The group formerly known as NYC Audubon has changed its name to the NYC Bird Alliance, completing a multi-year process of severing its ties to John James Audubon, the 19th century artist and environmentalist whose reputation as a slave owner had increasingly clouded the group’s mission.
The name change “marks a significant moment in our organization’s history,” Jessica Wilson, the organization’s executive director, said in a statement, adding that the new name “better encapsulates our mission to protect birds and their habitats while making the city healthier for all New Yorkers, both birds and people.”
Wilson said the new name would also help the organization better reach and impact diverse communities.
“I’m happy to share that since we announced the change … our membership signups and donations have increased,” Wilson wrote in an email on Tuesday.
The New York organization officially dropped “Audubon” from its name more than a year ago, joining a nationwide movement to reject associations with its namesake due to his white supremacist views.
It said in a multi-part statement online that it then began an effort to choose a new name, and received nearly 250 suggestions from its members. The organization’s board voted to approve NYC Bird Alliance at its scheduled quarterly meeting in March. The organization’s members signed off on the change in a June 5 vote.
In the statement, the organization provided the reasoning behind the change. It noted that “Audubon (1785-1851) was an accomplished artist and naturalist who achieved fame for his paintings of North American bird species.”
“So popular were the paintings and engravings that after his death, Audubon’s name became associated with bird conservation,” it adds. “Many conservation groups now bear his name in tribute, as do numerous parks, streets, zoos, sanctuaries, and birds with ‘Audubon’ in the name.”
But the statement also referenced Audubon’s “complicated legacy,” noting…
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