The Seattle chapter of the National Audubon Society, a nonprofit dedicated to the conservation of birds and their habitats, announced that it is removing "Audubon" from its name due to artist and author John James Audubon's slave ownership and opposition to abolition, according to KNKX.
The organization was founded in 1905 and was named after the ornithologist. His most famous work, "The Birds of America," was published as a series from 1827 to 1838 and contained illustrations of hundreds of birds in the country.
J. Drew Lanham, a former board member of the National Audubon Society, told the Tacoma, Washington-based public radio station that Audubon was a "genius artist in many ways but a despicable human being."
"To excuse inhumane acts as just being in the context of their time is, I think, a lazy excuse," Lanham said. "Those are the excuses the privileged tend to lean on when they don’t want to make changes."
Lanham mentioned that he left the National Audubon Society "over concerns the nonprofit was not doing enough about racial equity."
The Seattle Audubon is one of the largest chapters in the country, and is the first to change its name. Although, the Audubon Naturalist Society, which is not affiliated with the National Audubon Society, announced it would remove "Audubon" from its name last year, KNKX noted.
Claire Catania, executive director of Seattle Audubon, said that the organization began to consider changing their name in 2020 following a number of protests in the country over police brutality and racism.
"It's our hope that by making this public declaration now we can blaze a trail that hopefully will be easier for others to follow," Catania said.
She added that the Seattle Audubon aims to pick a new name by the end of the year, and will hold a listening session on Tuesday to discuss the changes. The Seattle Audubon updated their Facebook profile picture on Thursday, which showed a paint brush edited to the bird's mouth in their logo and crossing out the word "Audubon."
Related
Related
