The Newport Historical Society has received a prestigious Award of Excellence from the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) for its 2024 exhibition, A Name, A Voice, A Life: The Black Newporters of the 17th–19th Centuries.
Announced Tuesday, the recognition is part of the 80th annual AASLH Leadership in History Awards—the nation’s top honor for the preservation and interpretation of state and local history.
“After an incredible community response and reception to this exhibition, it is so exciting to earn national recognition from an esteemed leader in the field,” said Rebecca Bertrand, executive director of the Newport Historical Society. “We are grateful to the AASLH for this honor.”
The exhibit, which ran from May to November at the Richard I. Burnham Resource Center, spotlighted the stories of Black residents in Newport from the 1600s through the 1800s. It was born out of a four-year research effort called Voices from the NHS Archives, and served as the foundation for a broader effort to transform the historic Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House into a new Center for Black History.
The future Edward W. Kane & Martha J. Wallace Center for Black History is slated to open in 2026—just in time for the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution.
“This award helps amplify our efforts and puts us in distinguished company with some of the greatest historians and preservationists across the country,” said Doug Newhouse, chair of the NHS Board of Directors.
This year, AASLH honored 54 projects nationwide for excellence in history programming, exhibitions, and scholarship.
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