The Audubon Name: An Update on Our Survey

Image: Tundra Swan, John James Audubon

Earlier this fall, we conducted a survey to learn how our members and friends feel about the possibility of changing the name of the Audubon Society of Northern Virginia. If you participated, thank you!

We want to provide you with a high-level summary of what we learned from the survey and let you know the next steps in our decision-making process. From the 481 responses to the survey, we learned that our community is almost evenly split on the question of dropping “Audubon” from the name. People younger than 60 showed a significant preference for a name change. However, given how even the overall preferences were, we are now focusing on understanding and addressing the concerns behind the preferences. 

Respondents gave thoughtful comments to explain their views. Whether they oppose or support a name change, many respondents recognize both Audubon’s major contributions to ornithology and the public’s appreciation of birds and nature, as well as the troubling aspects of his legacy, including his ownership of enslaved people and his scientific dishonesty. Those supporting a name change give more weight to the negative aspects of his legacy and see them as a barrier to involving young people and people of color in the organization and in the larger cause of conserving birds and nature. Those opposing a name change give more weight to Audubon’s positive contributions, and see a name change as costly in terms of the time, effort, and money to make the change, and are concerned with the loss of brand recognition and the association of the Audubon name with birds and conservation. 

We thank all of you who took the time to respond to the survey and share your views. We have learned a lot from your passionate and thoughtful responses. We also have been in touch with Audubon chapters across the country, including some that have decided to change their name and others that decided not to change. Their experience has provided considerable insight into the costs and benefits of this choice.

The next step is for the ASNV Board of Directors to meet early in 2024 to decide whether to change the name of the organization. Then, no matter what we decide, we will communicate clearly the outcome and use the understanding we have gained to strengthen our organization’s ability to carry out its conservation and community engagement missions. And if we decide to change our name, we’ll need to come up with a new name. Stay tuned, and we will keep you posted.

Tell Us Your Thoughts (by October 15) on Keeping or Changing Our Name

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.