Editing Henry Bergh (section)

== Life ==
Henry Bergh was born August 29, 1813, in [[New York City]], to [[Christian Bergh]] III and Elizabeth Bergh.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Shelman|first1=Eric A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eQCUMG5E4_AC&pg=PA28|title=The Mary Ellen Wilson Child Abuse Case and the Beginning of Children's Rights in 19th Century America|last2=Lazoritz|first2=Stephen|date=2005-01-01|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-2039-1|pages=28|language=en}}</ref> His father, an ethnic [[German people|German]], was a successful shipbuilder who had completed a series of contracts for the government.<ref name=NatCyc>''National Cyclopedia of American Biography: Volume 3.'' New York: James White and Co., 1893; pg. 106.</ref> Henry Bergh joined his father in 1835 at the [[Christian Bergh|C. Bergh & Co.]], shipbuilding business. Upon his death in 1843, he left a large estate to the benefit of the three Bergh children, including Henry.<ref name=NatCyc />

Bergh attended [[Columbia University|Columbia College]] in New York City, but left before completing his degree, deciding instead to tour Europe, where he remained for five years.<ref name=NatCyc />

In 1862 Bergh entered government service when President [[Abraham Lincoln]] appointed him secretary of the U.S. legation in [[Russian Empire|Tsarist Russia]].<ref name=NatCyc /> He served time in [[St. Petersburg]] as acting vice-consul. He resigned his position in 1864 owing to Russia's severe winter weather.<ref name=NatCyc />

=== Advocacy ===

==== Animal welfare ====
[[File:Henry Bergh by Coleman 1924.png|thumb|upright|left|Bergh, unknown date]]
During his stay in Europe, Bergh witnessed various cruelties committed upon animals, which affected him greatly.<ref name=NatCyc /> In [[England]] Bergh met [[Dudley Ryder, 2nd Earl of Harrowby|Lord Harrowby]], president of the [[Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals]], who impressed upon Bergh the importance of his mission, leading Bergh to dedicate the rest of his life to the cause of ending animal cruelty.<ref name=NatCyc />

On April 10, 1866, an act of incorporation of the [[American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals]] (ASPCA) was granted by the New York state legislature, with Bergh assuming the role of president of the new association, for which he received no financial compensation.<ref name=NatCyc /> Bergh and his wife provided initial funding for the [[non-governmental organization|private organization]], but after some time Bergh was requested to meet an old man in a hospital, Louis Bonard, a rich Frenchman who had earned a fortune trading animal furs. Bonard was full of praise for Bergh's work. He wanted to leave a fortune of $100,000 to the society. He said to Bergh, "I shall help you! Only if you promise that if ever you have the power, you will extend your protection to the wild things of forest and plain." Bergh promised and accepted the $100,000.<ref name=NatCyc /> Branches of the ASPCA were subsequently established throughout the United States and Canada.<ref name=NatCyc />

Under Bergh's leadership, the early ASPCA involved itself in a wide variety of issues, including slaughterhouse practices, animal transportation, care of horses, elimination of [[vivisection]], [[cock fighting]], and [[dog fighting]], and the abolition of use of live pigeons in shooting matches. Bergh and the ASPCA are particularly credited for the use of [[clay pigeons]] in trap shooting.<ref name=NatCyc />

During the 1872 outbreak of [[Equine influenza|horse flu]], Bergh stood wearing a top hat in the middle of New York City's streets and stopped horse-drawn trolleys and wagons being pulled by sick animals, sending them back to their stables. Although he was threatened with lawsuits by transit companies, his advocacy raised the profile of the cause.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Freeberg |first1=Henry |title=How a flu virus shut down the US economy in 1872 – by infecting horses |url=https://theconversation.com/how-a-flu-virus-shut-down-the-us-economy-in-1872-by-infecting-horses-150052 |access-date=12 December 2020 |work=The Conversation |date=3 December 2020}}</ref>

In 1873, Bergh conducted a national lecture tour taking him across the [[Western United States|American West]].<ref name=NatCyc /> He was also able to speak on the animal welfare cause before the [[Evangelical Alliance]] and the Episcopal convention, with the latter passing a resolution giving its clergy express permission to preach an annual sermon against cruelty to animals.<ref name=NatCyc />

==== Child welfare ====
[[File:Every Man Rides His Own Hobby, trade card, Kash, H. Bergh.jpg|upright|thumb|Trading card depicting Bergh by [[Cassius Marcellus Coolidge]], {{circa|1870–1900}}]]
In 1874, Bergh was approached by a [[Methodist]] missionary named [[Etta Agnell Wheeler]], who sought help rescuing a child named [[Mary Ellen Wilson]] from her cruel abuser, Mary Connolly. After Mary Ellen's story was heard, and she was subsequently rescued through Bergh's efforts, other complaints came in to Bergh. In response, Bergh himself, along with Elbridge T. Gerry and John D. Wright, formed the [[New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children]] ([[New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children|NYSPCC]]) in 1875. Over the coming years, other SPCC organizations were formed, such as the Massachusetts organization in 1888, the [[Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children]] ([[Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children|MSPCC]]).<ref>Two books on the case include ''Out of the Darkness: The Story of Mary Ellen Wilson'' c1999, Dolphin Moon Publishing, Authors Eric A. Shelman & Stephen Lazoritz, M.D., and ''The Mary Ellen Wilson Child Abuse Case and the Beginning of Children's Rights in 19th Century America.'', c2005, McFarland, Authors, Eric A. Shelman & Stephen Lazoritz, M.D.</ref>