William H. Galvani (June 27, 1861 – October 23, 1947) was a Russian-American civil engineer, vegetarianism activist and writer.
William H. Galvani | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | June 27, 1861 |
| Died | October 23, 1947 (aged 86) Portland, Oregon, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Civil engineer, writer, activist |
Biography
editGalvani was born in Russia and emigrated to the United States in 1882.[1] He worked as a railway engineer under Hans Thielsen, chief engineer of the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company. Throughout his career in engineering, he worked for the Oregon Electric Railway Company and the Pacific Power & Light Company.[2] He worked as a civil engineer on principal railways in the Pacific Northwest. He was also a writer and contributed to periodical literature.[1]
In 1909, Galvani was appointed by Governor Benson to represent Oregon at the National Peace Congress in Chicago.[2] Galvani was Jewish but held an interest in Buddhism and published several articles in Buddhist magazines.[3][4] He was an exponent of pantheism and a member of the Theosophical Society.[1] Galvani was an anti-vivisectionist and strict vegetarian. He planned to create a vegetarian colony at his farm in Oregon.[5] He was President of the Oregon Vegetarian Society.[4] In 1943, he was granted an honorary doctorate of engineering by Oregon State College.[6] He was a 32nd-degree Mason of the Scottish Rite.[4]
Map collection
editGalvani was a collector of rare books and maps. In 1947, he bequeathed his private library, including his map collection to the Oregon State College. The collection includes over 1,050 maps.[7][8]
Selected publications
edit- Vegetarianism (Twentieth Century, 1891)
- Meat and Murder (Good Health, 1893)
- The Early Explorations and the Origin of the Name of the Oregon Country (The Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society, 1920)
- Recollections of J. F. Stevens and Senator Mitchell (Oregon Historical Quarterly, 1943)
References
edit- ^ a b c Herringshaw, Thomas William. (1905). Herringshaw's Encyclopedia of American Biography of the Nineteenth Century. Chicago: American Publisher's Association. p. 390
- ^ a b Gaston, Joseph. (1911). Portland, Oregon, Its History and Builders, Volume 2. Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Company. pp. 717-718
- ^ Tweed, Thomas A. (1992). The American Encounter with Buddhism, 1844-1912. University of North Carolina Press. p. 52. ISBN 0-8078-4906-5
- ^ a b c Anderson, Heather Arndt. (2015). Portland: A Food Biography. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 90. ISBN 978-1-4422-2738-5
- ^ Tweed, Thomas A. (1992). The American Encounter with Buddhism, 1844-1912. University of North Carolina Press. p. 82. ISBN 0-8078-4906-5
- ^ "Avid and Eclectic: Galvani the Collector". Oregon State University Libraries and Press. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
- ^ "William H. Galvani Rare Maps Collection, circa 1570-1909". Oregon State University. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
- ^ "Rare map collection available at Oregon State library". KCBY. Retrieved 18 January 2020.