• IAM Awards 2025

• Congratulations to the award winners for 2025! Thank you for sharing 

• your amazing work with us.

    Welcome Award

• Joliet Railroad Museum

    Volunteer Service Award

• Jim Morel – J.F. Glidden Homestead & Historical Center – 25 Years
• Roger Keys – J.F. Glidden Homestead & Historical Center – 25 Years
• Richard Swolley – Joliet Area Historical Museum – 5 Years 
• Dr. Robert Navarro – Joliet Area Historical Museum – 10 Years
• Sandy Johnson – Des Plaines Historical Society – 30 Years
• Dave Oberg – Illinois Association of Museums – 25 Years

   Exhibits

    Awards of Merit

• Havana Area Chamber of Commerce – Havana, Illinois: A Legacy of Innovation and the Illinois River: A Biological Paradise
• Marshall Public Library – James Jones and the Handy Writers' Colony
• G.A.R. Military Museum – Over There! Aurora in the First World War

• Awards of Excellence

• Pick Museum of Anthropology – NIU – At Play
• Batavia Depot Museum – Market & Meals
• Lombard Historical Society – Leapin Lizards: A Hundred Years of Little Orphan Annie
• Grayslake Historical Society and Grayslake Heritage Center – Postmarked: Grayslake, 60030
• DeKalb County History Center – Food Gathering Around the Table
• DuPage County Historical Museum – Black Trailblazers 2024
• Swedish American Museum – We Are America
• The Grove National Historic Landmark – The Grove Discovery Room
• Elmhurst History Museum – Lost Chicagoland Department Stores

• 
  Special Projects

• Village of Orland Park Heritage Sites – The Orland History Virtual Accessibility Project – Award of Excellence
• Naper Settlement – Looking Back is Looking Forward – Award of Superior Achievement

•  

  Educational Programming

• Addison History Museums – Rock N Wheels Portrayals and Presentations – Award of Merit
• Havana Area Chamber of Commerce – Program series in conjunction with "Spark! Places of Innovation" – Award of Merit
• Chicago History Museum – Learning and Curricular Resources for City on Fire: Chicago 1871! Exhibition – Award of Excellence 

• Building Site Preservation

• J.F. Glidden Homestead & Historical Center – Securing the foundation(s) for the future – Award of Merit
• Waukegan History Museum at the Carnegie – Waukegan Carnegie Adaptive Reuse and Restoration Project – Award of Superior Achievement

•  

  Community Partnerships

• Chicago Children's Museum – Curiosity Classrooms – Award of Excellence

•  

  Conservation/Collections

• Waukegan History Museum at the Carnegie – Ray Bradbury Collection Conservation Project – Award of Superior Achievement 

• 
  

   Innovation Awards

• J.F. Glidden Homestead and Historical Center – Barb City's Barbed Wire Weekend
• Gaylord Building Historic Site – Rise from Ruins: The Great Lockport Fire of 1895
• Clinton County Historical Society – Exploring Our Town's Namesake: Judge Sidney Breese
• McLean County Museum of History – Constuyendo un Hogar: una Audioguía
• Downers Grove Museum – Sip Sip Hooray
• DuPage Children's Museum – DCM Wonder Clubs
• Aurora Regional Fire Museum – Practical Fire and Life Safety Skills & Pathways to a Future in Museums
• Joliet Area Historical Museum – Saving the Gemini Giant

 

    Awards of Distinction

   Large Institution of the Year

• Joliet Area Historical Museum 

    Board Member of the Year

• Jeffrey L. Stern, Highland Park Historical Society

    Volunteer of the Year

• Bob Hostmeyer, Clinton County Historical Society

    Unseen Hero

• Ian LaBlance, National Museum of the American Sailor

    Museum Professional of the Year

• Eric Pry, Grand Army of the Republic Military Museum, Aurora

    Lifetime Achievement Award

• Donna Sack

Watch the 2025 IAM Awards Ceremony here: