Press Release: Tudor Place Earns National Recognitions as It Launches into the Fall Season

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Press Release 

October 7, 2025

 

Contact

Janet Wall

Director of Development & Communications

press@tudorplace.org | 202-580-7323

 

Washington, DC — Tudor Place is proud to announce that it has received two prestigious national recognitions this year: a 4-Star Rating from Charity Navigator, the highest possible rating for financial health and accountability, and a Gold Seal of Transparency from Candid, recognizing our commitment to openness and impact in the nonprofit sector.

“These recognitions validate the work we do every day to preserve, share and celebrate history that belongs to everyone,” said Interim Executive Director Anne C.B. Roberts. “As we step into our fall season, we invite the community to experience our offerings and see firsthand why investing in local museums matters.”

As one of the region’s most respected cultural institutions, Tudor Place Historic House & Garden continues to be a place where history comes alive—and where every visitor can find themselves in the multifaceted stories we tell. With these new accolades, the museum reinforces its role as a trustworthy steward of resources and a meaningful place to support through visitation, membership and donations for historic preservation.

As autumn unfolds, it’s the ideal season to celebrate and support local museums. From guided tours and garden strolls to engaging programs and membership opportunities, there are countless ways to connect with history and community. Guided tours of the historic house and self-guided garden visits are available Tuesday – Sunday. Currently on view is: Tangled Roots: Families of Tudor Place, exploring the lives and legacies of the multi-generational Black and white families who shaped this iconic Georgetown estate.

Fall Programming Highlights

  • Landmark Lecture: Mary Kittamaquund: An Indigenous Foremother Reappears – October 7: This free event explores the story of this lesser-known figure in the history of Washington, DC. Join in-person or virtually.
  • Tudor Tots – October 8, November 5, November 19, December 2: Young learners aged 18 months to 4 years old join in for story time, arts and crafts and more.
  • Behind the Canvas: Secrets, Symbols and Architecture in Washington DC – October 22: Artist-in-Residence Peter Waddell and historical architect Paul Dolinsky explore some of Washington, DC’s iconic buildings.
  • Trick or Treat at Tudor Place – October 25: Put on your favorite costume and enjoy treats in the Tudor Place Garden.
  • Weekend Weeders – November 1: Volunteer to help our garden team as they remove invasive plant species from the garden.
  • Guided Garden Tour – November 1: Learn about the history of the 5 ½ acre garden and how Tudor Place staff keep it looking its best in all seasons.
  • Landmark Lecture: The Art of Replication – November 18: Discover how Mt. Vernon recreated a tea table from the Tudor Place Collection & Archive that belonged to George Washington. Join in-person or virtually.

A full calendar of events is available at www.tudorplace.org/calendar.

Private tours can be organized for interested members of the press. Please contact Janet Wall at jwall@tudorplace.org.

ABOUT TUDOR PLACE: Tudor Place preserves the stories of six generations of descendants of Martha Washington, and the enslaved and free people who lived and labored here for nearly two centuries. By examining their legacy, we challenge ourselves and our visitors to celebrate the triumphs and to confront the complexities of the past.  Open Tuesday – Sunday for guided tours of the historic house and self-guided garden visits. www.tudorplace.org. Follow Tudor Place on Instagram (tudor_place), Facebook (tudorplace), X (@TudorPlace), LinkedIn and YouTube (tudorplace1805).

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Evolving Rhythms: A Brief Musical History of Tudor Place

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Drawing of Tudor Place Saloon. C. Sweeney, 1952, paper with crayon and marker. Tudor Place Collection & Archive.

The history of music at Tudor Place offers a nuanced lens through which to understand the intersections of class, gender, domesticity and cultural change from the 18th to the 20th centuries. The material legacy of instruments, sheet music, decorative objects and early sound technology owned by the Peter family reveals how music was more than just a form of entertainment, but a social language of refinement and adaptation. Within the walls of Tudor Place, the Peter family curated a private world of sound that echoed the evolving rhythms of American life.

Instruments and sheet music held both audible and symbolic value in elite households like Tudor Place. The music book (ca. 1783) owned by Martha Parke Custis Peter (1777-1854) attests to the significance placed on musical education for young women in elite families (1). Her grandmother, Martha Washington, insisted on musical training, reflecting how music as a domestic art form was viewed as essential to elite womanhood during the 18th and 19th centuries.

