The BTG has held a few different names over the course of its history: Bird and Tree Club (1913-1944), Bird and Tree Garden Club (1944-1962), and The Bird, Tree and Garden Club (1962- present).

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The original Chautauqua Bird and Tree Club began on July 26, 1913, in the living room of Henrietta Ord Jones. Twelve community members showed up to discuss the importance of conserving Chautauqua's natural landscape. ​​This was not the first meeting of Chautauquans interested in natural conservation. Some version of the club, though unofficial, began in 1909, with meetings in an Institution-provided tent on the Overlook, also known as the South End, across from Henrietta Ord Jones’s house. Meetings took place in this tent for the 1909 and 1910 seasons, then shifting to the Methodist House in 1911 and 1912. The first speaker they ever hosted spoke on spiders.

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​At the end of that first meeting on July 26, those gathered decided to present their idea for a club to the rest of Chautauqua. The first public meeting was held on August 7, 1913, where Louise Igoe Miller was elected as the first Bird and Tree Club president.

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By August 11, only four days later, 200 people had become members. In 1914, the Bird and Tree Club began labeling trees on the grounds. The Club also planted the maple trees in front of the Post Office and elsewhere. We have trees on Bestor Plaza today because of the Club’s efforts to create a safe home for birds, trees, and Chautauquans.

 

In the spring of 1914, Henrietta Ord Jones wrote a letter to then president of Chautauqua, George Vincent, saying:

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"We want a regular home for our Bird and Tree club, where we can keep our literature as we acquire it, and where we may have numerous formal and informal conferences for young and old."

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The Bird and Tree Club would have to wait ten more years for its “home”. On Old First Night, in 1923, Chautauqua philanthropist Addie Mae Smith Wilkes donated $25,000 for the construction of a new building on the grounds. In today’s money, that’s around half a million dollars. Smith Wilkes Hall, named as a memorial to Addie Mae’s deceased uncle, her two brothers, and her husband, was completed before the 1924 season. Though donating the money for the building to the Institution, Mrs. Smith Wilkes stipulated that it would house her darling Bird and Tree Club.

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Known for her bold and sassy correspondence, Henrietta Ord Jones captured the urgency of the new club's mission in her 1914 letter to George Vincent, writing:

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"My only excuse for inflicting this long letter upon you is that we really need help now, in order later to do our share in helping." 

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