Red-headed Woodpecker. Photo by Lance Leonhardt, Audubon Photography Awards
Birds Georgia FAQ
Following are some answers to questions that might be on your mind and some resources that you may find helpful.
What prompted the Georgia Audubon Board to reexamine its name?
The organization that has not always borne the Audubon name. The organization that is today known as Birds Georgia was founded in 1926 as the Atlanta Bird Club, a name that was maintained for 47 years. In 1973, the Board of Directors made the decision to become part of the Audubon network and changed the organization’s name to Atlanta Audubon Society. In 2020, the organization changed its name again to Georgia Audubon to better reflect the mission of building places where birds and people thrive across Georgia. With the decision to rename the organization Birds Georgia in 2023, the organization is looking forward to celebrating the Centennial Anniversary of our founding in 2026 as the oldest conservation organization in Georgia.
About the Audubon Brand
National Audubon Society was founded in 1905 and named after John James Audubon, 50 years after his death. Audubon was a naturalist and illustrator whose work was an important contribution to the field of ornithology in the mid-19th century and the spread of interest in birds and nature in the United States. While there can be no doubt of the impact of his life’s work and passion for birds, he also bought and sold slaves, and expressed racist and harmful attitudes about Black and Indigenous people that are now more understood. Today, more than 100 years later, our Name Task Force and Board of Directors were asked to examine John James Audubon’s legacy through a better-informed lens.
Who was John James Audubon?
John James Audubon was a 19th-century artist and naturalist who achieved fame for his series of paintings of North American bird species released in sections between 1827 and 1838. In addition to being collected in the super-sized book The Birds of America, engravings of the birds he painted were sold by subscription and became a hugely popular way to explore avian life. Many of his original paintings and prints can be viewed now at the New York Historical Society.
So popular were the paintings and engravings that after his death, Audubon’s name became associated with bird conservation. Many conservation groups now bear his name in tribute, as do numerous parks, streets, zoos, sanctuaries, and birds with “Audubon” in the name.
However, there is another side to John James Audubon which has emerged over the past several years through historical research and popular discourse. Audubon was a man who owned, purchased, and sold enslaved people. He also wrote about returning escaped enslaved people to their owners and of his strong opposition to the growing abolitionist movement. (Read more about John James Audubon here.)
Was John James Audubon a conservationist?
While John James Audubon did not identify as a conservationist in the modern sense of the word, he did make important contributions to the early conservation movement.
Audubon was born in 1785 and lived during a time when the idea of protecting natural resources was not yet widespread. His main focus was on documenting and illustrating the birds of North America, which he believed were not well-known or appreciated by many Americans at the time.
However, Audubon did recognize the need to protect the habitats where the birds he studied lived. In his writings, he often commented on the destruction of forests and wetlands. Audubon advocated for creation of the country’s first natural history museum and the establishment of bird sanctuaries which could provide safe spaces for birds to breed and thrive.
Audubon’s work inspired the founders of the early groups that took his name. From this work which popularized an appreciation for birds and nature, a national conservation movement was born. Many of today’s important bird conservation actions—the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the ban on DDT—as well as critical community-based science efforts like the Christmas Bird Count, the Breeding Bird Atlas project, and the Great Backyard Bird Count owe a debt to Audubon’s art and the movement it inspired.
Was John James Audubon the founder of the Audubon Societies?
The Audubon societies, and the bird conservation movement, were created nearly 50 years after John James Audubon’s death.
John James Audubon died in 1851. In 1896, Harriet Hemenway and Minna B. Hall founded the Massachusetts Audubon Society, dedicated to stopping the killing of birds for plumage for women’s hats. In 1905, the founders of the National Audubon Society similarly chose the Audubon name for their organization because of its association with beautiful images of birds and Audubon’s important work in spreading knowledge of the diversity of bird species.
Why is this a problem now?
Audubon’s name long conjured strongly positive images for many people, and for more than a century has been synonymous with birds and bird conservation.
