Painting by John Syme (Public Domain).
The past few years has seen a proliferation of pieces re-examining the legacy of John James Audubon and his suitability as namesake for a bird conservation network. The following is sampling of writings from around the country.
Brinton, Scott, Audubon Society Confronts its Racist Namesake — Sort Of.
Fabian, Ann, “We Left All on the Ground But the Head”: J.J. Audubon’s Human Skulls.
http://commonplace.online/article/audubons-human-skulls/
Fears, Darryl, A D.C. Area Environmental Group is Dropping the Name of John Audubon, Naturalist Who was an Enslaver and Indian Grave Robber.
Fears, Darryl, The Racist Legacy Many Birds Carry.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/interactive/2021/bird-names-racism-audubon/
Fenston, Jacob, Maryland Audubon Group Changes Name Due To Namesake’s Racist Past.
https://wamu.org/story/21/11/05/maryland-audubon-group-changes-name-due-to-namesakes-racist-past/
Halley, Matthew R., Audubon’s diary transcripts were doctored to support his false claim of personally discovering Lincoln’s Sparrow Melospiza lincolnii (Audubon, 1834)
Halley, Matthew R., Audubon’s Bird of Washington: unravelling the fraud that launched ‘Birds of America.’
Halley, Matthew R., The (literal) skeletons in the closet of American Ornithology.
Lanham, J. Drew, What do we do about John James Audubon?
https://www.audubon.org/magazine/spring-2021/what-do-we-do-about-john-james-audubon
Mandelbaum, Ryan F., John James Audubon Was Never Good.
https://gizmodo.com/john-james-audubon-was-never-good-1845094010
Marcelo, Phillip, How Audubon Societies are Grappling with a Racist Past.
National Audubon Society, John James Audubon: A Complicated History.
https://www.audubon.org/content/john-james-audubon
Nelson, Glenn, What’s in a Name? Plenty if it Belongs to a Slaveholder or White Supremacist.