Partner Eric H. Hansen
Queer Places:
Woodside Cemetery
Yarmouth Port, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, USA
William Alan Swallow (January 24, 1903 - October, 1980) was a magazine editor
active in animal protection groups.
Humane historian
Sydney H. Coleman was not
open about his sexuality. Coleman was “outed” only many years after his death
in private correspondence by Eric H. Hansen, his much younger protege, who
later headed the Humane Society of Missouri, the American Humane Association,
and finally the Massachusetts SPCA. Hansen and William Alan Swallow,
who worked with him throughout his tenures at the AHA and MSPCA, were
more-or-less openly coupled for approximately 40 years.
William Alan Swallow was born in Corning, N.Y., the son of Robert Mitchell Swallow
(1871–1947) and
Adeline L. Whedon (1870–1958). He graduated from the Syracuse
University College of Journalism in 1929. In 1931 he married Katherine Jane Amey Swallow (1905–2005). Eric H. Hansen met his life partner, Willian Alan Swallow, at the American Humane Association, where Swallow had worked since 1930.
His life work was in the field of animal protection, first with the American
Humane Association of Albany, N.Y.; Swallow, editor of the American Humane
Association monthly periodical The National Humane Review from 1941 to 1943,
followed Hansen to the Massachusetts SPCA for the remainder of his career.
From 1943-1968 he was vice
president, secretary and member of the board of directors of the Massachusetts
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, American Humane Education
Society and Angell Memorial Animal Hospital, Boston. In addition, he was the
editor of the society's monthly magazine, "Animals." He also wrote many
articles about animals and the book, "Quality of Mercy," a history of the
humane movement in the United States. Swallow was a vice president and member
of the board of directors of the Fondouk Animal Shelter and Hospital in Fez,
Morocco, and was treasurer and board member of the International Society for
the Protection of Animals, which gave him the chance to travel extensively
throughout the world to study humane work. He was a member of the Norfolk
Lodge A.F. & A.M.of Needham, American Association of Retired Persons and the
Dennis-Yarmouth Senior Citizens. He moved to the Cape in 1971, previously
living in Needham.
William A. Swallow died in October, 1980, in the Whitehall Manor Nursing
Home, Hyannis.
My published books:
BACK TO HOME PAGE
