Rebranding is underway for Detroit Audubon, a chapter of the National Audubon Society, a bird conservation group.

The Detroit birding organization will adopt the name Detroit Bird Alliance, as the national organization and its branches reckon with the legacy of 19th-century naturalist John James Audubon, the organization’s namesake, an enslaver who opposed the abolition movement.

In a joint statement Friday (Oct. 20), Detroit Audubon, Chicago Audubon and Madison Audubon in Wisconsin said they will strike Audubon’s name from their titles.

Detroit Audubon will officially change its title in 2024. The other two midwest branches are changing their names to Chicago Bird Alliance and Badgerland Bird Alliance. All three organizations will continue their affiliation with the national organization.

Several branches of the National Audubon Society have already changed their names to distance themselves from the controversy surrounding the organization’s namesake.

In March, the national organization decided in a closed-door vote to retain Audubon’s name, The Washington Post reported.

“It was important for us to collaborate with other Audubon chapters—especially those in our region—in adopting a name that unifies our members and unifies us as organizations,” Gretchen Abrams, Detroit Audubon executive director, said.

Seattle Audubon became the first major chapter to sever its connection with Audon, changing its name in March to Birds Connect Seattle, The Seattle Times reported.

Since then, other branches, including Golden Gate Bird Alliance, formerly Golden Gate Audubon Society in California, have changed their names.

“Our chapters believe that bird conservation should center birds and collaboration, rather than celebrate a historical figure that is aligned with systemic racism,” Chicago Audubon Society President Judy Pollock said. “We are happy to be part of a new group of chapters using this name, and welcome other chapters, community members, and partners to join us in our work.”

Audubon was a wildlife artist who documented North American birds, earning the title “founding father of American birding.”

But the national organization also recognizes that he was a White supremacist. He enslaved nine people who worked in his Kentucky home, selling some of them when he needed money. He also criticized the British government when it abolished slavery in its Caribbean colonies.

“When you recognize John James Audubon’s environmental legacy, you also have to grapple with his full legacy,” said Matt Reetz, executive director of the Badgerland Bird Alliance, which officially changed its name on Sept. 27 after a unanimous vote.

“After talking to community members and partners, and listening to our members, we learned that for some groups, Audubon simply meant ‘birds’—but for many others, it meant harm. It’s not enough to just put an asterisk next to the name. We needed to have our name promote our work: bird conservation that includes everyone.”