New Animal Rights Network Oral Histories Digitized

The Animal Rights Network Oral History Collection has been digitized and is now available on the Special Collections Digital Collections website. These oral histories (transcripts included) are interviews with prominent figures in the animal rights and welfare movement, including Christine Stevens, Michael Fox, John Hoyt, and Roger Caras. The oral histories were conducted by the Animal Rights Network from 1999 to 2002, and Special Collections staff digitized the original recordings that were on audio cassette tapes. 

In 1979, the Animal Rights Network was established by former members of Friends of Animals, Inc. The ARN joined forces with the animal rights magazine Agenda, and together they worked to unite local, national, and international animal rights groups to achieve common goals. ARN's main objectives incorporated the central issues confronting the animal rights movement, such as live animal experimentation, exploitation of animals for sport and entertainment, intensive breeding and slaughter of domestic animals for food, and irresponsible pet ownership.

Featured in the ARN oral history collection is an interview with Christine Stevens, the founder of the Animal Welfare Institute (1951) and the Society for Animal Protective Legislation (1955). Under her leadership, the AWI’s and SAPL’s lobbying efforts led to the successful creation of multiple laws for the protection of animals, including US legislation on animal experimentation, humane slaughter, trapping, and safeguarding endangered species. SCRC has other materials related to Steven’s work in animal protection in the Animal Welfare Institute Records.

Michael Fox is a consulting veterinarian, lecturer, author, and conservationist who began working for the Humane Society of the United States in 1976. He served in various roles for the HSUS, including as director of the Center for Respect of Life and Environment (CRLE), HSUS Vice President, and senior scholar. Some of his published work on animal studies are the New Eden: for People, Animals & Nature; Animals Have Rights, Too; and the Boundless Circle: Caring for Creatures and Creation. Other materials related to Michael Fox can be found in the Humane Society of the United States Records. 

Another oral history featured in the collection is an interview with John Hoyt, the former president of the Humane Society of the United States. Hoyt served as president of the HSUS from 1970 to 1992 and helped to found Humane Society International (HSI), a branch of the organization that promotes global animal rights and welfare advocacy. In addition, he served as president of the Center for Respect of Life and Environment (CRLE) and the National Association for Humane and Environmental Education (NAHEE). SCRC has other materials related to Hoyt’s work in the Humane Society of the United States Records.

Lastly, the ARN oral history collection contains an interview with Roger Caras, president emeritus of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) from 1991 to 1999. Roger Caras was an author, naturalist, and photographer who worked to educate the public about companion animals and the preservation of wildlife. Caras is credited with shifting the focus of the ASPCA away from euthanization programs and toward population control measures, among other large organizational changes in the 1990s. Materials related to Caras’s work can be found in several SCRC collections, including the Humane Society of the United States Records and the Ron Scott Animal Rights Videotape Collection. SCRC has also digitized materials from the ASPCA in a grant-funded project, which you can learn more about here. 

To learn more about animal rights and welfare collections at NC State University, visit our online collections guide webpage. Additionally, the Special Collections Digital Collections website contains many images and videos related to animal rights online.

If you have any questions or are interested in this collection, or any related collections, please contact us at library_specialcollections@ncsu.edu or submit a request online. The Special Collections Research Center is open by appointment only. Appointments are available Monday–Friday, 9am–6pm and Saturday, 1pm–5pm. Requests for a Saturday appointment must be received no later than Tuesday of the same week.