Humane Society of the United States donates records to the Libraries

The NC State University Libraries Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) is excited to announce the donation of the historical records of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). The materials, which include a broad range of original records--correspondence, photographs, reports, publications, ephemera, and other unique items relating to animal protection--all relate to the society’s history and that of its various affiliates, including the Fund for Animals, the Doris Day Animal League, the National Association for the Advancement of Humane and Environmental Education, Humane Society International, Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association, and the Center for the Respect of Life and Environment.  

The HSUS materials include original correspondence, publications, and photographs dating from the mid-1950s, with the bulk of the records from later decades, encompassing the full range of its activities in promoting the protection of companion animals, farm animals, animals in laboratories, and wildlife. The records reflect the organization’s special focus on public policy, humane education, and direct animal care work.  

“We’re proud of our 65-year history and we wanted to add our historical records to the outstanding collections already at the archive, to further support scholarship concerning the course of modern animal protection,” said Kitty Block, President and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States. 

HSUS Senior Policy Advisor Bernard Unti, a historian of animal protection in the United States, has overseen the transfer of materials. “We’ve closely watched the development of the Animal Rights Archive at NC State over the last few years, and we’re impressed with its efforts to share resources with both scholarly and public audiences. It’s reached critical mass as North America’s most important animal protection archive.” 

Special Collections Associate Head and Curator Gwynn Thayer stated, “NC State University Libraries is thrilled to receive the HSUS Records to add to its growing animal rights and animal welfare archive that documents the history of animal protection in the United States. The HSUS is one of the most significant animal advocacy nonprofits currently active in the United States, and the records will be of enormous interest to scholars and other researchers interested in the broad field of animal studies.”  The records will undergo archival processing before they are made available to researchers. 

The HSUS was founded in 1954 as a new kind of animal organization, one that would build a national—and eventually global—base, and one that would take on the biggest animal protection struggles, using public policy, education, and direct animal care work to advance its broad-ranging goals.