Golden Gate Audubon Society dropping its ties to naturalist
Golden Gate Audubon Society is now officially the Golden Gate Bird Alliance, dropping its ties to a famous naturalist with a racist legacy, the organization announced Friday.
Members of the group voted to drop “Audubon” from the name in April after the National Audubon Society announced it would not change its name. A committee met weekly from late May through July to discuss a new name, which members ratified at a Thursday meeting.
Glen Phillips, executive director of the Golden Gate society, told the San Francisco Chronicle in April that the group had been considering a name change for a couple of years, but thought the national organization might make a move first. Despite the National Audubon Society’s decision not to change its name, the Golden Gate Bird Alliance will still remain affiliated with it and other local chapters, the group said in its announcement.
“Our new name will make the organization more accessible to a broader range of people,” Phillips said in a statement.
“With the threats facing birds today, we need everyone to be able to protect them.”
John James Audubon was a 19th century naturalist known for his documentation of avian life, according to the National Audubon Society. He also owned enslaved Black people, stole skulls from Native American graves and opposed the abolitionist movement.
Several other local chapters, including ones in Seattle and Chicago, have also voted to remove “Audubon” from their name.
The Berkeley-based chapter dates back to 1917 and has more than 3,000 members from San Francisco to the East Bay. Its new name was chosen to retain its regional descriptor while also referencing “collaboration by a broad community of people working together on behalf of birds and wildlife,” the group said in a statement.