In February of 1960 Jay Dinshah (bottom right) founded the American Vegan Society, with Freya (bottom center) joining him in July as both his wife and partner in vegan campaigning and organizing.
Some of the very first AVS members are gathered with them here, ready to embark on a trip to a vegan-friendly conference in Chicago at which Jay was speaking. Pictured are (top, L-R) Lennie Schoenhaut, Myrlie Misskelly, Richard Zinn, and (bottom left) Zev Liefer.
The car behind them, a ’56 Chrysler DeSoto 4-door sedan, is the one in which Jay picked Freya up at the airport when she first arrived in the States. The trip back to South Jersey was memorable for her due to the car’s classic 1950’s-style “big car” suspension that caused the entire carriage to float back and forth anytime the brakes were applied. After traveling by air all the way across the ocean without incident, Freya really needed an air sickness bag just for that car trip.
But that was just the beginning of the journey for AVS, and what a long, strange trip it’s been!
