Image: King Rails, John James Audubon
John James Audubon’s vast contributions to American ornithology are well known. In recent years, however, it has come to light that, like some others of his era, he was a slave owner and collected skulls for another’s eugenics research, practices that are now universally condemned. He also copied another artist’s drawing of a bird that did not exist, using it to promote his own publication -- scientific fraud by any era’s standards.
ASNV, like many other Audubon chapters, has embarked on a process to decide whether to keep the Audubon name. The National Audubon Society in March of this year decided not to change its name, but is allowing its many chapters to decide for themselves.
Our Board of Directors will make this decision – and it is a complex one. More background information is available in this essay on the Audubon Name, and in this series of Frequently Asked Questions. On the one hand, some feel that changing the name will help remove the taint of racism associated with Audubon. And as Christian Cooper wrote in the Washington Post, we can’t adequately protect birds and other wildlife from the immense challenges ahead without the participation of non-Whites, a large and growing part of the population. Having a name that honors Audubon could deter such participation; this is especially relevant for northern Virginia, a part of the country that has recently become a majority-minority region.
On the other hand, Audubon did make significant contributions to ornithology, art, and natural history. Changing our name could weaken the Audubon “brand recognition.” A name change could alienate some members and also would be expensive, draining funds away from important conservation work.
Because we are a membership organization and have long benefited from your generous involvement and support, we are now in a listening and learning phase. We ask for your input – please use this link to take our brief survey. We are keeping it open until October 15. We also will consult other groups in northern Virginia communities that are not well-represented in our membership and other Audubon chapters around the country.
We look forward to hearing from you – about the name change issue – and about other suggestions that you have to help us protect the birds and nature that we all treasure.