But now that positive association is no longer unequivocal, with a spreading awareness of Audubon’s ownership, purchase, and sale of enslaved people and his defense of the practice as an anti-abolitionist. These revelations about Audubon’s activities and beliefs have upended his image and tarnished his legacy. As a result of our research, the Name Task Force and Board felt that continuing to use of the Audubon name would be at odds with our values and our commitment to equity and inclusion. We also determined that having “Audubon” in our name is harming more than helping our efforts to expand our reach and bring more people into bird conservation.
Wasn’t Audubon just a person of his time?
Audubon owned and sold slaves, as did many peers in the United States in his time. His household was supported by enslaved people and Audubon sold enslaved people to finance his collecting and publishing work. While on a collecting trip to a plantation, he reported an encounter with escaped enslaved people where he returned them to their owners. Audubon has also been associated with the collection of human skulls from Indigenous people, a practice that some naturalists of his time participated in. Skulls that Audubon found or acquired during his travels made their way to Philadelphia. There, they became study specimens for Dr. Samuel George Morton, whose theories on skull size and intelligence formed the background of scientific racism. (Read more here.)
During Audubon’s life the abolitionist movement was growing in strength, especially in New York where Audubon lived. By 1820 all of the Northern states had passed legislation to abolish slavery, but Audubon remained a defender of slavery and staunchly anti-abolitionist. (Read more here.)
While these actions took place in the past, as an organization we recognize that for some people, the Audubon name conjures negative, painful images and may be negatively impacting our efforts to share information and appreciation for birds and birding with ALL people. As an organization, Georgia Audubon strives to build places where birds and people thrive. Just as bird diversity strengthens ecosystems, the diversity of human experiences, traditions, and viewpoints strengthens our conservation, education, and community engagement efforts. Our wish is to make all people feel welcome in the spaces where we work and bird.
Does changing the name to Birds Georgia modify the organization’s mission?
No. Our mission remains unchanged: building places where birds and people thrive. Through our conservation, education, and community engagement work, we will continue working to build a conservation-minded and fully engaged Georgia where birds prosper, habitats flourish, and understanding grows. We also intend to continue working to better engage and serve people and communities whose interests have historically not been meaningfully considered.
How might changing the organization’s name help your work?
We are a bird conservation organization. To save birds, we need many allies, partners, and broad popular support. A name once chosen for its popular appeal and association with beautiful images of birds is now also associated with slavery and racism. We learned through our research that the Audubon name is a barrier to people who might otherwise become involved in or support our work. By changing our name to Birds Georgia, we remove that barrier.
Does a name change mean you also reject his bird paintings?
John James Audubon’s paintings are beautiful and inspiring. We can value his art and achievement as a naturalist while rejecting some of his conduct and morality. Audubon was a skilled artist whose folios of bird paintings and his five-volume treatise on ornithology revealed to the world the richness and variety of avian life, and his direct impact on the birth of an American conservation movement continues to matter to us.
Aren’t you participating in “cancel culture”? Isn’t it better to acknowledge past wrong-doings, rather than erase history?
It’s not our intent to “cancel” John James Audubon. We are mindful of the past and of his contributions to the work we do today. But as we look at the future and seek to engage new audiences with birds, it is important that we put our organization in the best position possible to fulfill our mission.
What was your assessment process?
In February 2023, Georgia Audubon’s Board of Directors empaneled a committee, consisting of board members and staff, to guide the process and help our organization gain a deeper understanding about the history of John James Audubon and to engage with members, volunteers, donors, and program participants to gain a better understanding of how their perceptions. The committee developed a plan that was submitted to and approved by the Board of Directors at the August 2023 Board Meeting.
The task force spent six months researching, discussing, and seeking to understand all points of view before forming a recommendation to present to the board. In this time, Georgia Audubon hosted a webinar and discussion with Gregory Nobles — biographer of John James Audubon: The Story of an American Woodsman — to better understand the man and his life. The task force also sent a survey to more than 10,000 members, donors, partners, and constituents to gather input on the Audubon name and how it relates to Georgia Audubon’s work, mission, and constituency. Additionally, the task force, leadership, and staff held numerous conversations with stakeholders to gather further feedback including hosting two listening sessions, one in-person and a second virtually, for constituents to share their thoughts. Constituents were also invited to submit feedback via email.
