Charles Michael Higgins (October 4, 1854 – October 21, 1929) was an Irish-American ink manufacturer and
anti-vaccinationist
Anti-vaccine activism, which collectively constitutes the "anti-vax" movement, is a set of organized activities expressing opposition to vaccination, and these collaborating networks have often sought to increase vaccine hesitancy by dissem ...
.
Biography
Higgins was born in
County Leitrim
County Leitrim ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim, County Leitr ...
, Ireland.
He moved to
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
at the age of six. Higgins was the inventor of Higgins American India Ink.
He operated the Charles M. Higgins Company to manufacture the drawing ink he invented.
Higgins married Alexandra Fransioli in 1899 and they had three children.
He was a founding member of the Kings County Historical Society.
He opposed vaccination and was also an
anti-vivisectionist.
Anti-Vaccination League of America
Higgins was the co-founder and treasurer of the Anti-Vaccination League of America. The League was created in 1908 by Higgins and industrialist
John Pitcairn
Major John Pitcairn (28 December 1722 – 17 June 1775) was a British military officer. Born in Dysart, Fife, he enlisted in the Chatham Marine Division of the British Naval Service at the age of 23. He served in North America during the Fr ...
.
[Walloch, Karen L. (2015). ''The Antivaccine Heresy: Jacobson v. Massachusetts and the Troubled History of Compulsory Vaccination in the United States''. University of Rochester Press. pp. 4–5. ] Its anti-vaccination campaigns focused on
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
and
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
.
Members were opposed to compulsory vaccination laws.
[Colgrove, James. (2006). ''State of Immunity: The Politics of Vaccination in Twentieth-Century America''. University of California Press. pp. 52–54. ] Higgins was the League's chief spokesman and pamphleteer. Historian
James Colgrove noted that Higgins "attempted to overturn the New York State's law mandating vaccination of students in public schools."
The League should not be confused with the
Anti-Vaccination Society of America, that was formed in 1879.
Higgins was criticized by medical experts for spreading misinformation and ignoring facts as to the efficacy of vaccination. The League dissolved after the death of Higgins in 1929.
[Colgrove, James. (2006). ''State of Immunity: The Politics of Vaccination in Twentieth-Century America''. University of California Press. p. 74. ]
Selected publications
''A Plea for Justice to China''(1900)
''The Crime Against the School Child''(1915)
''Brooklyn and Gowanus in History''(1916)
''Vaccination and Lockjaw''(1916)
''Unalienable Rights and Prohibition Wrongs''(1919)
''Horrors of Vaccination Exposed and Illustrated''(1920)
See also
*
American Medical Liberty League
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins, Charles M.
1854 births
1929 deaths
American anti-vaccination activists
Irish anti-vivisectionists
Irish emigrants to the United States
Businesspeople from County Leitrim
American anti-vivisectionists
Activists from County Leitrim