By Jeremy Cox, Bay Journal News Service
The Audubon Naturalist Society, one of the oldest independent environmental groups in the Chesapeake Bay region, announced it will be changing its name to distance itself from its namesake, John James Audubon.
“The deliberate and thoughtful decision to change our name is part of our ongoing commitment to creating a larger and more diverse community of people who treasure the natural world and work to preserve it,” said Lisa Alexander, executive director of ANS. “It has become clear that this will never be fully possible with the current name.”
Audubon was a 19th-century naturalist and artist whose portraits of birds both exotic and mundane captured the country’s imagination. But he also was a slaveholder and fierce opponent of abolition.
His name went on to grace the letterheads of hundreds of environmental groups, including the National Audubon Society (ANS, based in Chevy Chase, Md., is not affiliated with the national organization). Many of those groups are now grappling with that legacy as part of a larger effort to diversify their staffs and better connect with people of color.
ANS leaders said they will choose a new name after seeking input from a broad range of voices.
While there are still no hints at the name, an ANS Facebook post reads, in part, “We will change our name to one that better reflects the growing, rich diversity of the region that we serve and sends a clear message now and in the future: Nature needs all of us.”
To read more about the decision to change ANS’s name, click here.
