Caroline White ( Earle; 1833–1916) was an American philanthropist and anti-vivisection activist. She co-founded the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PSPCA) in 1867, founded its women's branch (WPSPCA) in 1869, and founded the American Anti-Vivisection Society (AAVS) in 1883.
White was also an active clubwoman, and was involved in literary societies and women's suffrage, and worked with organizations that helped the poor obtain medical services.
Background
Early life and education
Caroline Earle was born in Philadelphia on September 28, 1833, to Quaker parents Thomas Earle and Mary Hussey. Thomas Earle was a successful Philadelphia lawyer who was devoted to the abolitionist cause and often represented both free and fugitive African Americans. Earle also wrote the new constitution for Pennsylvania and was a candidate for vice president when the Anti-Slavery party had its first presidential ticket in 1840. Earle’s mother, Mary Hussey, was a cousin to Lucretia Mott and was an abolitionist and a suffragist.
Earle was educated on Nantucket Island in Massachusetts. She studied astronomy, and was well versed in Latin and spoke German, French, Italian, and Spanish. Her family’s wealth gave her many educational opportunities not available to other girls of the time.
Marriage
In 1856 Earle married attorney Richard P. White, a member of one of the most respected Catholic families in Pennsylvania. Richard White would later open a firm with Caroline’s brother, under the name Earle and White. After a year of study White converted to Catholicism. She and her husband had one son, Thomas Earle White.
After her marriage, White had many intellectual and humanitarian pursuits to occupy her time. She wrote and published several travel guides, short stories, and novels, including A Holiday in Spain and Norway, Love in the Tropics: A Romance of the South Seas, and An Ocean Mystery. Many of her works received critical acclaim. After her conversion to Catholicism, she became president of the St. Vincent’s Aid Society, an organization that donated medical services and supplies to poor and orphaned children. She also served as chairwoman of the Ladies Auxiliary and the American Catholic Historical Society, and as vice president of the Browning Society, a women’s literary club. She was also a supporter of women’s suffrage.
Involvement in such a wide range of reform movements was not unusual for middle-class women in the 19th century. In fact, White firmly believed that one social injustice could lead to another, as evidenced with her involvement with the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. In the 1878 annual report for the women’s branch of the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, she stated that much of the cruelty toward animals was due to alcohol. She said, “Ought we not then, in our desire to ameliorate the sufferings of our dumb friends, to add our efforts to those who are laboring for a reform in this manner?” The WPSPCA built water fountains in cities all over the country to provide men and animals a place to drink besides the local bar.
Animal advocacy
Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
As a child, White often witnessed drivers beating their exhausted horses as they labored under heavy freight down Philadelphia’s streets. Later she recalled how such sights depressed and troubled her that she could no longer walk down certain streets. Richard White knew of his wife’s feelings and mentioned to her that she should become involved in the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA); the world’s first animal welfare society.