BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Alvin Howard Sanders (1860-1948) was the son of James Harvey Sanders,
a renowned livestock author and founder of the leading livestock journal,
The Breeder's Gazette.
Alvin attended Cornell University in Ithaca, New York from 1878 to
1879. His father, then editor of the
National Livestock Journal in Chicago called upon his son
to help him in the editorial office. In 1881, Alvin graduated from the Union
College of Law and received his license from the state of Illinois in 1882.
James Sanders founded
The Breeder's Gazette in Chicago on December 1, 1881.
Alvin decided to join his father in his new endeavor and was employed on the
staff as co-editor. He married Elizabeth A. Hildebrand of Chicago on April 25,
1882. By 1892, Alvin had become editor and owner of
The Breeder's Gazette.
On February 20, 1900, the Senate confirmed the appointment of Alvin
Sanders as a member of the American delegation to the Paris Exposition.
Atter the Union Stock Yards opened in Chicago, Arthur G. Leonard,
Robert Ogilvie, and Alvin Sanders formed the Saddle and Sirloin Club located at
the Stockyard Inn in 1903. On the club walls were portraits of the important
persons in the livestock movement. In Alvin's book,
At the Sign of the Stock Yard Inn, he wrote about the
lives of Robert Bakewell, Thomas Bates, Amos Cruickshank and others.
On August 16, 1905, a convention was held at the Illinois Theater in
Chicago which was attended by leading commercial and agricultural
organizations. It was here that the American Reciprocal Tariff League was
formed. Alvin was elected chairman and held this position until 1909. During
his service, he corresponded with President Theodore Roosevelt regarding
foreign trade agreements with the United States.
President William Taft appointed a Tariff Board in September 1909
which included Henry C. Emery, professor at Yale; James B. Reynolds, Assistant
Secretary of Treasury; and Alvin Sanders.
Alvin wrote many livestock books which included such works as
A History of Aberdeen- Angus Cattle,
Red White and Roan,
Short-Horn Cattle, and
The Story of the Herefords. In 1917, he published in
collaboration with Wayne Dinsmore,
A History of the Percheron Horse. The French government
awarded him with the Cross of Officer Merite Agricole in appreciation for his
work.
Over the years, he was awarded many awards and honors. He received the
degree of Doctor of Agriculture from the University of Illinois in 1906. In
1911, he was presented with the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws from Kenyon
College. Alvin was also awarded the Chevalier of the Order of Leopold from the
King of Belgium for his contribution in promoting interest in scientific stock
breeding.
He was a member of many different agricultural organizations. He was
made president of the Saddle and Sirloin Club in 1915. Governor Frank O. Lowden
appointed him a member of the Illinois Board of Agricultural Advisors in
1917.
Alvin Sanders retired from
The Breeder's Gazette journal in 1927. The livestock
journal continued to be published by different editors until it went out of
business in 1964.
