The Alliance Announces Four Newly Accredited Museums and 13 Museums Re-Accredited

Washington, D.C., August 2013 – The American Alliance of Museums has announced that four museums were newly accredited and 13 museums earned re-accreditation at the July 2013 meeting of the Accreditation Commission. Accredited status from the Alliance is the highest national recognition achievable by an American museum.

Accreditation recognizes high standards in individual museums and ensures that museums continue to uphold their public trust responsibilities. Developed and sustained by museum professionals for over 40 years, the museum accreditation program is the field’s primary vehicle for quality assurance, self-regulation and public accountability. Alliance accreditation signifies excellence and accountability to the entire museum community, to governments and outside agencies and to the museum-going public.

This group of accredited museums is representative of the breadth and scope of America’s museums, encompassing all types and sizes of institutions and every region of the country. It includes such diverse institutions as the Arab American National Museum in Michigan, San Jose Museum of Art in California, the Las Vegas Natural History Museum and the Mount Vernon Hotel Museum and Garden, an historic house in New York City. The Autry National Center of the American West is celebrating its first accreditation since the merger with the Southwest Museum, previously independently accredited.  

“Accredited museums have met and exceeded the highest standards of the museum field, in everything they do,” said Ford W. Bell, Alliance president. “Accreditation is clearly a significant achievement, of which both the institutions and the communities they serve can be extremely proud.”

The newest to join the distinguished list of accredited institutions are:

  • Appleton Museum of Art, Ocala, Florida
  • Arab American National Museum, Dearborn, Michigan
  • Las Vegas Natural History Museum
  • Museum of South Texas History, Edinburg

The following museums were awarded subsequent accreditation.

  • Alexandria Museum of Art, Alexandria, Louisiana
  • Andersonville National Historic Site, Andersonville, Georgia
  • Autry National Center of the American West, Los Angeles
    • Museum of the American West
    • Southwest Museum
  • Denver Art Museum
  • Mount Vernon Hotel Museum and Garden, New York City
  • San Jose Museum of Art, California
  • St. Joseph Museums, St. Joseph, Missouri
    • Black Archives Museum
    • Glore Psychiatric Museum
    • St. Joseph Museum
    • Wyeth-Tootle Mansion
  • Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut
  • Wenham Museum, Wenham, Massachusetts

Of the nation’s estimated 17,500 museums, over 1,000 are currently accredited. To earn accreditation a museum first must conduct a self-study, and then undergo a site visit by a two-person team of peers. The Accreditation Commission, an autonomous body of museum professionals appointed by the Alliance Board, considers the self-study and site visit report to determine whether a museum should receive accreditation.

About the Alliance

The American Alliance of Museums (formerly the American Association of Museums) has been bringing museums together since 1906, helping to develop standards and best practices, gathering and sharing knowledge, and providing advocacy on issues of concern to the entire museum community. With more than 18,000 individual, 3,000 institutional and 300 corporate members, the Alliance is dedicated to ensuring that museums remain a vital part of the American landscape, connecting people with the greatest achievements of the human experience, past, present and future.

Media Contact

Dewey Blanton
Alliance Communications
202-218-7704