Our Legacy

Drive 45 minutes west and slightly south of Ann Arbor and you will find yourself among many lakes and gently rolling hills – an area of southeast Michigan dubbed the “Irish Hills”. There you will also find Frog Holler Farm, with 120 acres of those rolling hills, along with many wooded sections and a large pond at the center. It’s a pretty piece of land. 

From the 1940’s to 1972, the land was owned by Dr. Robert and Cora Lees Gesell. Dr. Gesell was a professor of physiology and Chairman of the Physiology Dept. at U-M Medical School in the 40’s and 50’s. Mrs. Gesell was an ardent conservationist, and, when she decided to sell Frog Holler after the death of Dr. Gesell, asked that the new owners continue to care for the land and animals and to “forever call the land Frog Holler". This was the Gesell's pet name for the land, no doubt inspired by the frog chorus that emanates from the “hollers” between the hills (or perhaps by the frogs that holler!).

Christine Stevens at the
Ann Arbor Humane Society, 1950

At a time when the treatment of animals was considered the necessary collateral of scientific research, Dr. Gesell shocked his colleagues in 1952 when he delivered a paper calling for the humane treatment of animals in laboratories and the cessation of vivisection in the name of scientific research.

Dr. Gesell also enlisted his daughter, Christine Stevens, to “do something for the plight of animals in laboratories”. Christine did more than “something”; she was known as the “Mother of the Animal Protection Movement” and was instrumental in passage of the Animal Welfare Act, The Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Humane Slaughter Act, the Laboratory Animal Welfare Act and the Wild Bird Conservation Act. Christine, who passed away in 2002, was also founder of the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) and the Society for Animal Protective Legislation (SAPL) - now merged with the Animal Welfare Institute.

In the words of Dr. Jane Goodall: “Christine Stevens was a giant voice for animal welfare. Passionate, yet always reasoned, she took up one cause after another and she never gave up. Millions of animals are better off because of Christine’s quiet and very effective advocacy.”

Although we never met any of these extraordinary individuals (although we did meet Jane Goodall - but that's another story), we continue to draw inspiration from their dedication to fairness and justice for the land and all of its inhabitants. By gardening organically, we do our best to respect the land and the complex interweaving of plants, insects, birds, and animals that creates a healthy ecosystem. And of course we call the land Frog Holler!

Frog Holler Farm