After thoroughly reviewing and considering all of the feedback, the Name Task Force recommended that the Board of Directors remove “Audubon” from the organization’s name. The recommendation rested on three rationales: (1) alignment with the organization’s mission, values, and policies; (2) an expanding awareness of the negative aspects of John James Audubon’s legacy that will increasingly frustrate the organization’s ability to engage new members, including communities newer to organized bird conservation and education such as black, indigenous and people of color; and (3) a sense that most positive associations with “Audubon” are held by people who have already been engaged with bird organizations and that brand recognition in Audubon sits largely with an older population, leading to the likelihood of the brand declining.
In November 2023, Georgia Audubon’s Board of Directors voted unanimously to accept the recommendation of the Name Task Force and to change the organization’s name to Birds Georgia.
Will Birds Georgia Still be Affiliated with National Audubon Society?
Yes, Birds Georgia will remain a chapter of the National Audubon Society. The national organization says it will leave it to independent chapters to determine their own positions on the “Audubon” name, and we continue to value the strength of collaboration in our mission to love and protect birds and the habitat they share with people. Our work as Birds Georgia will not change; it will expand. We will continue to work alongside the 600 other organizations in the network and support the work of the national organization to maximize successes for birds and habitat. The problems that birds face are too important for any one chapter to take on. We will work together as we have for nearly 100 years since our founding in 1926, to conserve birds and habitat across Georgia.
Will your logo change?
Everyone loves our Red-headed Woodpecker logo, which we chose when we rebranded as Georgia Audubon back in 2020. We decided to keep the same logo but just update the name.
The Birds Georgia logo features a Red-headed Woodpecker on a native oak branch. The Red-headed Woodpecker is a striking bird that may be found across Georgia, in rural, suburban, and urban settings. It is also a bird that was identified as most at-risk in National Audubon’s recent report, Survival by Degrees: 389 Species on the Brink. The report builds on the 2014 Birds and Climate Report using the latest climate science research methods and modeling to capture a deeper, more extensive analysis of the effects of climate change on North American bird species. You’ll also note that the woodpecker is perched on an oak branch to signify the important connection between native plants and birds. We didn’t get too specific on the species of oak, as there are a variety of oak trees found across the state, all of which are host to insects vital to Georgia’s resident and migratory birds. The Red-headed Woodpecker is a fierce defender of its territory, mirroring the commitment that Birds Georgia brings to protecting birds and habitat, educating the public, and engaging communities in our work..
What if I send an email to your old “georgiaaudubon.org” addresses?
No problem. Our emails are set up to be forwarded to the correct person in our organization. Feel free to change the addresses, however, just by substituting @birdsgeorgia.org for @georgiaaudubon.org.
I recently wrote out a donation check to Georgia Audubon. Can you cash it?
Yes, Birds Georgia has retained the right to use Georgia Audubon. Our bank will continue to process checks written using either name. All donations remain tax deductible and our Federal Tax Identification Number remains 18-1834323.
I made a bequest to Georgia Audubon. Do I need to change my will?
No, Birds Georgia has retained the right to use Georgia Audubon and all the essential, relevant information, including address, Federal Tax ID Number, and banking, will remain the same. If you happen to be updating your trust, insurance, or retirement accounts, replacing our former name with Birds Georgia can make the future processes a little easier.
Where can I learn more?
Check out these resources to learn more:
Across the Audubon Network
Birds in Peril
In the News
What prompted the Georgia Audubon Board to reexamine its name?
The organization that has not always borne the Audubon name. The organization that is today known as Birds Georgia was founded in 1926 as the Atlanta Bird Club, a name that was maintained for 47 years. In 1973, the Board of Directors made the decision to become part of the Audubon network and changed the organization’s name to Atlanta Audubon Society. In 2020, the organization changed its name again to Georgia Audubon to better reflect the mission of building places where birds and people thrive across Georgia. With the decision to rename the organization Birds Georgia in 2023, the organization is looking forward to celebrating the Centennial Anniversary of our founding in 2026 as the oldest conservation organization in Georgia.