The theme of musical study continued for the entire span of the Peter family’s occupancy of Tudor Place. The spinet piano by John Broadwood & Son, built in 1804 and later purchased by Washington Peter, was not merely a musical instrument, but a marker of affluence (2). Armistead Peter Jr. brought it into the house, signaling the family’s alignment with tradition and their desire to display refinement through musical skill and patronage. Britannia Peter Kennon (1815-1911) confirmed that the transverse flute (ca. 1784-1798) belonged to her father, Thomas Peter (1769-1834)(3). Records also show that the Martin guitar (ca. 1895) as well as the family’s multiple banjos dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries were enjoyed and played by multiple generations of the family, including Dr. Armistead Peter, Armistead Peter Jr., B.Kennon Peter and Armistead Peter 3rd (4).

By the 19th century, long-standing gendered aspects of music were shifting. The guitar and the lute were originally associated with women’s parlor music because they allowed women to play in graceful poses while maintaining their “decorum” and were not viewed as an instrument for professional male musicians outside of the home(5). Later, the guitar migrated into popular genres in American music such as folk music and later, country and rock, quickly becoming a masculine instrument (6). In contrast, the flute, which was historically a masculine instrument became more associated with femininity when women were permitted to perform in marching and concert bands (7). The decorative arts at Tudor Place, including music-themed figurines, music boxes and a ladies’ worktable painted with musical imagery by America P. Peter (1803-1842), further reflect the idealization of music in feminine education as well as a general aesthetic taste (8).

Technological innovations transformed the way music was experienced in American homes by the early 20th century. Radios, phonographs and music boxes, many of which remain in the Tudor Place Collection & Archive, marked a shift from active performance to passive listening. The presence of commercial recordings and sheet music by African American musicians like Lizzie Miles (1895-1963) and Hazel Scott (1920-1981), even at Tudor Place, a household traditionally adhering to Eurocentric music, hints at how technology exposed people to previously unfamiliar musical genres(9).

Finally, the presence of the banjos and extensive collection of banjo music books in the collection draws attention to the African roots of American folk music(10). While the Peters did not engage directly with African American musical traditions, instruments like the banjo, descended from West African instruments such as the akonting, remind us that major aspects of American music are built on cross-cultural exchange(11). The musical lives of enslaved and free Black Americans deeply shaped the nation’s music, even as they remained marginalized within spaces like Tudor Place. Tudor Place’s layered history of sound mirrors cultural shifts, technological advancements and shifting identities over time.

– Isabella Quartiere, 2025 Spring Collections Intern

Download the PDF with photos here.

Need to Know What Time It Is? 6 Places to Find a Sundial Around DC

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WASHINGTONIAN _ BY RACHEL KESTER

They may be an artifact of a bygone era, but they’re still fun to look at.

These days, you probably aren’t going to consult a sundial. But the ancient time-telling devices are all over DC, and we were curious to learn more about them.

Read the full article here:

Education to Embassies and its Connection to Agnes Peter

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by Sara Law, Archivist

McDonald-Ellis School, c.1900, 27.0217

Massachusetts Avenue is a historic street in Washington D.C. known for being part of the original plans for the city and currently for its world embassies. One embassy, the Embassy of the Philippines sits just east of Scott Circle at the triangular corner of Massachusetts and 17th Street. Before the embassy was built, this corner once housed a school for the daughters of wealthier D.C. residents. A photograph in the Tudor Place Archive with the caption, “McDonald-Ellis School for Girls” reveals the former occupants on this corner as well as its connection to the Peter Family.

By no means the only girls’ school or the first in Washington D.C. for the daughters of the wealthier families of the city, it was an option fairly close to Georgetown. Both a boarding and a day school “one block from the Metropolitan Street Cars and Sixteenth-street Herdic Line” [1], the McDonald-Ellis School for girls was named after its founders Anna Ellis and Lydia McDonald. Born in Ohio, Anna Ellis by 1880 had moved to D.C. and worked as a clerk in the patent office boarding with the family of Lydia P. McDonald [2]. Lydia P. McDonald was born in Indiana and married to the son of ex-senator Joseph Ewing McDonald. When Senator McDonald moved to D.C. in 1875 [3], his son’s family moved to the city as well. After her husband’s death, Lydia with her two children, Joseph and Jessie resided at 1617 N Street with Anna Ellis. As with most girls’ schools at the time, McDonald and Ellis began the McDonald-Ellis School for Girls near their home in 1882 presumably as a source of income. Together, the two women ran the school until Lydia McDonald’s death in 1886.

