• 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:

Prior Years

You can view prior Illinois Association of Museums Annual Conference winners by clicking on the years below: 

Award of Excellence Winner for the year is the button or the button underneath it. 

2024	2023	2022	2021	2020
2019	2018	2017	2016	2015
2014	2013	2012	2011	2010
2009	2008