A little boy wrote to Ethel Soper Hardy about how he helped a puppy the previous summer, while Bessie Smith is believed to have written about wanting to attend a meeting, and Maine Gov. Percival Baxter praised her work.
“I’m struck by the sheer richness, the detail of this correspondence,” said Dr. Bernard Unti, senior policy adviser for the Humane Society of the United States, inside the Humane Educational Society on Monday morning as he reviewed the yellow, brittle documents written almost 100 years ago.
A couple of years ago, while cleaning the boiler room in the basement, staff and volunteers of Chattanooga’s Humane Educational Society found one of the older records.
“As I take great interest in the Humane Society, please let me know when you have your next meeting. Respect, (Miss) Bessie Smith.” — May 9, 1910 ” … I’ll try and do some real good work during ‘Be kind to animals week,’ … with love from your friend, Billy Thompson.” — April 5, 1923 “You have an unusual understanding of men and of animals and you are doing a wonderful work for the human and the humane cause. I have not read anything so appealing as your article and shall keep it in the personal files of my administration. Believe me. Cordially yours, Governor of Maine, Percival Proctor Baxter.” — Sept. 2, 1924FAST FACTS* 1824 — First humane society formed in England* 1866 — First humane society formed in the United States* 1877 — Julius Ochs created the Chattanooga Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.* 1910 — Ethel Soper Hardy incorporated the Humane Educational Society.Source: Dr. Bernard Unti, the Humane Society of the United States, Humane Educational Society