For nearly eighty years, the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) has presented Leadership in History Awards to establish and encourage standards of excellence in the collection, preservation, and interpretation of state and local history in order to make the past more meaningful to all people.

Today, AASLH announces the Awards of Excellence winners for this year. The 2024 Albert B. Corey Award winner and History in Progress winners were previously announced.

Awards of Excellence
The Award of Excellence is presented to recognize excellence for projects (including civic engagement, special projects, educational programs, exhibits, publications, etc.), and individual lifetime achievement. This is the main award in the Leadership in History Awards program.

Alabama
Alabama Department of Archives and History for Alabama History Institutes

Alabama Department of Archives and History for History/Now: Conversations on the Past + Present 

California
Barona Cultural Center and Museum and Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego for Muuyaawkeh! You Should Know!

Gerrye Wong for decades of preserving and sharing Chinese American history in California

LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes for 18th and Grand: The Olympic Auditorium

Colorado
Louisville Historical Museum for the Marshall Fire Story Project  

Museum of Boulder for Proclaiming Colorado’s Black History

Connecticut
Connecticut Museum of Culture and History for The Bicycle Game

Culture 4 A Cause for The John Brown Project

Fairfield Museum and History Center for Creating Community: 400 Years of Fairfield Stories

Housatonic Museum of Art for The Practice of Democracy: A View from Connecticut

District of Columbia
Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum for To Live and Breathe: Women and Environmental Justice in Washington, D.C.

Florida
This Day in Miami History for the This Day in Miami History podcast   

Illinois
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum for Here I Have Lived: Home in Illinois

Glencoe Historical Society for Glencoe’s Black Heritage

Illinois State Museum for Growing Up X

Indiana
The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley Institute, and the Emmett Till Interpretive Center for Emmett Till & Mamie Till-Mobley: Let the World See

Monroe County History Center for Breaking the News: The Past and Uncertain Future of Local Print Journalism

Kansas
Black History Trail of Geary County, Inc. for Black History Trail of Geary County, Phase 1: The Dedication of Six Sites

Shawnee Town 1929 Museum for In Their Footsteps: A Veterans Day Lantern Tour

Maryland
Christopher Haley for thirty years of research and advocacy for African American history in Maryland

College Park Aviation Museum for the Latinas in Aviation Global Festival

Massachusetts
Dr. Patricia Fanning for fifty years of service to local history and the community of Norwood, Massachusetts

Heritage Museums & Gardens for Creating Cape Cod

Newburyport Black History Initiative for Newburyport Black History Initiative Interpretive Signs

Old North Illuminated for Expanding History at Old North Church

Somerville Museum and Somerville High School Local History Club for Above and Beyond: The Remarkable Life of Somerville Olympian Phil Reavis

Missouri
Landmark Builds for Iconic Joplin: Celebrating Joplin’s 150th birthday by recreating local landmarks with LEGO

New Hampshire
New Hampshire Historical Society for The Moose on the Loose: Social Studies for Granite State Kids

New York
Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site for Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site exhibits

Ohio
Shelby County Historical Society for the Wallace Family Learning and Innovation Center 

Pennsylvania
The Frick Pittsburgh for Clayton Signature Tour Experience: Gilded, Not Golden

Museum of the American Revolution for Black Founders: The Forten Family of Philadelphia

Stenton for Inequality in Bronze: Monumental Plantation Legacies

Rhode Island
Lippitt House Museum for the Lippitt House Museum Civics Program for Adult English Language Learners

The Preservation Society of Newport County for The Celestial City: Newport and China

Tennessee
Historic Castalian Springs for Hidden History: A Behind the Scenes Tour of Cragfont

Tennessee State Museum and the John Hope and Aurelia E. Franklin Library at Fisk University for Building a Bright Future: Black Communities and Rosenwald Schools in Tennessee

Texas
Dr Pepper Museum for The People Who Made Dr Pepper/Las Personas Que Hicieron El Refresco Dr Pepper

Virginia
Birthplace of Country Music Museum for I’ve Endured: Women in Old-Time Music 

Douglass High School Commemorative Committee and Loudoun County Public Schools for the Historic Douglass High School Education and Development Campus

Washington
Washington State Historical Society for Black Washington

Wisconsin
The John Michael Kohler Arts Center for Mary Nohl Art Environment

Wisconsin Veterans Museum for Souvenirs of Service: The Things They Kept

Publication Awards
Large Press: Faith, Race, and the Lost Cause: Confessions of a Southern Church by Christopher Alan Graham (University of Virginia Press)

Small Press: Promising Cures: The Pursuit of Health in a 19th Century New England Community—Lynn, Massachusetts by Andrew V. Rapoza (independently published)