PA Museums has announced the winners of its 2024 Special Achievement Awards. Since the 1980s, PA Museums has invited nominations from its membership and chosen institutions, projects, and individuals to be recognized. 

This year’s award winners are:

Institutional Achievement Awards

Forged by Fire: The Heritage, Honor, and History of Firefighting, The Sigal Museum, Easton

The Story of Us, Hagen History Center, Erie

18th Century Teaching Garden, Fort LeBoeuf Historical Society, Waterford

Gilded, Not Golden, The Frick Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh

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

Korean War Exhibit, Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum, Pittsburgh

At the Water’s Edge: Working and Living Along the Delaware River, The Independence Seaport Museum, Philadelphia

Conversations with Birds, The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia

Aim High, Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh

Pennsylvania Trolley Museum Welcome & Education Center, Pennsylvania Trolley Museum, Washington

Celebrating Juneteenth: Commemorating African American History, Chester County History Center, West Chester

Beyond the Battle Museum, Adams County Historical Society, Gettysburg

Individual Awards

Candace Perry, The Schwenkfelder Library and Heritage Center, Pennsburg

President’s Award – Richard Burkert, The Johnstown Area Heritage Association, Johnstown

S.K. Stevens Award

Saint or Sinner? The Complicated Legacy of Senator Matthew Stanley Quay of Beaver, PA
Beaver Area Heritage Foundation, Beaver

PA Museums welcomes support for our annual awards program from individuals, institutions, and businesses that believe, as we do, that our annual awards make a difference. The annual awards have benefited so many organizations in Pennsylvania (a list of past awardees is below). You can help us call attention to and honor the efforts of museum professionals by making a donation anytime.

2023 Awards

Institutional Achievement Awards

Can you Live 18th Century
Conococheague Institute

Arch Street Meeting House Exterior Exhibits
Arch Street Meeting House Preservation Trust, Philadelphia

I Am a Penn Stater: Nittany Lions in World War II
Penn State University All-Sports Museum, University Park

Beyond Our Doorstep: Bringing Local History Into Your Home
Lackawanna County Historical Society, Scranton

Saint or Sinner? The Complicated Legacy of Senator Matthew Stanley Quay of Beaver, PA
Beaver Area Heritage Foundation

Liberty: Don Troiani’s Paintings of the Revolutionary War
The Museum of the American Revolution, Philadelphia

Visible Storage Galleries
Chester County History Center, West Chester

Pennsylvania History Special Issue: Exploring Disability History in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Historical Association

Individual Awards

Janet Mishkin, Quiet Valley Living History Farm and Museum

S.K. Stevens Awards

The Museum of the American Revolution, Philadelphia
When Women Lost the Vote: A Revolutionary Story, 1776-1807

The Science History Institute, Philadelphia
Downstream

The Senator John Heinz History Center, Pittsburgh
American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith

Stenton Museum and National Society of The Colonial Dames of America, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
Virtual History Hunters

2022 Awards

Institutional Achievement Awards

Ephrata Cloister – 2020 Holiday Programming, Ephrata

Stenton Museum – Virtual History Hunters Program, Philadelphia

Heinz History Center – American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith, Pittsburgh

Heinz History Center – Portraits of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh

Jefferson County Historical Society – Pollywogs & Pollinators: Creating an ADA Accessible Garden Landscape & Education Area, Brookville

Science History Institute – Downstream Exhibition, Philadelphia

Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum – Remembering 9/11 and Honoring Our Fallen Exhibition, Pittsburgh

Museum of the American Revolution – When Women Lost the Vote: A Revolutionary Story, 1776-1807, Philadelphia

Bradford House Historical Association – Whiskey Rebellion Education and Visitor Center, Washington

Chester County History Center – Becoming Chester County Exhibition, West Chester

Westmoreland Historical Society – Penn’s Woods Plenty for the Use of Man Exhibition, Greensburg

Christ Church Preservation Trust – Digitizing the Records of Philadelphia’s Historic Congregations, Philadelphia

Centre County Historical Society – Centre County Encyclopedia of Culture & History, State College

