Bands of Mercy
Bands of Mercy were formal, locally led organizations that brought people—especially children and adolescents—together to learn about kindness to non-human animals. The Bands would also work to help animals and prevent cruelty in their area through humane education and direct action.
Creation
Modelled after the
Movement to Australia
The Band of Mercy movement spread to Australia, Canada and US. The Australian first Band of Mercy was founded in 4 January 1884 by Emma and her sister Frances Deborah Levvy. Frances' efforts resulted in her reporting that were 446 similar groups by 1889. The public schools in New South Wales supported her efforts to expand even more and she was paid to create new Bands of Mercy in Schools by the Department of Public Instruction. In return for the fifty pounds she was paid she visited dozens of schools and handled a voluminous correspondence.[5]
Levvy's relationship with the British RSPCA became difficult, but she persevered. She published the Band of Mercy and Humane Journal of New South Wales from July 1887 to 1923.[5][6]
Movement to North America
Following the British model,
Activities
Angell said that the goals of the Bands of Mercy were to "teach and lead every child and older person to seize every opportunity to say a kind word or do a kind act that will make some other human being or some dumb [i.e., that cannot speak] creature happier."[7]
Bands of Mercy were locally organized and run, even though they often used materials that were created and distributed nationally by the MSPCA and later the ASPCA. Consequently, there were many local variations to the activities of the Bands. In general, though, Bands of Mercy would hold regular meetings that began with the members pledging: "I will try to be kind to all living creatures, and try to protect them from cruel usage."[4] Adults would often then conduct lessons to promote kindness towards and concern for all animals. These lessons often involved reading stories and singing songs and hymns. At least two song collections made these available for Band meetings: Songs of Happy Life for Schools, Homes, and Bands of Mercy (Providence RI and London, 1897) by American Sarah J. Eddy and Hymns for Children with Opening and Closing Services and Songs and Hymns for Bands of Mercy and of Hope (London, 1894), edited by Charlotte Farrington. The Band of Mercy Advocate, established by Thomas Bywater Smithies in England in 1879, printed songs in every issue. Clapp-Itnyre writes that singing filled a crucial void: "to bring language--and aesthetically pleasing language at that--to a population of animals unable to speak in their own defense."[9]
Membership was not limited to children and adolescents; adults would hold officer positions and would use the Bands as a forum to discuss animal cruelty issues and how to handle them. An article dated 18 July 1899 in the San Francisco Call[10] about their local Band of Mercy, for example, mentions members reporting on the number of animal cruelty cases that had been reported in the last year (2,379) along with the resulting numbers of prosecutions (195) and convictions (129).
Post-War Decreases
Prior to the world wars, humane education—and the Bands of Mercy where children learned about it—was seen by many as a possible way to create a kinder and more peaceful world. The world wars dispelled much of this belief and thus the interest in Bands of Mercy. The
References
- ISBN 978-0-271-08163-2.
- required.)
- ^ "Animals". BLT19: 19th-Century Business, Labour, Temperance, & Trade Periodicals. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
- ^ a b c "Bands of Mercy". Be Kind: A Visual History of Humane Education. 2012-02-26. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
- ^ a b MacCulloch, Jennifer, "Levvy, Frances Deborah (1831–1924)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 2023-09-13
- ^ Melbourne, National Foundation for Australian Women and The University of. "Levvy, Mary Frances Debora - Woman - The Australian Women's Register". www.womenaustralia.info. Retrieved 2023-09-13.
- ^ a b "Bands of Mercy". MSPCA-Angell. Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 2014-10-03.
- ^ "U. S. Census Bureau". www.census.gov. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
- ^ Clapp-Itnyre, Alisa (2016). British Hymn Books for Children. Routledge. p. 216.
- ^ "Bands of Mercy Are Rapidly Growing: The Humane Element Takes Up the Work in Earnest". cdnc.ucr.edu. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ^ Unti, B. & DeRosa, B. (2003). Humane education: Past, present, and future. In D. J. Salem & A. N. Rowam (Eds.), The State of the Animals II: 2003 (pp. 27 – 50). Washington, D.C.: Humane Society Press
Further reading
- Bands of Mercy Exhibit in National Museum of Animals and Society Archived 2011-10-25 at the Wayback Machine's Be Kind: A Visual History of Humane Education, 1880–1945
- Clapp-Itnyre, Alisa. "Reforming Society: Missionary, Bands of Hope, and Bands of Mercy Hymns" (Chapter Five), in British Hymn Books for Children, 1800-1900. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate/Routledge, 2016.
- Clapp-Itnyre, Alisa. "Advocating for the Least of These: Empowering Children and Animals in The Band of Mercy Advocate." Chapter 5 in Animals and Their Children in Victorian Culture. Ed. Brenda Ayres and Sarah E. Maier. NY and London: Routledge, 2020. pp. 87–105.