Massachusetts Audubon Society is established.

Founded by cousins Harriet Lawrence Hemenway and Minna Hall, it meets initially in Hemenway’s home at 273 Clarendon Street. The first and oldest state Audubon Society chapter in the in the U.S., it is created after a protest led by the two women to protect the Snowy Egret, a bird being hunted to near extinction to obtain the feather plumes used to decorate women’s hats. Incorporated in January 1897, the organization prompts other states to form branches and subsequently moves its headquarters to Lincoln.