Date: 1/27/26 9:20 pm From: Bruce Tedford <tedfordkidd...> Subject: Re: Name Change
We could keep Ark. Audubon, and have the "regional" societies as "Chapters"
of the AAS
On Tue, Jan 27, 2026, 22:19 Karen Garrett <kjgarrett84...> wrote:
> Well, I'm going to weigh in on this for the first time. I am not a member
> of any bird society anymore, not because of any philosophical reasons, but
> because I can't afford it. What I do have is an opinion, maybe even more
> than one. The whole naming thing is somewhat confusing. I didn't realize
> that Arkansas Audubon and Audubon Arkansas were 2 different entities until
> a couple years ago. Still, I knew that no matter what name either group
> uses, they are both on the side of birds, birders, and bird conservation.
> (Please excuse my Oxford comma. I'm old, after all.) I think it would be
> beneficial to do away with the confusion. I'm not even sure why there are
> two separate groups. Seems like we're all in it together, but that's just
> me.
>
> Now to the stickier question; should we distance ourselves from the name
> "Audubon"? Obviously, Mr Audubon was an imperfect man, as are we all, but
> I don't think that, in and of itself, is reason to change. BUT, if using
> the name Audubon causes pain to others, or causes people to question what
> we stand for, that IS a good enough reason to change the name, in my
> opinion. Instead of thinking of what we want, individually, I think we all
> need to think about the end goal. We need to get more people to appreciate
> birds and to care about what happens to them. The more people that care,
> the more pressure we can exert on our public officials to protect critical
> habitat. If a name change furthers that cause, then do it yesterday. That
> is my 5 cents or no cents (sense???) worth, since those are now our choices.
>
> Karen Garrett
> Rogers
>
> On Tue, Jan 27, 2026 at 9:32 PM Robert Day <rhday52...> wrote:
>
>> All:
>>
>> I originally waded into these waters because the original email about
>> this issue indicated that the name caused confusion because of all of the
>> other Audubon-named organizations. Hence, I took the leap and suggested
>> that here might be suitable alternative names. This still is my
>> understanding.
>>
>> There may be some folks who want to disassociate from the name Audubon,
>> but that issue has not been indicated as of importance here.
>>
>> Audubon was a reprehensible human being in many ways, not just because of
>> slavery but because he stole a lot of information and specimens from a
>> young man named Townsend, who was studying birds in Washington and Oregon.
>> Townsend died in poverty as a result and was never given his due as a fine
>> ornithologist. Given these issues, it is up to each individual to decide
>> their own thoughts on Audubon.
>>
>> But, again, I have seen no reference in any of this correspondence to an
>> association with Audubon’s name being the issue we all are wrangling about.
>>
>> My two cents (which apparently don’t exist anymore).
>>
>> Bob Day
>> SW Bentonville
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone email thingie; please excuse the brevity.
>>
>> On Jan 27, 2026, at 6:11 PM, Sandy Berger <sndbrgr...> wrote:
>>
>>
>> Historically of all these groups using the Audubon name, which entity was
>> first to use it in Arkansas? This “confusion” really began when Audubon
>> Arkansas came to town, if I recall correctly. I joined the Arkansas Audubon
>> Society back in the 90’s. Became a life member of the Arkansas Audubon
>> Society a couple of years ago. I’ve been proud to be a member of the
>> Arkansas Audubon Society. And now, because of this “confusion”, all of a
>> sudden it is felt that a change in name needs to be made. Honestly, I’m
>> very disappointed.
>> Are we really changing the name because of “confusion”, or does it have
>> to do with the controversy surrounding Mr. Audubon?
>>
>> Thank you,
>> Sandy Berger
>>
>> On Tue, Jan 27, 2026 at 1:02 PM Ragupathy Kannan <
>> <0000013b0ad14faf-dmarc-request...> wrote:
>>
>>> Not really, Sandy. It is to avoid the eternal confusion between National
>>> Audubon Society, Arkansas Audubon Society, Audubon Arkansas, Audubon
>>> Delta, Central Arkansas Audubon Society, Northwest Arkansas Audubon
>>> Society, etc etc., and everything in between!
>>>
>>> On Tuesday, 27 January 2026 at 12:43:21 pm GMT-6, Sandy Berger <
>>> <sndbrgr...> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> So basically the officers think that the Arkansas Audubon Society needs
>>> a name change to get rid of the word Audubon. Is that correct?
>>>
>>> Sandy Berger
>>>
>>>
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