Individual Awards

Madison Flaherty, Discovery Space of Central PA, Carol Wickkiser Award, State College

Mark Sheffield, Fulton County Historical Society, McConnellsburg

Tracie Liberatore, Bradford House Historical Association, Washington

S.K. Stevens Awards

Pittsburgh, Virginia (exhibit), Fort Pitt Museum, Pittsburgh

Cost of Revolution: The Life and Death of an Irish Soldier (exhibit), The Museum of the American Revolution, Philadelphia

2021 Awards

Institutional Achievement Awards

Cannon Ball Online Auction and Party To Go, Fort Ligonier, Ligonier

Berks History for Victory (exhibit), Berks History Center,  Reading

Pittsburgh, Virginia (exhibit), Fort Pitt Museum, Pittsburgh

Medal of Honor Display, Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum, Pittsburgh

Cost of Revolution: The Life and Death of an Irish Soldier (exhibit), The Museum of the American Revolution, Philadelphia

Thrown, Fired and Glazed: The Redware Tradition from Pennsylvania and Beyond (exhibit), Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum, Lancaster

Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies, Special Issue featuring the City Beautiful Exhibition and Digital Harrisburg (collaboration of Messiah University, Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, and a number of community partners)Pennsylvania Historical Association

Individual Awards

Walter Rybka, Senior Captain and Site Administrator, Erie Maritime Museum/US Brig Niagara, Erie
Annita Andrick, Director of Library and Archives, Erie County Historical Society/Hagen History Center, Erie
Tom Bresenhan, Friends of The Joseph Priestley House, Northumberland

S.K. Stevens Awards

Hamilton Was Here, The Museum of the American Revolution, Philadelphia

The Vietnam War: 1945-1975, The Senator John Heinz History Center, Pittsburgh

2020

Institutional Achievement Awards
Restoration of Al Capone’s Cell, Eastern State Penitentiary and Historic Site, Philadelphia
Museum Lab, Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh
The Vietnam War 1945-1975, The Senator John Heinz History Center, Pittsburgh
Hamilton Was Here, The Museum of the American Revolution, Philadelphia
McKean County Historic Collectible Pin Program, Allegheny National Forest Visitor’s Bureau, Bradford
Shan Goshorn: Resisting the Mission, The Trout Gallery at the Art Museum of Dickinson College, Carlisle
George Washington Birthday Parties, Fort Ligonier, Ligonier
Stones n Bones Exhibit, Jefferson County History Center, Brookville
Gathering of Governors, Pennsbury Manor, Morrisville

Individual Awards
Sime Bertolet, Berks History Center, Reading
Sue Hanna, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg

Carol Wickkiser Memorial Award (Emerging Museum Professional)
Matthew Skic, The Museum of the American Revolution, Philadelphia

S.K. Stevens Award
Community Heart and Soul Project, Cumberland County Historical Society, Carlisle
Revolution Place Discovery Center, The Museum of the American Revolution, Philadelphia

2019

Institutional Achievement Awards
Negley Log House Rebuild, Conococheague Institute for the Study of Cultural Heritage, Mercersburg
Community Heart and Soul Project, Cumberland County Historical Society, Carlisle
New Mission Statement and Strategic Plan, Eastern State Penitentiary and Historic Site, Philadelphia
Waves of the Past, Sailors of the Future, Flagship Niagara League/U.S. Brig Niagara, Erie
Fortifying our Future: Enhancing Fort Ligonier, Fort Ligonier, Ligonier
Revolution Place Discovery Center, The Museum of the American Revolution, Philadelphia
Bringing History Alive at Old Economy Village, Old Economy Village, Ambridge
Field to Front: Nittany Lions at War, 1917-1919, Penn State University All Sports Museum, University Park
Modernation and Improvement of Museum Collections Management, Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall Museum, Pittsburgh
Restoration and Reinterpretation of Mammal Hall, The State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg
Historic Center and Cemetery, Stoddartsville Preservation Society, Stoddartsville

Individual Awards
Steve Appleby, The Eldred World War II Museum, Eldred
Sarah Buffington, Old Economy Village, Ambridge
Hope W. Kopf, The Joseph Priestly House, Northumberland

