From collection Person List - History Trust
John James Audubon was a self-taught artist, naturalist, and ornithologist. His plan was to create a complete pictorial record of every bird species in America. His work, “The Birds of America” is highly regarded as one of the finest ornithological works and he is credited for identifying 25 new species. He is also the eponym of the National Audubon Society and his name can be found on many buildings and street signs across America. In recent years, he has become a controversial figure. Though his findings are incredibly important to the ornithological world, he was a slaveholder and anti-abolitionist. People now question the ethics of attaching his name to an organization that exists in the modern day, where much of society holds values of social justice and equality in high regard.
