AASLH is proud to announce the winners of the 74th annual Leadership in History Awards, the most prestigious recognition for achievement in the preservation and interpretation of state and local history. This year, AASLH is proud to confer fifty national awards honoring people, projects, exhibits, and publications.
“Each year the awards program bestows this honor to organizations and individuals who model best practices and innovative work in our field,” said Nicholas Hoffman, AASLH National Awards Chair and Managing Director of Education and Visitor Experience at the Missouri Historical Society. “These fifty award winners show the importance of using history to address contemporary issues and working with communities to share history that is relevant to them.”
The Leadership in History Awards Program was initiated in 1945 to build standards of excellence in the collection, preservation, and interpretation of state and local history throughout America. Each nomination is peer-reviewed by AASLH’s state captains. Final awards are decided by the Awards Committee, comprised of AASLH’s fourteen regional representatives and the National Awards Chair.
The awards include:
- The Award of Excellence which is presented for excellence in history programs, projects, and people when compared with similar activities nationwide.
- The Albert B. Corey Award is named in honor of a founder and former president of AASLH, and recognizes primarily volunteer-operated historical organizations that best display the qualities of vigor, scholarship, and imagination in their work. The 2019 recipient is the Eastern Shore Network for Change in Cambridge, MD.
- The HIP (History in Progress) Award is given at the discretion of the awards committee to 5% or less of the total winners of the Award of Excellence. It is for a project that is highly inspirational, exhibits exceptional scholarship, and/or is exceedingly entrepreneurial in terms of funding, partnerships, or collaborations, creative problem solving, or unusual project design and inclusiveness. The 2019 recipients are the University of North Carolina Greensboro Public History Program, the New-York Historical Society, and the Louisiana State Museum and Goat in the Road Productions.
Presentation of the awards will be made at a special banquet during the 2019 AASLH Annual Meeting in Philadelphia on Friday, August 30. The banquet is supported by a generous contribution from the HISTORY™.
A full listing of recipients can be viewed below. For more information, contact Bethany Hawkins at [email protected].