After McDonald’s death, Anna Ellis took over as caregiver of McDonald’s children and as principal remaining with the McDonald-Ellis school until 1897 when Jessie McDonald, Lydia’s daughter and graduate of the class of 1884, took over as president. The year 1897 was also a notable one for one D.C. resident, Agnes Peter who graduated from the McDonald-Ellis School as valedictorian of her eight-girl class [4].

The Evening Star, June 02 1897

The youngest child and only daughter of Dr. Armistead Peter and his wife Martha Kennon Peter, Agnes was born in 1880 and grew up spending most of her life at and around Tudor Place. Because of her status, Agnes was around many other wealthy families who sent their daughters to schools such as McDonald-Ellis. Researching the class lists at the McDonald-Ellis School for Girls’ informational programs from 1882-1891, I realized it was clear there was no Agnes Peter in attendance [5]. However, in a letter from January 1893 from Dr. Peter addressed to the school and his daughter [6], Agnes attended and partially lived at the McDonald-Ellis School from the age of 12 to 17. Apparently, her time at the school was a memorable one, considering Agnes kept the clipping of the school building. After her graduation in 1897, Agnes’ principal Jessie McDonald would step down as president and hand over the school to Reverand Edward R Lewis and Mrs. Rose Baldwin Lewis [7]. They would continue to keep the school open into the beginning of the 20th century.

The Washington Post, 1903

By 1903, the McDonald-Ellis School changed its name and location to the English-Classical School located at 1764 Corcoran Street. Mary Evelyn Steger and Katherine Stockton Hawkins were president and associate president respectively [8]. By 1904, the building at 17th and Massachusetts became the Eastman Misses School run by Anna H Eastman [9]. It served as an educational building for another three decades until the Great Depression where it became a family residence for various people throughout the city. The land was bought by the United States Government in the 1960s and by 1992 [10], it became the home of the Philippine Embassy on the street known affectionately as Embassy Row.

 

Sources
[1] McDonald-Ellis School for Girls Program, 1889–1890, p. 5. DC MLK Library Research Room.
[2] 1880 D.C. Census. Ancestry.com.
[3] Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. “Joseph E. McDonald.” https://indyencyclopedia.org/joseph-e-mcdonald/
[4] The Times, June 2, 1897, p. 5. Accessed June 12, 2024. Newspapers.com.
[5] McDonald-Ellis School for Girls Program, 1887–1888. DC MLK Library Research Room.
[6] MS 27 Martha Peter Gift Collection, Box 1, Folder 15. “Letter to Agnes Peter care of Miss Ellis at McDonald-Ellis School.” Tudor Place Archives.
[7] Evening Star, October 6, 1899, p. 16. Accessed March 25, 2025. Newspapers.com.
[8] The Washington Post, January 31, 1903, p. 12. Accessed March 31, 2025. Newspapers.com.
[9] Boyd’s Directory of the District of Columbia, 1904. DC History Center.
[10] Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines. https://philippineembassy-dc.org/embassy/
DC Historic Sites. “McDonald-Ellis School.” https://historicsites.dcpreservation.org/items/show/360

Recent Trends in Philanthropic Giving: An Annual Report on Key Metrics in the United States and Canada

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Arts Consulting Group_Logo

The close of an organization’s fiscal year is an ideal moment to take a hard, data‑driven look at fundraising performance. Even when economic or social turbulence clouds the horizon, arts and culture institutions benefit from grounding their plans in rigorous research on the broader philanthropic climate—locally, nationally, and globally. This edition of Arts Insights distills the headline findings from Giving USA 2025: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2024 and other leading sources, offering benchmarks that illuminate how giving to arts and culture compares with overall nonprofit trends.

Overall Charitable Giving

Giving USA 2025, the definitive annual study produced by the Giving USA Foundation and researched by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, estimates that Americans donated approximately $592.5 billion to charitable causes in 2024. This figure marks a 6.3% increase in current dollars, or 3.3% after adjusting for inflation, establishing a new high‑water mark for total giving. Strengthened by a robust stock market and steady gross domestic product (GDP) growth, both individual and corporate donors expanded their contributions, reaffirming their pivotal role in the nonprofit ecosystem.

All recipient subsectors experienced nominal growth. When inflation is considered, seven of the nine categories still registered real gains, while giving to foundations held essentially flat, and giving to religious organizations slipped slightly. Crucially, 2024 represents the first year since 2021 in which total giving grew faster than inflation—a signal that donor confidence is rebounding after a period of economic headwinds.

