Inscribed photograph of Marshall Saunders

Margaret Marshall Saunders wrote Beautiful Joe, the story of a mistreated dog later adopted by a kind family. Her book gave a voice to domestic animals by presenting the story from Joe’s perspective and stressing animal cruelty. The author originally entered her story into a contest by the American Humane Society in 1893 and won first place. The text was published a year later and quickly became a bestseller, reportedly the first Canadian book to sell over a million copies. As Beautiful Joe gained national and then international recognition, Saunders used the book's popularity to promote animal welfare. In this photo, the author is sporting green face paint at a children's festival and playing with frogs instead of her usual furry friends.