Royal Dixon | |
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| Born | 25 March 1885 [1] |
| Died | 4 June 1962 (aged 77) |
| Occupation(s) | Botanist, writer |
Royal Dixon (25 March 1885 – 4 June 1962) was an American animal rights activist, botanist, philosopher, and a member of the Americanization movement. He was, along with Diana Belais (1858–1944), a founder of the "First Church for Animal Rights" in 1921.
Dixon was born at Huntsville, Texas on 25 March 1885 to Elijah and Francis Elizabeth Dixon. [1] He was educated at the Sam Houston Normal Institute, Morgan Park Academy, Chicago and later as a special student at the University of Chicago. His earliest career was as a child actor and dancer trained by Adele Fox. His last theatre appearance was in 1903 as an actor with the Iroquois theater in Chicago. [2] He became a curator at the department of botany at the Field Museum of Chicago from 1905 to 1910. [3] He subsequently became a staff writer at the Houston Chronicle . He also made special contributions to the newspapers of New York City, where he lectured for the Board of Education and founded a school for creative writing. His interest and attention were later directed to immigration, as a director of publicity of the Commission of Immigrants in America, and as managing editor of The Immigrants in America Review . He published a book on how immigrants needed to be "americanized" into a single uniform culture. [4]
Dixon's philosophical world-view was essentially panpsychic. From his studies in botany and natural science he held the view that everything was alive and that even insects and plants have personality. For example, in his book The Human Side of Plants he argued that plants are sentient and have minds and souls. A review in the Nature journal described the book as "partly a rebound from a hortus siccus botany, partly an uncritical vitalism, and partly a somewhat saddening illustration of the lack of critical balance." [5] The review was disappointed by this because Dixon cited many interesting facts about plants including their adaptations and movements but was criticized for anthropomorphism when comparing plant activities to humans. [5]
Dixon was a Christian who believed that the scriptures imply that "man and beasts" equally share a future life beyond physical death. [6] In his book The Personality of Water-Animals he wrote that "the Greatest of all teachers Christ knew the value of marine education for he chose as his disciples men thoroughly acquainted with the sea". [7]
In 1921, Dixon founded, along with Diana Belais, Dr. S.A. Schneidmann and several others, the First Church for Animal Rights in Manhattan and it had a membership of about 300 people. The inauguration of the church was held on 13 March 1921 at the Hotel Astor. Nearly 400 people attended the inauguration and the speakers included Mrs Edwin Markham, Dr John Edward Oster, Mrs Margaret Crumpacker, Miss Jessie B. Rittenhouse, Dr. A.L. Lucas and Miles M. Dawson. A full list of the church's objectives included: [2] [8]
Dixon is cited as an early activist and philosopher of animal rights. Historian Roderick Nash has commented that "Dixon tried to call Americans' attention to the idea that all animals have "the inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness". [9]
Dixon lived with his partner, a local artist, Chester Snowden. Dixon's letters and works are archived at the University of Houston Library. [10] Dixon was buried in Houston's Glenwood Cemetery. [11]
William James Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he is perhaps best known as one of the most prolific songwriters of his time. Next to Muddy Waters, Dixon is recognized as the most influential person in shaping the post–World War II sound of the Chicago blues.
In livestock agriculture and the meat industry, a slaughterhouse, also called an abattoir, is a facility where livestock animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a meat-packing facility.
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Garfield Bromley Oxnam was a social reformer and American Bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church, elected in 1936.
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"Wang Dang Doodle" is a blues song written by Willie Dixon. Music critic Mike Rowe calls it a party song in an urban style with its massive, rolling, exciting beat. It was first recorded by Howlin' Wolf in 1960 and released by Chess Records in 1961. In 1965, Dixon and Leonard Chess persuaded Koko Taylor to record it for Checker Records, a Chess subsidiary. Taylor's rendition quickly became a hit, reaching number thirteen on the Billboard R&B chart and number 58 on the pop chart. "Wang Dang Doodle" became a blues standard and has been recorded by various artists. Taylor's version was added to the United States National Recording Registry in 2023.
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Norm Phelps was an American animal rights activist, vegetarian and writer. He was a founding member of the Society of Ethical and Religious Vegetarians (SERV), and a former outreach director of the Fund for Animals. He authored four books on animal rights: The Dominion of Love: Animal Rights According to the Bible (2002), The Great Compassion: Buddhism and Animal Rights (2004), The Longest Struggle: Animal Advocacy from Pythagoras to PETA (2007), and Changing the Game: Animal Liberation in the Twenty-first Century (2015).
Alice Morgan Wright was an American sculptor, suffragist, and animal welfare activist. She was one of the first American artists to embrace Cubism and Futurism.
The relationship between Christianity and animal rights is complex, with different Christian communities coming to different conclusions about the status of animals. The topic is closely related to, but broader than, the practices of Christian vegetarians and the various Christian environmentalist movements.
John Howard Moore was an American zoologist, philosopher, educator, and social reformer. He was best known for his advocacy of ethical vegetarianism and his pioneering role in the animal rights movement, both deeply influenced by his ethical interpretation of Darwin's theory of evolution. Moore's most influential work, The Universal Kinship (1906), introduced a sentiocentric philosophy he called the doctrine of Universal Kinship, arguing that the ethical treatment of animals, rooted in the Golden Rule, is essential for human ethical evolution, urging humans to extend their moral considerations to all sentient beings, based on their shared physical and mental evolutionary kinship.
Humphrey Primatt was an English clergyman and early animal rights writer. Primatt has been described as "one of the most important figures in the development of a notion of animal rights."
Francis Harold Rowley was an American Baptist minister, animal welfare campaigner and hymn writer.
Why I Am a Vegetarian is an 1895 pamphlet based on an address delivered by J. Howard Moore before the Chicago Vegetarian Society. It was reprinted several times by the society and other publishers.
Moral Inquiries on the Situation of Man and of Brutes is an 1824 book by Lewis Gompertz, an early animal rights advocate and vegan. The book argues that animals, like humans, are sentient beings capable of experiencing pain and pleasure, and thus deserve moral consideration. He critiques the exploitation of animals for labour, food, and clothing, condemning practices such as slaughter, hunting, and scientific experimentation. He also addresses the suffering of wild animals, suggesting that even in nature, animals face hardships such as hunger and predation.
The New Ethics is a 1907 book by the American zoologist and philosopher J. Howard Moore, in which he advocates for a form of ethics, that he calls the New Ethics, which applies the principle of the Golden Rule—treat others as you would want to be treated yourself—to all sentient beings. It builds upon the arguments made in his 1899 book, Better-World Philosophy, and 1906 book, The Universal Kinship.
Moral circle expansion is an increase over time in the number and type of entities given moral consideration. The general idea of moral inclusion was discussed by ancient philosophers and since the 19th century has inspired social movements related to human rights and animal rights. Especially in relation to animal rights, the philosopher Peter Singer has written about the subject since the 1970s, and since 2017 so has the think tank Sentience Institute, part of the 21st-century effective altruism movement. There is significant debate on whether humanity actually has an expanding moral circle, considering topics such as the lack of a uniform border of growing moral consideration and the disconnect between people's moral attitudes and their behavior. Research into the phenomenon is ongoing.
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