Growth in 2024 parallels the 40-year average (5.5% in current dollars, 2.7% in real terms), underscoring the resilience of American philanthropy. As Wendy McGrady, Chair of the Giving USA Foundation, notes, “Total giving in 2024 reached record levels in current dollars and grew at a rate consistent with long‑term trends clear evidence of Americans’ enduring generosity and the value they place on nonprofit work.” Amir Pasic, Dean of the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, echoes this point, emphasizing that “the role of the individual donor cannot be overstated” in sustaining the sector’s momentum.

For arts and culture organizations, these findings reinforce the importance of cultivating strong relationships with individual supporters, diversifying revenue streams, and maintaining data‑informed strategies that can withstand inflationary pressures. With charitable giving once again outpacing inflation and aligning with historic growth patterns, the sector has solid ground on which to build ambitious yet realistic development goals in the year ahead.

For the full article from Arts Consulting Group, click here.

Creating “Ancestral Spaces”: How descendants re-imagined Tudor Place

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In the hierarchy of museums, historic houses often take the prize for most stuck in the past. Literally marketed as “frozen in time,” they tend to place the lifestyles of the rich, the famous (or the briefly notable in many cases) on a pedestal. So how can institutions so firmly rooted in the past be brought meaningfully into the present? Tudor Place sought out to accomplish this with the award-winning installation and guided tour “Ancestral Spaces: People of African Descent at Tudor Place.”

The catalyst for change came in two forms. First, the descendant engagement movement that took root in many institutions knocked at the door of Tudor Place. Ann Chinn, a descendant of the Twine family and a member of the Mount Vernon League of Descendants, reached out to Tudor Place because Martha Peter, the first owner of Tudor Place, inherited Ms. Chinn’s ancestors when Martha’s grandmother, Martha Washington, died in 1802. In 2021, Ms. Chinn collaborated with Tudor Place on a family tree that included the biological link between Hannah Pope, her ancestor, and the Peter family. Tudor Place began proactively searching for descendants. Through a public family tree posted on Ancestry.com, we located Karl Haynes, whose ancestor, John Luckett, was the Tudor Place gardener from 1862 to 1906. We invited Mr. Haynes to visit the site in 2022 and explore the grounds where Mr. Luckett had spent decades of his life, as well as handle the tools Mr. Luckett likely used.

These intimate moments of trust-building with Ann Chinn and Karl Haynes were crucial for the success of “Ancestral Spaces.”

The second impetus for an interpretive shift was an Institution of Museum and Library Services Inspire! grant awarded to conduct research on the site’s history of enslavement, which enabled Tudor Place to hire a dedicated researcher. This work enriched Tudor Place’s understanding of this history and provided new ways to frame this content. The grant called for a small concluding exhibit to share findings with visitors. We felt the most meaningful solution would be to reimagine a guided tour of the historic house from the perspective of enslaved individuals. We also felt strongly it should be the only tour option available for visitors and not marketed as a peripheral “specialty tour.” A timetable for “Ancestral Spaces” was set to run from February to April 2024, but its success led to its extension for almost the entire year.

Tudor Place assembled an Advisory Committee including Ann Chinn, Karl Haynes and other stakeholders involved with interpreting Black history in Georgetown. They were the true curators. Tudor Place viewed its role more as a facilitator seeking to translate the committee’s vision into a form that would work within the historic space and on a meager budget. This process required Tudor Place to do more listening than talking and to consider interpretive tools that had never been used on a guided tour. For example, the Advisory Committee wanted an introductory film. The descendants wrote the script, and a quickly self-taught staff set up a two-camera shot and hired an editor to put it together. Completed within a week for $250, the film would go on to be seen by thousands of visitors as descendants welcomed them into their “ancestral space.”

At the Advisory Committee’s insistence, “Ancestral Spaces” came to life in a multisensory way through audio stations that featured excerpts from a 1993 oral history recorded by Hannah Pope’s granddaughter, Hannah Nash Williams. Recorded on cassette tape when Hannah Williams was 87 years old, we digitized the tapes to be integrated into audio stations throughout the guided tour. Hearing the voice of a woman whose grandmother was enslaved at Tudor Place brought visitors powerfully close to this history.

Perhaps the most effective and visually arresting storytelling technique was the replacement of portraits of the site’s enslavers with those of descendants. Few images of the people enslaved at Tudor Place exist. As the standard historic house solution, we suggested to the Advisory Committee options of hanging silhouettes or printed names. They responded, “Why not just put us up on the wall?” The brilliant idea made a powerful impression on visitors at the very beginning of the tour in the Tudor Place drawing room. These portraits projected the message that all the extravagance of the grand rooms was inextricably tied to the institution of slavery and the exploitation of the ancestors of the people in these photographs.

