WOMEN IN CONSERVATION

             Harriet Hemenway was a Boston socialite and environmentalist. She was most famous for establishing the Massachusetts Audobon Society in 1896 and is known as “the woman who removed birds from hats.” (National Audobon Society). With her cousin, Minna B. Hall, she got 900 women to join in protest of the mass slaughter of birds for the purpose of fashion. In 1897, she used the group’s political power to outlaw trade in wild bird feathers in Massachusetts (Poppick). This led to the Lacey Act (1900), which prohibits interstate shipment of animals that are illegally killed. Her inspiration came mostly from her husband, Augustus, helped establish Boston’s municipal park system (Mass Audobon). She lived to be 102 years old!