About the Audubon Brand
National Audubon Society was founded in 1905 and named after John James Audubon, 50 years after his death. Audubon was a naturalist and illustrator whose work was an important contribution to the field of ornithology in the mid-19th century and the spread of interest in birds and nature in the United States. While there can be no doubt of the impact of his life’s work and passion for birds, he also bought and sold slaves, and expressed racist and harmful attitudes about Black and Indigenous people that are now more understood. Today, more than 100 years later, our Name Task Force and Board of Directors were asked to examine John James Audubon’s legacy through a better-informed lens.
Who was John James Audubon?
John James Audubon was a 19th-century artist and naturalist who achieved fame for his series of paintings of North American bird species released in sections between 1827 and 1838. In addition to being collected in the super-sized book The Birds of America, engravings of the birds he painted were sold by subscription and became a hugely popular way to explore avian life. Many of his original paintings and prints can be viewed now at the New York Historical Society.
So popular were the paintings and engravings that after his death, Audubon’s name became associated with bird conservation. Many conservation groups now bear his name in tribute, as do numerous parks, streets, zoos, sanctuaries, and birds with “Audubon” in the name.
However, there is another side to John James Audubon which has emerged over the past several years through historical research and popular discourse. Audubon was a man who owned, purchased, and sold enslaved people. He also wrote about returning escaped enslaved people to their owners and of his strong opposition to the growing abolitionist movement. (Read more about John James Audubon here.)
Was John James Audubon a conservationist?
While John James Audubon did not identify as a conservationist in the modern sense of the word, he did make important contributions to the early conservation movement.
Audubon was born in 1785 and lived during a time when the idea of protecting natural resources was not yet widespread. His main focus was on documenting and illustrating the birds of North America, which he believed were not well-known or appreciated by many Americans at the time.
However, Audubon did recognize the need to protect the habitats where the birds he studied lived. In his writings, he often commented on the destruction of forests and wetlands. Audubon advocated for creation of the country’s first natural history museum and the establishment of bird sanctuaries which could provide safe spaces for birds to breed and thrive.
Audubon’s work inspired the founders of the early groups that took his name. From this work which popularized an appreciation for birds and nature, a national conservation movement was born. Many of today’s important bird conservation actions—the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the ban on DDT—as well as critical community-based science efforts like the Christmas Bird Count, the Breeding Bird Atlas project, and the Great Backyard Bird Count owe a debt to Audubon’s art and the movement it inspired.
Was John James Audubon the founder of the Audubon Societies?
The Audubon societies, and the bird conservation movement, were created nearly 50 years after John James Audubon’s death.
John James Audubon died in 1851. In 1896, Harriet Hemenway and Minna B. Hall founded the Massachusetts Audubon Society, dedicated to stopping the killing of birds for plumage for women’s hats. In 1905, the founders of the National Audubon Society similarly chose the Audubon name for their organization because of its association with beautiful images of birds and Audubon’s important work in spreading knowledge of the diversity of bird species.
Why is this a problem now?
Audubon’s name long conjured strongly positive images for many people, and for more than a century has been synonymous with birds and bird conservation.
But now that positive association is no longer unequivocal, with a spreading awareness of Audubon’s ownership, purchase, and sale of enslaved people and his defense of the practice as an anti-abolitionist. These revelations about Audubon’s activities and beliefs have upended his image and tarnished his legacy. As a result of our research, the Name Task Force and Board felt that continuing to use of the Audubon name would be at odds with our values and our commitment to equity and inclusion. We also determined that having “Audubon” in our name is harming more than helping our efforts to expand our reach and bring more people into bird conservation.
Wasn’t Audubon just a person of his time?
Audubon owned and sold slaves, as did many peers in the United States in his time. His household was supported by enslaved people and Audubon sold enslaved people to finance his collecting and publishing work. While on a collecting trip to a plantation, he reported an encounter with escaped enslaved people where he returned them to their owners. Audubon has also been associated with the collection of human skulls from Indigenous people, a practice that some naturalists of his time participated in. Skulls that Audubon found or acquired during his travels made their way to Philadelphia. There, they became study specimens for Dr. Samuel George Morton, whose theories on skull size and intelligence formed the background of scientific racism. (Read more here.)
