We are the Charleston Natural History Society (CNHS), and Charleston Audubon society, a South Carolina chapter of the National Audubon Society since 1970. Founded as the Charleston Natural History Society in 1905, we serve Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties. Our organization came to be in the decade that Harriet Hemenway and Minna B. Hall, Bostonian cousins, who were horrified by rampant destruction of avian populations for the millinery industry, seeded the creation of the Massachusetts Audubon Society. Their efforts, in that decade, led to a surge of groups forming across the country bring an end to the use of birds in the millinery industry. The culmination of their efforts led to the creation of the National Audubon Society in the same year CNHS was formed. We are a nonprofit 501(c)(3) tax exempt environmental organization that actively promotes awareness, appreciation and conservation of the natural environment through educational programs, field trips, conservation projects, sponsored research and social activities.
In an effort to provide access to a snippet of our past the digitization of the Lesser Squawk will be an ongoing project. Previously digitized copies can be found on our website here. Additionally, The South Carolina Historical Society (SCHS) maintains a significant trove of 20th century documents pertaining to us, the Charleston Natural History Society, as noted in their detailed inventory cover sheet: Records, 1913-2002 SCHS 290-00. As of this writing those documents are in non digitized storage, but may be accessed with permission of the SCHS, and used only within the confines of their terms of use release.
Charleston Natural History Society 