization founded by Christine Stevens in 1951 with the goal of reducing suffering inflicted on animals by humans. It is one of the oldest animal welfare organizations in ...

(AWI) in 1951 and the Society for Animal Protective Legislation (SAPL) in 1955.Magoc, Chris J. (2011). ''Chronology of Americans and the Environment''. ABC-CLIO. p. 98. Under Stevens's leadership the SAPL succeeded in helping to pass animal protection laws including the Animal Welfare Act,

Humane Slaughter Act The Humane Slaughter Act, or the Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act (P.L. 85-765; 7 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.), is a United States federal law designed to decrease suffering of livestock during slaughter. It was approved on August 27, 1958. T ...

Endangered Species Act The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA or "The Act"; 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq.) is the primary law in the United States for protecting imperiled species. Designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of ec ...

and the

Marine Mammal Protection Act The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) was the first act of the United States Congress to call specifically for an ecosystem approach to wildlife management. Authority MMPA was signed into law on October 21, 1972, by President Richard Nixon ...

. Stevens was the president of AWI until her death in 2002.Saxon, Wolfgang. (2002)
"Christine Stevens, 84, a Friend to the Animals"
''The New York Times''. Retrieved February 28, 2020. She is considered the mother of the Animal Welfare Act and the Endangered Species Act. She took no salary for her AWI work. Stevens was an honorary trustee of the Bat Conservation International and the New York State Humane Association. She died at

Georgetown University Hospital MedStar Georgetown University Hospital is one of the Washington, D.C. area's oldest academic teaching hospitals. It is a not-for-profit, acute care teaching and research facility located in the Georgetown neighborhood of the Northwest Quadrant ...

. The Christine Stevens Wildlife Awards was named in her honour."Christine Stevens Wildlife Awards"
Animal Welfare Institute. Retrieved February 28, 2020.

Biography

See also

References

Further reading