S.K. Stevens Award
The Museum of the American Revolution, Washington’s War Tent

2018

Institutional Achievement Awards
Washington’s War Tent, The Museum of the American Revolution, Philadelphia
Kids as Curators, Erie Art Museum, Erie
Berks History Center Collections Management Project, Berks History Center, Reading
Defending Democracy: Bradford County in World War I, A Centennial Remembrance, Bradford County Historical Society, Towanda
From Maps to Mermaids, Carved Powder Horns, Fort Pitt Museum/The Senator John Heinz History Center, Pittsburgh
Ice Age Meets Space Age: The Use of Innovative Gigapan Technology in the Revised First Peoples: Archaeology at Meadowcroft Rockshelter Curriculum, Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village/The Senator John Heinz History Center, Pittsburgh
York County History Center Campus Project, York History Center, York
Make the Switch at Phipps! Green Power Drive, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, Pittsburgh
Unraveling the Threads of History: Needlework Samplers, Centre County Historical Society, State College

Individual Achievement Award
Albert LeCoff, The Center for Art in Wood, Philadelphia

Carol Wickkiser Memorial Award
Matt Gault, Fort Ligonier, Ligonier

S.K. Stevens Awards
Scripture Rocks Heritage Park, Jefferson County History Center, Brookville
Prisons Today: Questions in the age of Mass Incarceration, Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia

2017

Institutional Achievement Awards
Elizabeth V. and George F. Gardner Digital Library, Cumberland County Historical Society, Carlisle
Scripture Rocks Heritage Park, Jefferson County History Center, Brookville
Prisons Today: Questions in the Age of Mass Incarceration Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site exhibit, Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia
The Virtual Museum: Bringing the Museum to You special project, National Watch and Clock Museum, Columbia
Weathervanes: Three Centuries of a Pennsylvania Folk Art Tradition exhibit, Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum, Lancaster
Wexford Station project, Pennsylvania Trolley Museum, Washington

Institutional Honorable Mention
Pennsylvania Cultural Resilience Network special project, Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts, Philadelphia

S.K. Stevens Award*
Pennsylvania Lumber Museum, Galeton

Individual Achievement Awards
Ken Burkett, Executive Director, Jefferson County History Center
J. Steven Humphrey, Executive Director, National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors
John Vanco, Executive Director, Erie Art Museum, Erie

2016

Institutional Achievement Awards
Share the Story Scholarship Fund, The Hershey Story Museum, Hershey
Hidden Collections Initiative, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
Visitor Center Expansion & New Core Exhibit, Pennsylvania Lumber Museum, Galeton

Institutional Honorable Mentions
Women in Aerospace & Technology program, American Helicopter Museum & Education Center, West Chester
Fort Augusta special project, Northumberland County Historical Society, Sunbury

S.K. Stevens Award*
Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia

2015

Institutional Achievement Award
The Big Graph exhibit, Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia
Museum on the Move program, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh

Institutional Honorable Mentions
A Legacy of Learning program, Historic Fair Hill, Philadelphia

S.K. Stevens Awards*

Gettysburg Seminary Ridge Museum, Gettysburg
Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum, Lancaster

2014

Institutional Achievement Awards
Pennsylvania’s Top Ten Endangered Artifacts special project, Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts, Philadelphia
The Blood in the Life: Vampires in Art and Nature exhibit and programming, The Everhart Museum, Scranton

Institutional Honorable Mentions
Farm Days 1866 program, Bradford County Heritage Association, Troy
Turning Points: Civil War, 1863-1864 exhibit and programming, Mercer Museum, Bucks County Historical Society, Doylestown

President’s Award
From Slavery to Freedom exhibit, Senator John Heinz History Center, Pittsburgh

Director’s Award
Voices of Duty and Devotion exhibit and museum opening, Gettysburg Seminary Ridge Museum, Gettysburg

Carol Wickkiser Memorial Award (Emerging Museum Professional)
Daniel Roe, Director of Education, The York County Heritage Trust, York