Exhibition at Rosecliff
Preservation Society of Newport County

John James Audubon: Obsession Untamed

Exhibition at Rosecliff
Preservation Society of Newport County

March 30, 2019 to December 3, 2019

John James Audubon: Obsession Untamed explores the naturalist’s relentless pursuit of the birds of America and his singular determination in seeing his beautiful artworks published. Highlights include over 20 hand-colored, double elephant folio aquatints from Birds of America, along with exquisite ladies' hats and fans illustrating the early-20th century craze for feathers that led to initial conservation efforts. URI has loaned four feather fans, including one made with lyre bird feathers, and four hats for the exhibition, which runs from March 30, 2019 to December 3, 2019 at Rosecliff. 

Rosecliff is at 538 Bellevue Avenue, Newport RI

See the Preservation Society of Newport County website for more information.

By the late 19^th century, feathers, plumes, and even whole birds decorated the hats, hair and dresses of the fashionably-dressed woman. The early Audubon Society was founded in 1886 by George Bird Grinnell, publisher of Field and Stream Magazine, who became concerned by the  wholesale slaughter of birds he witnessed taking place for fashion and sport. While this original organization didn’t last, the idea of protecting birds was continued by Boston socialites Harriet Hemenway and Minna B. Hall, who founded the next-generation of the Audubon Society in 1895. The cousins organized a series of afternoon teas, gathering other wealthy women together to encourage them to avoid purchasing and wearing feathered garments and accessories.

These boycotts turned public opinion against the use of feathers by the fashion industry. President Theodore Roosevelt established the first National Wildlife Refuge on Florida’s Pelican Island in 1903. A national letter-writing campaign helped to bring about the passage of such laws as the New York State Audubon Plumage Act (May 1910) which banned the sales of plumes of all native birds in the state. By 1913 the US Congress had passed a landmark law placing migratory birds under federal protection. This was strengthened in 1916 when President Woodrow Wilson re-signed the law to include an international treaty between the United States and Canada. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act was ratified in 1918 and remains one of the most important ways of protecting the birds of North America from extinction. Other achievements supported by the Audubon Society include banning the use of the insecticide DDT by the U.S. Department of Environmental Protection in 1972, followed in 1973 by the passage of the Endangered Species Act to protect hundreds of endangered and threatened species, including birds.