Army women's museum earns award for excellence

FORT LEE, Va. (Sept. 29, 2016) -- The U.S. Army Women's Museum received the Army Historical Foundation 2016 Museum Excellence Award during the Quartermaster School's town hall Sept. 22 in Mullins Auditorium.

Matt Seelinger -- the chief historian of the foundation -- presented the award at the event and said both of the museums on Fort Lee are a treat to visit.

"They are gems in the Army museum system," he said. "They both do an excellenct job of teaching Army history to Soldiers and the award to the Women's Museum definitely recognizes that."

There is only one award given out each year, said Brig. Gen. Rodney Fogg, Quartermaster General.

"This is just an incredible honor," he said. "This is outstanding. Congratulations (to the museum staff), this is just super."

The AHF is a nonprofit organization dedicated to honoring the Army's legacy, and its funding "helps to refurbish historical Army buildings, acquire and conserve Army historical art and artifacts, support Army history educational programs, research and publish historical materials on the American Soldier, and provides support and counsel to private and governmental organizations committed to the same goals," according to the organization's website. It also is the primary fundraiser for the National Museum of the United States Army that recently broke ground at Fort Belvoir.

The Museum Excellence Award has been in existence since 1999 and is awarded to an Army museum that shows excellence in "integrated program of exhibits, tours and classes that relate to Army history," said Dr. Francoise Bonnell, AWM director. "The AWM was recognized for its work in three specific areas: achieving American Alliance of Museum's Accreditation; reaching out to veterans across the globe with an active and growing social media presence; and creating unique educational programs, to include its live broadcast initiative."

This award marks the second time the museum has earned the honor. The staff was recognized in 2008 for their efforts, as well.

"I am very proud of the work the museum staff does, every day, all year long," said Bonnell. "The AWM staff is small, but has accomplished an enormous amount over the past several years. Although each person has his or her area of responsibility, it is each one's initiative to do whatever it takes to get the mission done.

Their expertise, professionalism, enthusiasm and dedication enable the museum to earn an award such as this."

One of the things Bonnell said she is particularly proud of is the staff's initiative in the use of social media and distance learning.

"The scope of the museum's story extends beyond the four walls of the facility, encompassing the entirety of Army history," she said. "The museum staff realized it is important to extend the reach of the Museum quite literally around the world. The education staff went to work to create programs that could achieve this goal. The team began to leverage the power of social media, distance learning and special programming.

"The USAWM Facebook page serves as an educational platform with carefully planned posts that showcase the history located in the museum as well as current events," Bonnell continued. "Entire Army organizations and units far outside the physical reach of the museum have been able to interact with Army women's history through social media. Recently the museum launched a Live Broadcast Studio with Chroma key technology to allow delivery of programming to students and adults around the globe, especially seniors. The implications for providing Soldier training via this technology are boundless."

The museum received an award from the Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration earlier this year.