The Lane County Audubon Society has decided to change its name and they’re soliciting the public for replacement suggestions.
John James Audubon was a self-trained artist whose illustrations raised awareness of North America ornithology in the 1800s. Audubon was also a slaveholder, a slave trader and held deeply troubling views on Indigenous peoples.
Those facts have prompted many Audubon Society chapters to choose a new moniker that represents their values of inclusion.
Lane County Audubon board member Cecelia Hagen is in charge of educational outreach in Lane County. She explained why they’ve already settled on part of their new name: Bird Alliance. “Because it has ‘bird’ in the title and alliance is like a group that is united under a common cause,” Hagen said. “It’s true that older folks know what it means but I’ve said ‘Audubon’ to kids in high school or even older and they don’t know what language I’m speaking.”
Hagen said they will drop ‘Lane County’ from the name and hope to replace it with a descriptor of the geographic region. For example, something like what the San Francisco Bay area chapter did when they chose “Golden Gate Bird Alliance” as their new name.
At least four Oregon chapters of the soon-to-be organization known as Audubon Society plan to include “Bird Alliance” in their new names. This is in line with more than 20 chapters across the country that include that title, including Chicago, Tucson, Detroit, Southern Wisconsin, Lawrence, Bitterroot, DC, Charleston, Northern Virginia, New York City, and others.
The Lane County chapter is taking suggestions throughout September, after which there will be a vote. Naming suggestions can be sent to outreach@laneaudubon.org