Visitor responses to “Ancestral Spaces” were overwhelmingly positive with many expressing gratitude for Tudor Place making such a bold statement. Some noted that bringing these stories to the forefront was refreshing, and for some it was the first time they had felt comfortable at a site of enslavement. “Ancestral Spaces” has unlocked new doors at Tudor Place. The innovative storytelling techniques and the authoritative voice of descendants were a form of reparative justice acknowledging that Tudor Place had failed to fully and accurately interpret their ancestors’ history.

The most frequent question staff received after “Ancestral Spaces” closed in late 2024 was, “What are you going to do now?” Completely extracting the Peter family from the guided tour for a year revealed that an engaging experience could be created without so much focus on the homeowners. However, balancing interpretation between the Peter family and those enslaved who lived and labored at the site suddenly became easier because stories about enslaved individuals had become just as rich in a fraction of the time as those shared about Peter family members for decades. Most vitally, the site’s relationship with descendants continues to build with more collaborations on the horizon as a new dawn rises over the once-static historic house experience.

Rob DeHart, Curator
Washington, DC | June 2025

Press Release: Tudor Place Wins 2024 AASLH Award of Excellence

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Press Release 

June 24, 2025

 

Contact

Janet Wall

Director of Development & Communications

press@tudorplace.org | 202-580-7323

 

NASHVILLE, TN—June 2025—The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) proudly announces that Tudor Place Historic House & Garden is one of the recipients of the Award of Excellence for the groundbreaking installation and guided tour, Ancestral Spaces: People of African Descent at Tudor Place. The AASLH Leadership in History Awards, now in its 80th year, is the most prestigious recognition for achievement in the preservation and interpretation of state and local history.

This installation and guided tour invited visitors to experience the historic house from the perspective of the enslaved and free individuals who lived and labored here. Using artifacts, audio recordings, photographs and maps, this innovative guided tour explored how these individuals found ways to practice resistance and activism while navigating the irreparable traumas that came from the institution of slavery. Tudor Place collaborated with descendants of the enslaved and free people who worked at the site in order to curate this experience. Beginning in February 2024, due to popular demand, it was later extended through mid-October.

The AASLH awards program was initiated in 1945 to establish and encourage standards of excellence in the collection, preservation and interpretation of state and local history throughout the United States. The AASLH Leadership in History Awards not only honor significant achievements in the field of state and local history, but also bring public recognition of the opportunities for small and large organizations, institutions and programs to make contributions in this arena.

A digital version of Ancestral Spaces: People of African Descent at Tudor Place is available on the Bloomberg Connects app, the free arts and cultural app created by Bloomberg Philanthropies. Users can experience Tudor Place from anywhere, anytime through photo, audio and video features, offering insights into the 5 ½ acre estate. The Bloomberg Connects app is available for download from Google Play or the App Store. For more information, please visit www.bloomberg.org.

ABOUT TUDOR PLACE: Tudor Place preserves the stories of six generations of descendants of Martha Washington, and the enslaved and free people who lived and worked here for nearly two centuries. By examining their legacy, we challenge ourselves and our visitors to celebrate the triumphs and to confront the complexities of the past.  Open Tuesday – Sunday for guided tours of the historic house and self-guided garden visits. www.tudorplace.org.

ABOUT THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR STATE & LOCAL HISTORY (AASHL):  is a not-for-profit professional organization of individuals and institutions working to preserve and promote history. From its headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee, AASLH provides leadership, service and support for its members who preserve and interpret state and local history in order to make the past more meaningful to all people. https://aaslh.org/

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Press Release: Tudor Place Joins Civic Season, with After-Hours Event and National Activities

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Press Release 

June 17, 2025

 

Contact

Janet Wall

Director of Development & Communications

press@tudorplace.org | 202-580-7323

 

Washington, DC – Tudor Place Historic House & Garden is proud to join hundreds of communities nationwide in bringing Civic Season to life for the fourth year in a row. As the United States approaches the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026, Civic Season—powered by Made By Us—is laying the foundation for a meaningful and inclusive commemoration for all Americans

Civic Season takes place June 19 – July 4, bridging Juneteenth and Independence Day, and is designed to empower young people to reflect on the past and take action to shape the future. It’s celebrated across the country through dynamic events and programs hosted by more than 700 nonpartisan museums, libraries and historic sites, all committed to helping people connect with U.S. history and civics in relevant, engaging ways.

