John G. Shortall, one of the founders of Chicago Title & Trust, was also a driving force in the creation of the American Humane Society. Chicago, as a center of the meatpacking industry, was also an early center for the humane treatment of animals. In 1869, Chicagoans including Shortall created the Illinois Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Eight years later, Shortall called for a convention of local and state societies to form a national organization that would have enough political strength to lobby Congress "to protect animals in transit from the West to the East." Two years later, the Illinois Humane Society extended its reach to include abandoned, neglected, and abused children in the absence of any other secular organization to care for them. In this speech Shortall presented in Toronto in 1907, he outlines the reach of those child-saving activities.

Author: John G. Shortall
Source: Chicago Historical Society (ICHi-38215)