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The Animal Advocates Oral History Collection contains fourteen interviews conducted between 1999 and 2004 with individuals who were involved in different areas of the movement to protect animals. The project sought to examine the genesis and development of ethical frameworks regarding the treatment of animals, the trajectories of different collective actions, how the movements of the 1970s and 1980s continued or differed from earlier movements for the treatment of animals, and the role that individuals played in shaping the movement. Aspects of animal protection discussed in the interviews include animal shelters, opposition to vivisection and scientific testing on animals, treatment of agricultural animals, and environmentalism. Common themes addressed include connections between violence towards animals and violence towards humans, connections with other social justice movements, vegetarianism and veganism, interactions between different organizations, and the religious and ethical backgrounds of narrators.

This collection contains the papers, consisting primarily of correspondence, of Elbridege T. Gerry (1837-1927), 1857 graduate of Columbuia College and later famous as a lawyer and philanthropist. There are also documents concerning Columbia College Class of 1857, college notebooks, memorabilia, and manuscript copies of Gerry's essays and orations.