As a part of Civic Season, Tudor Place is hosting a special after-hours program June 24. Visitors are invited to explore the historic house, enjoy a picnic in the garden and take part in an evening of live music, hands-on crafts, refreshing mocktails and view a curated selection of 1920s objects from the Tudor Place Collection & Archive. Register here: https://tudorplace.org/event/tudor-tuesday-civic-season-2/

Beyond our local celebration, hundreds of additional activities and resources at TheCivicSeason.com. From full-day, in-person events to five-minute virtual experiences, the platform is designed to meet participants where they are with quizzes, personalized activity lists, poster generators and a collaborative online zine, all inviting Americans to engage in civic life on their own terms.

Designed by a cohort of 10 Gen-Z fellows, this year’s Civic Season will include exciting new features and events, including:

  • Wish Walls in 20+ museums invite you to share their hopes for the future of democracy.
  • Civic Season game board helps you track your journey and earn digital badges.
  • “Mapping Your Community” guidebook offers a local lens on history and engagement
  • “Build Your List” tool customizes to personalize your Civic Season experience
  • “Civic Superpowers Quiz” reveals your changemaker strengths.
  • The return of “Slice of History” pizza parties in over 50+ cities bringing people together through shared stories and local connection.

 

Civic Season is made possible through the generous support of AMERICAN HERITAGE® Chocolate, StickerGiant and Frontline Impact Project.

Tudor Place works to celebrate the triumphs and confront the complexities of the past through events and programs year-round, including the guided tour currently on view, Tangled Roots: Families of Tudor Place, which explores the lives and legacies of the multi-generational Black and white families who shaped this iconic Georgetown estate. Get tickets here: https://tudorplace.org/visit/plan-your-visit-2/

ABOUT TUDOR PLACE: Tudor Place preserves the stories of six generations of descendants of Martha Washington, and the enslaved and free people who lived and labored here for nearly two centuries. By examining their legacy, we challenge ourselves and our visitors to celebrate the triumphs and to confront the complexities of the past.  Open Tuesday – Sunday for guided tours of the historic house and self-guided garden visits. For more information visit tudorplace.org.

ABOUT MADE BY US: Civic Season was developed by Made By Us, a partnership collectively led by a cohort of museums throughout the United States. Made By Us meets young adults where they are with timely and relevant U.S. history to inspire, inform and ignite civic participation. For more information, visit historymadebyus.org or follow @historymadebyus on Instagram.

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Tudor Place’s Enduring Charm: An Annual Garden Party, Come Rain or Come Shine

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NEW YORK SOCIAL DIARY _ BY STEPHANIE GREEN

The Tudor Place garden party, a Georgetown mainstay for decades, required sartorial adjustments as the inclement weather required boots and blazers as opposed to the usual sundress and sandals fare.

Tudor Place’s luscious gardens were not dimmed by the raindrops, or lack of sunshine. Under the garden tent, guests huddled close to avoid the showers, but umbrellas were at the ready for those who wanted to promenade the grounds.

Read the full article here:

AASLH Announces Winners of the 2025 Leadership In History Awards of Excellence: Tudor Place is Recipient

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American Association for State & Local History logo

District of Columbia winners:

Tudor Place Historic House & Garden for Ancestral Spaces: People of African Descent at Tudor Place 

 

Today, the American Association for State and Local History announces the winners of the 2025 Leadership in History Awards of Excellence. These awards recognize superior and innovative achievements in the collection, preservation, and interpretation of state and local his

Gold badge indicating Award Winner for: Leadership in History

tory that make the past more meaningful to all people. We encourage you to look through this year’s award winners, which can serve as models and inspiration for your organization or career. The awards cover many different types of projects, including publications, exhibits, public programming, and more, as well as individual lifetime achievement. The winners come from all over the country, from organizations of all kinds, sizes, and budgets. From sharing the roots of local foodways in Arizona (Friends of the Tubac Presidio and Museum, Inc.) to preserving civil rights history in West Virginia (Community Coalition for Social Justice, Inc.), this year’s winners showcase the immense creativity and contributions of public history to local communities everywhere.

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. Among the 2025 winners this year, in the District of Columbia, was Tudor Place for the 2024 groundbreaking installation and guided tour, Ancestral Spaces: People of African Descent at Tudor Place.

See the 2025 Award of Excellence Winners