James F. Phillips

James F. Phillips (November 20, 1930 – October 3, 2001) was an American environmental activist known in the Chicago area during the 1960s for his environmental direct action under the pseudonym The Fox. Phillips discovered Armour Dial (Henkel Corporation) had been polluting Mill Creek which emptied into the Fox River, which violated a 1962 law that limited the amount of chemicals companies could dump into the surrounding water. Phillips created stickers issuing warnings that read "Armour Dial Kills our Water" or "Armour Dial Pollutes our air". He organized a group to travel to supermarkets around the United States and put these stickers on bars of Dial soap. Mike Royko, a Pulitzer Prize winning Chicago newspaper columnist, called Phillips's attack "the most ambitious anti pollution prank of his colorful career." The prank was so successful, it started an independent boycott of all Armour-Dial products. Phillips's seven-year battle with Armour Dial led to the state of Illinois suing Armour Dial's Montgomery plant for violating Illinois pollution standards.[1]

James F. Phillips
James F. Phillips c. 1970
Born(1930-11-20)November 20, 1930
Aurora, Illinois, US
DiedOctober 3, 2001(2001-10-03) (aged 70)
Other names"The Fox"
OccupationMiddle school science teacher
Signature
A bright-orange sticker created and distributed by Phillips for one of his direct action campaigns against Armour Dial

Born in Aurora, Illinois, Phillips was first motivated in the 1960s to plug a sewage outfall after seeing dead ducks in the Fox River.[2] In the following years, his activism included erecting signs criticizing US Steel, plugging sewer outlets, placing caps on top of smoke stacks, leaving skunks on the doorsteps of the owners of polluting companies, and, in one case, transporting 50 pounds of sewage from Lake Michigan into the reception room of the company that discharged it. His direct action techniques predated those of Greenpeace and other environmental organizations.

Phillips was an avid historical boater who educated and demonstrated native American and early trapper fishing and boating techniques. He was radicalized as a founder mentor of the Earth Liberation Front movement[3] after witnessing toxic dumping into the Fox River over decades, polluting the river to near-death. Phillips gained notoriety after dumping a bucket of said toxic waste upon the desk of a Stone Container Corporation executive in Chicago. He was rumored to have also plugged drainage pipes from toxic industrial plants from his canoe along the Fox River.[4]

In his daily life, Phillips was a middle school science teacher and later a field inspector for the Kane County Environmental Department. Although he never admitted to his role as the Fox, family and friends confirmed this identity.

Reactions to his activism were mixed. David Dominick, Commissioner of the Federal Water Quality Administration, suggested that the Fox's activities represented a challenge as to whether "we, as individuals in a technological society, have the will to control and prevent the degradation of our environment."[5] The police said they would charge the Fox if he were caught, but were unable to do so.[6]

When U.S. Steel adopted the slogan "We're Involved", Phillips erected a 70-foot-long banner that said, "We're Involved in Killing Lake Michigan". He retired in 1986 to start the Fox River Conservation Foundation and was on the board of "Friends of the Fox".[7] Phillips authored an autobiography titled Raising Kane: The Fox Chronicles, explaining his rationale and activism.[8][9] A memorial dedicated to Phillips and his efforts to clean up the Fox River is located in Violet Patch Park on the Fox River in Oswego, Illinois. The dedication was held in 2006.[10][11]

Footnotes
  1. Hoekstra, Dave. "Who Was That Masked Man?".
  2. Tribune, Chicago. "JAMES F. PHILLIPS, 70". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2020-10-10.
  3. Rosebraugh, Craig Burning Rage of a Dying Planet. Lantern Books, New York. p. 20
  4. "Fox River". www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org.
  5. Martin, Douglas. "James Phillips, 70, Environmentalist Who Was Called the Fox".
  6. Crimmins, Jerry (March 26, 1971). "Police Foil 'The Fox'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  7. "Friends of the Fox River - Preserve • Restore • Protect". Friends of the Fox River.
  8. "James Phillips, 70; Advocate for Environment Called 'The Fox'". Chicago Tribune. 23 October 2001 – via LA Times.
  9. "Raising Kane". www.goodreads.com.
  10. McCarthy, Jack. "'The Fox' gets his spot on river". Chicago Tribune.
  11. "Violet Patch Park - Oswegoland Park District". Oswegoland Park District. Retrieved 2018-10-12.

References
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