During Audubon’s life the abolitionist movement was growing in strength, especially in New York where Audubon lived. By 1820 all of the Northern states had passed legislation to abolish slavery, but Audubon remained a defender of slavery and staunchly anti-abolitionist. (Read more here.)
While these actions took place in the past, as an organization we recognize that for some people, the Audubon name conjures negative, painful images and may be negatively impacting our efforts to share information and appreciation for birds and birding with ALL people. As an organization, Georgia Audubon strives to build places where birds and people thrive. Just as bird diversity strengthens ecosystems, the diversity of human experiences, traditions, and viewpoints strengthens our conservation, education, and community engagement efforts. Our wish is to make all people feel welcome in the spaces where we work and bird.
Does changing the name to Birds Georgia modify the organization’s mission?
No. Our mission remains unchanged: building places where birds and people thrive. Through our conservation, education, and community engagement work, we will continue working to build a conservation-minded and fully engaged Georgia where birds prosper, habitats flourish, and understanding grows. We also intend to continue working to better engage and serve people and communities whose interests have historically not been meaningfully considered.
How might changing the organization’s name help your work?
We are a bird conservation organization. To save birds, we need many allies, partners, and broad popular support. A name once chosen for its popular appeal and association with beautiful images of birds is now also associated with slavery and racism. We learned through our research that the Audubon name is a barrier to people who might otherwise become involved in or support our work. By changing our name to Birds Georgia, we remove that barrier.
Does a name change mean you also reject his bird paintings?
John James Audubon’s paintings are beautiful and inspiring. We can value his art and achievement as a naturalist while rejecting some of his conduct and morality. Audubon was a skilled artist whose folios of bird paintings and his five-volume treatise on ornithology revealed to the world the richness and variety of avian life, and his direct impact on the birth of an American conservation movement continues to matter to us.
Aren’t you participating in “cancel culture”? Isn’t it better to acknowledge past wrong-doings, rather than erase history?
It’s not our intent to “cancel” John James Audubon. We are mindful of the past and of his contributions to the work we do today. But as we look at the future and seek to engage new audiences with birds, it is important that we put our organization in the best position possible to fulfill our mission.
What was your assessment process?
In February 2023, Georgia Audubon’s Board of Directors empaneled a committee, consisting of board members and staff, to guide the process and help our organization gain a deeper understanding about the history of John James Audubon and to engage with members, volunteers, donors, and program participants to gain a better understanding of how their perceptions. The committee developed a plan that was submitted to and approved by the Board of Directors at the August 2023 Board Meeting.
The task force spent six months researching, discussing, and seeking to understand all points of view before forming a recommendation to present to the board. In this time, Georgia Audubon hosted a webinar and discussion with Gregory Nobles — biographer of John James Audubon: The Story of an American Woodsman — to better understand the man and his life. The task force also sent a survey to more than 10,000 members, donors, partners, and constituents to gather input on the Audubon name and how it relates to Georgia Audubon’s work, mission, and constituency. Additionally, the task force, leadership, and staff held numerous conversations with stakeholders to gather further feedback including hosting two listening sessions, one in-person and a second virtually, for constituents to share their thoughts. Constituents were also invited to submit feedback via email.
After thoroughly reviewing and considering all of the feedback, the Name Task Force recommended that the Board of Directors remove “Audubon” from the organization’s name. The recommendation rested on three rationales: (1) alignment with the organization’s mission, values, and policies; (2) an expanding awareness of the negative aspects of John James Audubon’s legacy that will increasingly frustrate the organization’s ability to engage new members, including communities newer to organized bird conservation and education such as black, indigenous and people of color; and (3) a sense that most positive associations with “Audubon” are held by people who have already been engaged with bird organizations and that brand recognition in Audubon sits largely with an older population, leading to the likelihood of the brand declining.
