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The Audubon Nature Institute (
American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lang ...
: ) is a family of museums and parks dedicated to nature based in
New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
,
Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
. The facilities include the
Audubon Zoo Audubon Zoo is an American zoo located in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is part of the Audubon Nature Institute which also manages Audubon Aquarium, Audubon Louisiana Nature Center, Freeport-McMoran Species Survival Center, Audubon Park, and Audu ...
, Audubon Aquarium, Audubon Louisiana Nature Center, Audubon Park, Woldenberg Riverfront Park,
Freeport-McMoRan Freeport-McMoRan Inc., often called Freeport, is an American mining company based in the Freeport-McMoRan Center, in Phoenix, Arizona. The company is the world's largest producer of molybdenum, a major copper producer and operates the world's la ...
Audubon Species Survival Center, Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species (ACRES), Audubon Wilderness Park, and Audubon Coastal Wildlife Network (CWN). Collectively, prior to COVID, there were 2 million annual visitors.


History


1800s (Decade)

The Audubon family of nature sites and facilities began with Audubon Park – once home to Native Americans – and later, to New Orleans' first mayor,
Étienne de Boré Jean Étienne de Boré (27 December 1741 – 1 February 1820) was a Creole French planter, born in Kaskaskia, Illinois Country, who was known for producing the first granulated sugar in Louisiana. At the time, the area was under Spanish rule. Hi ...
. He founded the nation's first commercial sugar plantation here, when New Orleans was still part of Spanish colonial Louisiana; and developed its first granulated sugar through a process invented by
Norbert Rillieux Norbert Rillieux (March 17, 1806 – October 8, 1894) was a Louisiana Creole inventor who was widely considered one of the earliest chemical engineers and noted for his pioneering invention of the multiple-effect evaporator. This invention w ...
, a local
free man of color In the context of the history of slavery in the Americas, free people of color (; ) were primarily people of mixed African, European, and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native American descent who were not enslaved. However, the term also ...
. The land did not fall into public hands until 1850, when a philanthropist willed the property to the city. During the
US Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded f ...
, the location alternately hosted a
Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...
military camp and a Union hospital. In 1866, it was the activation site for the
9th Cavalry Regiment The 9th Cavalry Regiment is a parent cavalry regiment of the United States Army. Historically, it was one of the Army's four segregated African-American regiments and was part of what was known as the Buffalo Soldiers. The regiment saw combat d ...
, the " Buffalo Soldiers," whose defense of the United States' western frontier made an indelible mark on America's
African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
heritage. Site improvements made for the World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition of 1884 (Louisiana's first
World's Fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition, is a large global exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specific site for a perio ...
) laid the foundation for an urban park. The city had designated the land for this purpose in 1871; and in 1886, city planners changed the park's name from Upper City Park to Audubon Park. This was in tribute to artist/naturalist
John James Audubon John James Audubon (born Jean-Jacques Rabin, April 26, 1785 – January 27, 1851) was a French-American Autodidacticism, self-trained artist, natural history, naturalist, and ornithology, ornithologist. His combined interests in art and ornitho ...
who painted many of his famed '' Birds of America'' in Louisiana. A governing board was appointed by the city in 1894 to find the best way to develop the land; and by the turn of the century, development had been entrusted to landscape architect
John Charles Olmsted John Charles Olmsted (September 14, 1852 – February 24, 1920) was an American landscape architect. The nephew and adopted son of Frederick Law Olmsted, he worked with his father and his younger brother, Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., in their fath ...
. Olmsted's family firm had risen to prominence for its design of New York City's
Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...
, and New Orleanians soon watched their own scenic retreat materialize from Louisiana swamp land.


