Media Alert
July 18, 2023
Taylor Fuqua, Manager of PR & Marketing; tfuqua@VirginiaHistory.org; 804.342.9661

Richmond, Va.- The American Association of State and Local History (AASLH), the leading national association of history museums and organizations, recently awarded the Virginia Museum of History & Culture its highest honor. The Award of Excellence is AASLH’s most prestigious recognition for achievement in the preservation of state and local history. The VMHC is among just fifty-one organizations, out of America’s more than 20,000 history institutions, and the only museum in Virginia to be recognized in 2023.

The VMHC was nominated, and ultimately selected for this special honor, for its historic renovation and reimagination completed in early 2022. The most significant architectural and programmatic overhaul in the museum’s nearly 200-year history, its History Matters campaign and initiative was designed to help the VMHC better welcome and reflect all Virginians, and to be the history museum Virginia needs, and all Virginians deserve.

Cited in the museum’s nomination, and characterizing the spirit of its transformation, was an excerpt from The Washington Post’s July 20, 2022, critical review: “The result is a compelling new museum of Virginia’s full history…a fully satisfying, engaging and often moving museum, that echoes in its tone what is happening at all levels of public history…”

“It is an honor to receive such recognition from the American Association for State and Local History, and also to be select by a group of our peers,” Jamie Bosket, President & CEO at the VMHC said in a statement. “Our recent renovation and reimagination was the most extensive such project in the history of our institution, and it has fundamentally changed what we do and how we do it. It has positioned us for success and greater public service now and for generations to come.”

Each year, AASLH awards a select number of distinguished and deserving projects, as determined by a nation-wide panel of history professionals. The winners represent the best in the field and provide leadership for the future of state and local history. The AASLH awards program was initiated in 1945 to establish and encourage standards of excellence in the collection, preservation, and interpretation history throughout the United States.

The Virginia Museum of History & Culture is the only institution dedicated to presenting the entire history of Virginia over time and across regions. Its nationally significant collection of more than 9 million objects, renowned research library, galleries and public programs demonstrate the centrality of Virginia to the narrative of the United States.

The VMHC is owned and operated by the Virginia Historical Society — a private, non-profit organization established in 1831. The historical society is the oldest cultural organization in Virginia and one of the oldest and most distinguished history organizations in the nation.