In November 2023, Georgia Audubon’s Board of Directors voted unanimously to accept the recommendation of the Name Task Force and to change the organization’s name to Birds Georgia.
Will Birds Georgia Still be Affiliated with National Audubon Society?
Yes, Birds Georgia will remain a chapter of the National Audubon Society. The national organization says it will leave it to independent chapters to determine their own positions on the “Audubon” name, and we continue to value the strength of collaboration in our mission to love and protect birds and the habitat they share with people. Our work as Birds Georgia will not change; it will expand. We will continue to work alongside the 600 other organizations in the network and support the work of the national organization to maximize successes for birds and habitat. The problems that birds face are too important for any one chapter to take on. We will work together as we have for nearly 100 years since our founding in 1926, to conserve birds and habitat across Georgia.
Will your logo change?
Everyone loves our Red-headed Woodpecker logo, which we chose when we rebranded as Georgia Audubon back in 2020. We decided to keep the same logo but just update the name.
The Birds Georgia logo features a Red-headed Woodpecker on a native oak branch. The Red-headed Woodpecker is a striking bird that may be found across Georgia, in rural, suburban, and urban settings. It is also a bird that was identified as most at-risk in National Audubon’s recent report, Survival by Degrees: 389 Species on the Brink. The report builds on the 2014 Birds and Climate Report using the latest climate science research methods and modeling to capture a deeper, more extensive analysis of the effects of climate change on North American bird species. You’ll also note that the woodpecker is perched on an oak branch to signify the important connection between native plants and birds. We didn’t get too specific on the species of oak, as there are a variety of oak trees found across the state, all of which are host to insects vital to Georgia’s resident and migratory birds. The Red-headed Woodpecker is a fierce defender of its territory, mirroring the commitment that Birds Georgia brings to protecting birds and habitat, educating the public, and engaging communities in our work..
What if I send an email to your old “georgiaaudubon.org” addresses?
No problem. Our emails are set up to be forwarded to the correct person in our organization. Feel free to change the addresses, however, just by substituting @birdsgeorgia.org for @georgiaaudubon.org.
I recently wrote out a donation check to Georgia Audubon. Can you cash it?
Yes, Birds Georgia has retained the right to use Georgia Audubon. Our bank will continue to process checks written using either name. All donations remain tax deductible and our Federal Tax Identification Number remains 18-1834323.
I made a bequest to Georgia Audubon. Do I need to change my will?
No, Birds Georgia has retained the right to use Georgia Audubon and all the essential, relevant information, including address, Federal Tax ID Number, and banking, will remain the same. If you happen to be updating your trust, insurance, or retirement accounts, replacing our former name with Birds Georgia can make the future processes a little easier.
Where can I learn more?
Check out these resources to learn more:
- Webinar: Audubon's American History, with Gregory Nobles - view recording on YouTube
- Audubon Magazine, The Myth of John James Audubon
- Audubon Magazine, What do we do about John James Audubon
- Audubon Magazine, What’s in a Bird Name?
- Commonplace, We Left All On the Ground But the Head: J.J. Audubon’s Human Skulls
Across the Audubon Network
- The New York Times, Is Social Justice for the Birds? Audubon attempts to answer
- The Wildlife News, What’s in a Name? National Audubon Society
- The Christian Science Monitor, How Audubon societies are grappling with a racist past
- The Washington Post, The largest Audubon group yet is changing its name, rebuking an enslaver
- The Washington Post, National Audubon Society, pressured to drop enslaver’s name, keeps it
Birds in Peril
- The New York Times, The Crisis for Birds is a Crisis for Us All
- National Audubon Society, Survival by Degrees: 389 Bird Species on the Brink
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Nearly Three Billion Birds Gone
In the News
- American Ornithological Society Will Change the English Names of Bird Species Named After People
- Bird Note Radio, Opinion: Why the Audubon Decision Hurts
- NPR, Audubon Faces Backlash After Deciding to Keep Name that Evokes a Racist Enslaver
- The Oregonian, Opinion: Dropping Audubon from Portland Chapters Name Would be a Mistake
- The Washington Post, Opinion: Why The National Audubon Must Change Its Name