1900s (Decade): from decline to revitalization


The Audubon Commission
was established by State Act in 1914 to maintain and develop Audubon Park. A flight cage was added to the park in 1916, and its popularity launched the community's call for a full-scale zoo. Community leaders united as the New Orleans Zoological Society, and private donations soon funded a monkey cage, a mammal cage and a deer paddock. The first elephant, purchased by Louisiana schoolchildren, arrived in 1924. An aquarium and a colonnaded sea lion pool fueled the momentum, and by 1929, the collection boasted hundreds of animals. When the Depression of the 1930s shut down private donations, the city's hope for a zoo was kept alive by the
Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...
(WPA). This federal agency funded construction of new zoo buildings, and in 1938, a $50,000 bequest from local benefactor Valentine Merz enabled the opening of the Merz Memorial Zoo. Expensive to maintain and operate, the Merz facility held its own until the 1950s. Deterioration followed as city appropriations dwindled, private donations dried up and public interest waned. There were a few bright moments (including the 1956 arrival of the first endangered
whooping crane The whooping crane (''Grus americana'') is an endangered Crane (bird), crane species, native to North America, named for its "whooping" calls. Along with the sandhill crane (''Antigone canadensis''), it is one of only two crane species native to ...
hatched in a zoo), but times were mostly bad. Blasted by the media as an animal "ghetto" in 1958 and urged to "clean up or close up" by the
Humane Society of the United States Humane World for Animals, formerly the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and Humane Society International (HSI), is a global nonprofit organization that focuses on animal welfare and opposes animal-related cruelties of national scop ...
in 1970, the Zoo—now called Audubon Zoo—begged recovery. In 1972 the Commission spearheaded passage of a special referendum which generated nearly $2 million in bonds to finance the beginning of the Zoo's restoration. The volunteers formally rallied as Friends of the Zoo, and in 1973, Ron Forman—the City Hall Liaison for Audubon Park—came on board with a grand vision that evolved into a new master plan for the Zoo. Forman and the Audubon Commission expanded the Zoo to its current 58 acres, allowing for sweeping natural habitats that mirrored wild environments: the African Savanna, North American Grasslands and the South American Pampas. Woldenberg Park opened in 1989, the same year the Friends of the Zoo evolved into Audubon Nature Institute. The Aquarium followed in 1990.


2000s: focus on conservation

In the next decade, the Aquarium expanded into a new wing housing a theater and a Changing Exhibits Gallery, while Woldenberg Park also extended its borders.


Effects of Hurricane Katrina

The 2005
Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...
caused substantial physical destruction, wiping out all Audubon operating revenues and forcing the layoff of nearly 600 employees. Nevertheless, Aquarium staff remained at their posts throughout the storm, as well as the subsequent flooding, doing what they could for the animals in their charge.


Miscellany

The institute was the executive producer of "
Hurricane on the Bayou ''Hurricane on the Bayou'' is an American 2006 documentary film that focuses on the wetlands of Louisiana before and after Hurricane Katrina. ''Hurricane on the Bayou'' is both a documentary of Hurricane Katrina's effects and a call to resto ...
", an
IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of High-definition video, high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and movie theater, theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio (approximately ei ...
film released on the anniversary of
Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...
's landfall in 2006.Philip Kennicott
"Rose-Colored Lens: In Louisiana, Environmental Destruction Never Looked So Pretty"
Washington Post, March 22, 2007
The institute is no longer a part of the National Wetlands Coalition, but it is a "cooperating organization" with America's Wetland Campaign; which is sponsored by
British Gas British Gas (trading as Scottish Gas in Scotland) is an energy and home services provider in the United Kingdom. It is the trading name of British Gas Services Limited and British Gas New Heating Limited, both subsidiaries of Centrica. Serving ...
,
Citgo Citgo Petroleum Corporation, or Citgo (stylized as CITGO), is a United States–based refiner, transporter and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products. Headquartered in the Energy Corridor area ...
,
ConocoPhillips ConocoPhillips Company is an American multinational corporation engaged in hydrocarbon exploration and production. It is based in the Energy Corridor district of Houston, Texas. The company has operations in 15 countries and has production in t ...
,
Shell Oil Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company, headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Y ...
and other oil and gas companies.


Gallery

Some of the areas managed include: Audubon Zoo, New Orleans, Louisiana -entrance-6June2010.jpg,
Audubon Zoo Audubon Zoo is an American zoo located in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is part of the Audubon Nature Institute which also manages Audubon Aquarium, Audubon Louisiana Nature Center, Freeport-McMoran Species Survival Center, Audubon Park, and Audu ...
Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans.JPG, Audubon Aquarium AudubonPark1.JPG, Audubon Park Woldenberg Riverfront.jpg, Woldenberg Park


References


External links

* {{Authority control Organizations based in Louisiana Audubon movement Museum organizations Tourist attractions in New Orleans