Episode 201
For the Birds
(Statewide)

In 1902 a dynamic young speaker explained to a Greensboro audience that many of North Carolina's most beautiful birds were being slaughtered for their plumes (used in hats) and that a number of other bird species needed protection. Following the meeting, 148 people signed up to form the Audubon Society of North Carolina. The speaker, T. Gilbert Pearson had arrived in North Carolina in 1891 with an extensive collection of birds and eggs, which he offered to Guilford College in exchange for an education. After receiving his formal education at Guilford and Chapel Hill he began teaching at the State Normal College (now UNC-G).

A year later in 1903 the eloquent Professor Pearson convinced a skeptical North Carolina General Assembly to pass the Audubon Act, a bill that he had drafted. The Act offered protection for many bird species and also authorized the Audubon Society to act as agent of the state for the enforcement of game laws and bird protection legislation. By 1909, 100 Audubon Wardens helped protect the North Carolina's wildlife laws for the mountains to the coast.

In 1912 Pearson left North Carolina for New York to lead the National Association of Audubon Societies. During his 25 years as leader of Audubon he helped pass the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, and he also founded the International Council of Bird Preservation in 1922. Even while in New York he continued to work for North Carolina's wildlife by helping to transform the Audubon warden system into the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission in 1927.

Much of his work in North Carolina involved his close friend and colleague, Herbert Brimley, Director of the North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences. In 1919 Pearson, Brimley and Clement Brimley (Herbert's brother) produced the Birds of North Carolina , the first major bird guide in the southern states. The Brimley brothers were also giants in the world of conservation in the first half of the 20 th Century. Herbert was the first Curator and Director of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and served the state for almost 60 years. Brimley's reconstructed office is on display at the Museum. Clement Brimley, who like his brother Herbert was an accomplished taxidermist, worked for the Division of Entomology for 45 years.