Our Story

Heath Hen takes its name from an extinct subspecies of the greater prairie chicken that ranged on the East Coast of the United States during colonial days. Under threat from hunting, alteration of their coastal grassland habitats, and natural causes, by 1870 the grouse remained only off the coast of Massachusetts, on Martha’s Vineyard. Despite efforts made there to protect the hens, a 1916 wildfire destroyed the birds’ breeding grounds and only a single male survivor remained in the spring of 1929. He was last seen three years later.

The last bird on Martha’s Vineyard has fired our imagination and has served to focus public attention on the necessity of taking immediate positive steps for the conservation of our wildlife.

-Prof. Alfred O. Gross, 1931

Natural causes undoubtedly contributed to the demise of the hen, while human activities also made them more vulnerable. Human activity also played a role in seeking to improve their chances of survival. It is this spirit of seeking positive change that underlies Heath Hen.

Purposeful Words & Whimsy

Established in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Heath Hen engages in projects and creates products from time to time that bring some cheer and represent an effort toward taking a small positive step by bringing a bit of attention to various topics.

In 2020, Heath Hen published Old Enough: How 18-Year Olds Won the Vote & Why it Matters and made donations to nonpartisan organizations Vote Riders, Campus Vote Project, the Election Protection Coalition, and Literacy Volunteers of Greater Hartford. In addition, a downloadable PDF copy of Old Enough: How 18-Year Olds Won the Vote & Why it Matters was available free on this site from September-November so that any interested reader could have access.

In 2021, Heath Hen began publishing a newsletter, Remember the Ladies, via Substack. The newsletter focuses on U.S. women’s history and is available on both a free and paid subscriber basis.

Thank you for your support.

[Image below: Rich, Walter Herbert. Feathered Game of the Northeast. New York: T.Y. Crowell & Co., 1907 http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14460220 ]