Harriet Lawrence Hemenway (1858–1960) was a
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
socialite who cofounded the
Massachusetts Audubon Society
The Massachusetts Audubon Society, commonly known as Mass Audubon, founded in 1896 by Harriet Hemenway and Minna B. Hall and headquartered in Lincoln, Massachusetts, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to "protecting the nature of Massachusett ...
with
Minna B. Hall. Hemenway was the wife of
Augustus Hemenway
Augustus Hemenway (1853–1931) was a philanthropist and public servant in Boston, Massachusetts, in the latter part of the 19th century. He was educated at Harvard University, the son of Edward Augustus Holyoke Hemenway and Mary Tileston Hemen ...
.
During the
Gilded Age
In United States history, the Gilded Age was an era extending roughly from 1877 to 1900, which was sandwiched between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was a time of rapid economic growth, especially in the Northern and Wes ...
, it became fashionable for women to wear hats decorated with
plumes. These plumes came from woodpeckers, bluebirds, owls, herons and warblers, thousands of which were killed each year. In 1896, Hemenway and her cousin
Minna B. Hall held tea parties for the wealthy women of Boston where they urged them not to wear feathered hats and invited them to join a society for the protection of birds. Having gained the support of many of these fashionable women, Hemenway and Hall then organized meetings between leaders of the high society and prominent New England ornithologists, paving the way for the creation of the
Massachusetts Audubon Society
The Massachusetts Audubon Society, commonly known as Mass Audubon, founded in 1896 by Harriet Hemenway and Minna B. Hall and headquartered in Lincoln, Massachusetts, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to "protecting the nature of Massachusett ...
; over 900 women joined.
Hemenway and Hall recruited
William Brewster, a leading
ornithologist, to be the Massachusetts Audubon Society's first president. Women played a critical role in the organization, counting for half of its officers and serving as leaders of most of the local chapters. The group used its political power to have a Massachusetts law passed in 1897 outlawing trade in wild bird feathers as well as a federal law, the 1900
Lacey Act
The Lacey Act of 1900 is a conservation law in the United States that prohibits trade in wildlife, fish, and plants that have been illegally taken, possessed, transported, or sold.United States. Lacey Act (Game). , ch. 553. Approved May 25, 1900. ...
, which prohibits the interstate shipment of animals killed in violation of local laws. The Massachusetts Audubon Society remains independent, but it helped to organize the National Association of Audubon Societies (incorporated in 1905), which later became the
National Audubon Society.
Hemenway was not a stranger to controversy and came from a family of
abolitionist
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people.
The British ...
s. She once invited
Booker T. Washington
Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American c ...
to stay in her home, when Boston hotels refused to let him a room.
In 1898, Hemenway donated $50,000 for the construction of the gymnasium at
Radcliffe College. Her home is a stop on the
Boston Women's Heritage Trail
The Boston Women's Heritage Trail is a series of walking tours in Boston, Massachusetts, leading past sites important to Boston women's history. The tours wind through several neighborhoods, including the Back Bay and Beacon Hill, commemorating w ...
.
Hemenway Street was named in her honor. It runs between Boylston Street and Huntington Avenue in Boston's
Fenway
Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and Boston Braves (baseball), since 1953, i ...
neighborhood.
References
External links
Geni: Harriet Lawrence Hemenway
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hemenway, Harriet
1858 births
1960 deaths
American socialites
Audubon movement
People from Boston