The Feather Thief

After learning about the slaughter of entire bird colonies from ornithologists and field guides, women in both the US and England began to consider the costs of using bird feathers for fashion. Harriet Hemenway, who was a member of Boston’s traditional upper class (called Boston Brahmins), was one such woman. Alongside her cousin, Minna Hall, Hemenway rallied other wealthy women in Boston to their cause of ending the feather trade. These women, which soon numbered 900, launched the Massachusetts Chapter of the Audubon Society. Within just a few years, Audubon Society chapters spread to other states.

Women worked to educate the public about the harmful impacts of the feather trade by passing out pamphlets, hosting lectures, marching with signs that included photos of slaughtered birds, and pressuring governments to act. The press soon joined the movement. A British weekly, called the Punch, published a cartoon “of a woman with dead birds on her hat. Her arms are stretched out menacingly, large plumes extend from her back, and she has talons instead of feet. Ospreys and Egrets are winging away from her in terror. The caption read: A BIRD OF PREY” (50-51).

Governments also began to act.