Amy Freeman Lee: A Lifetime of Devotion to the Humane Movement

By Bernard Unti

Amy Freeman Lee, the longest-serving board member in HSUS history, was never one to shy away from a controversial opinion, whether it was opposing McCarthyism in Texas in the 1950s or the rodeo during the 1960s and 1970s, a time when westerns like Bonanza and Gunsmoke were captivating TV audiences coast to coast.

It was, in fact, her outspoken denunciation of the rodeo that brought Lee into the orbit of The HSUS, which was especially active on the issue during the 1960s and 1970s. Not only were Lee's criticisms going against America's cultural grain at the time, but they were also going against two uncles and a close friend, who were prominent leaders of San Antonio's annual livestock exposition and rodeo. "I loathe, detest, and despise rodeos," she once commented. "As long as we torment animals, we are going to have a brutal society because we dehumanize ourselves."

By Lee's own account, animal protection stood at the center of her commitments. "I've always said that if you could X-ray my spirit and not just my old bones, you'd find the humane movement," she told a reporter in 2002. She worked hard against cruelty, Lee recalled on another occasion, because, "Basically, I don't think that any brutal, cruel, violent society has a future."

Executive Vice President Patrick B. Parkes recruited Lee to The HSUS in the late 1960s after becoming aware of her anti-rodeo activism. She spoke at The HSUS's 1968 National Humane Conference, and joined the organization's board the following year. From then on, she was a regular speaker at annual conferences and other functions. Lee served as secretary of the HSUS board for many years, and was a longtime member of the Legal Ethics and Bylaws Committee.

An educator herself, Lee took a special interest in the work of the National Association for Humane and Environmental Education (NAHEE), The HSUS's youth educational division. In 1974, she moderated the first NAHEE general conference, offering a memorable challenge at its outset: "How shall those of us in the humane ethics movement know when we have succeeded? What will be the real test? When we manifest our awareness that to be educated and to be humane are synonymous, and when the very term, 'humane education,' is obviously such a redundancy that it is no longer used."

Apart from her devoted board service, which ended with her death in July 2004 at age 89, Lee authored many articles, essays, and letters in support of The HSUS's work. Her essay, "A Game for All Seasons," appeared in On the Fifth Day: Animal Rights and Human Ethics, the proceedings of a 1976 conference. In it, Lee suggested that hunting, rodeo, and sealing, among other activities, indicated the degree to which "brutality, cruelty, and violence constitute major motivations in our society," and celebrated the philosophies of Loren Eiseley and Albert Schweitzer as evidence that humans could aspire to much more. In 1985, Lee received the Joseph Wood Krutch Medal, The HSUS's highest honor.

Horse Latitudes

Lee traced her desire to protect animals to her childhood. Raised by her maternal grandmother in a prosperous family, Lee had dogs, horses, and other animals, and was expected to care for them in a responsible manner. She was an enthusiastic equestrian; not even a broken back and neck from two separate riding accidents dampened her love for horses and riding. Lee once quipped, "I may not have agreed with Ronald Reagan on many things, but one thing he said was true: 'The world looks better from the back of a horse."

In the late 1930s, Lee was briefly married to Captain Ernest R. Lee, who became an aide to General Dwight D. Eisenhower during World War II. As an active participant in San Antonio politics, Lee spoke out against McCarthyism in Texas during the 1950s and fought racial and social inequality throughout her life. Apart from the Krutch medal, one of Lee's most treasured honors was the Maury Maverick, Sr. Award, bestowed by the San Antonio chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. In 1985, she was the subject of a television documentary, Reality Is Becoming.

Lee's influence clearly stretched far beyond animal protection circles. She was an author, artist and educator who played a significant role in San Antonio's arts and cultural community. Her influence in the Alamo City's cultural development made her a legend. In 1938, at age 24, she co-founded the San Antonio Symphony. A decade later, the self-taught watercolor painter helped found the Texas Watercolor Society. These were just two of the many institutions she nurtured during seven decades of support for civic, cultural, educational, and other institutions in the state of Texas.

In a public speaking career that exceeded half a century, Lee delivered more than 2,700 talks. An internationally recognized artist, she had more than 1,250 exhibitions of her work. In 1965, she was awarded an honorary doctorate of letters from the College of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, from which she had obtained her undergraduate degree. She also chaired the institution's board of directors for many years.

A 2002 newspaper profile described her loves as champagne, chamber music, fine horses, beautiful cars, great hotels, and baseball, and her dislikes as injustice, cruelty, violence, hypocrisy, gossip, and air travel. She was the author of four books.

Lee generally described her spiritual convictions as rooted in Schweitzer's concept of reverence for life. "We are all one—these four words sum it up. My life [has been] centered on the humane movement because our survival depends on it."

A Well-Deserved Rest

Lee passed away on July 20, 2004 in San Antonio, leaving behind a long list of accomplishments and admirers.

"Amy was an iconic and highly influential part of The HSUS during her remarkable 35 years of service to The HSUS Board of Directors," said Board Chair David O. Wiebers, M.D., at the time of her death. "We celebrate her life of dedication to the animal protection movement and her extraordinary passion, wit and wisdom."

Lee's legendary wit extended to her assessment of the hereafter, about which she set one categorical condition: "If I get up there and my dogs aren't there, I'm asking God for my money back."

Bernard Unti received his doctorate in U.S. history in 2002 from American University. His book, Protecting All Animals: A Fifty-Year History of The Humane Society of the United States, is available from Humane Society Press.