All Pawtucket All The Time

 
The Rhode Island Historical Society has received full accreditation
from the American Association of Museums (AAM), the highest existing
level of national recognition for a museum.  Accreditation signifies
excellence to the museum community, to governments, funders, outside
agencies, and to the museum-going public.  This status means that the
Rhode Island Historical Society is among the best museum and historic
house institutions in the country.
 
Of the nation’s estimated 17,500 museums, only 775 are currently
accredited, fewer than 5%.  In Rhode Island, only four other museums or
historic house organizations are accredited.
 
Accreditation is the field’s primary vehicle for quality assurance,
self-regulation, and public accountability, and earns national
recognition for a museum’s commitment to excellence in all that it
does: governance, collections stewardship, public programs, financial
stability, high professional standards, and continuing institutional
improvement.  AAM accreditation promotes practices that enable leaders
to make informed decisions, allocate resources wisely, and to provide
the best possible service to the public.
 
“Naturally I am thrilled that the Rhode Island Historical Society has
achieved this terrific level of national recognition,” says executive
director Bernard Fishman.  ”We worked hard for almost six years to
accomplish the huge changes and reforms that made this achievement
possible.  We have definitely overcome the difficulties of the past, as
accreditation proves, and I am grateful for the hard work of the
Society’s staff and the wisdom of the Society’s board in making
these advances possible.  Moreover, this is the first full accreditation
the Society has ever received: all parts of our institution, the John
Brown House, the Library, the Museum of Work and Culture, and all our
programs and activities, are included.  We are whole, and ready to scale
even greater heights.”
 
“Accreditation assures the people of Rhode Island that their state
historical society is among the finest in the country,” said Ford W.
Bell, president of the AAM.  ”The citizens of Rhode Island should take
pride in their historical society’s commitment to excellence and for
the value it brings to the community.”
 
Accreditation is a rigorous process that examines all aspects of a
museum’s operations.  To earn accreditation, a museum must first
conduct a year of self-study, and then undergo a site visit by a team of
peer reviewers.  AAM’s Accreditation Commission, an independent and
autonomous body of museum professionals, then reviews the study and the
reports and determines whether a museum should receive accreditation.
The time needed to complete the process varies by museum, but generally
takes about three years.
 
The Rhode Island Historical Society was founded in 1822 and is the
country’s fourth oldest state historical society.  Its museum and
library holdings include 25,000 artifacts, 150,000 printed volumes, over
350,000 images, and over 6,000 manuscript collections.  The Society is
dedicated to preserving and sharing materials from Rhode Island’s
past, so that present and future generations can more fully comprehend
their predecessors, their communities, and themselves.  
 
For more information about the RIHS, see our website at www.rihs.org.