The 2024 National Preservation Awards are kicking off the start of this week’s PastForward conference in New Orleans, Louisiana. For over 6 decades, the awards have honored inspirational projects, individuals, and organizations that have demonstrated excellence in the field of preservation. This year’s list features extraordinary partnerships to preserve pivotal moments in civil rights history; the adaptive reuse of abandoned buildings into thriving educational centers; and the tireless advocacy of preservationists across generations.

Let’s celebrate these remarkable winners.
Visit our YouTube channel to watch video highlights of previous award honorees.

Louise du Pont Crowninshield Award

The Louise du Pont Crowninshield Award is the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s highest recognition. Named for one of the National Trust's founding trustees, the award honors superlative achievement in the preservation and interpretation of our historic, architectural, or maritime heritage.

The President’s Award

The President’s Award for National Leadership in Historic Preservation recognizes an individual or organization that has demonstrated exceptional contributions to the field of preservation.

The award, which is selected at the discretion of the President of the National Trust, has been given four times prior to this year: in 2015 to the Greenwich Post Office project, in 2016 to Judge Ed Emmett for his work related to the Astrodome, in 2019 to NASA for their restoration of Johnson Space Center Apollo Mission Control Room, and in 2023 to Angel Delgadillo for his tenacious advocacy in the preservation of historic Route 66.

Camille & Duncan Strachan | New Orleans, Louisianad

Camille and Duncan Strachan have been tireless advocates for the preservation of New Orleans' culture, architecture, livability, and diversity. Over 5 decades, their activism has shaped national programs and policies that further investment in historic properties and bring equity to underserved communities. Through the years, they executed proactive and defensive neighborhood tactics to fight demolitions, renavigate "urban clearing," interstate plans, and pioneer the revolving fund model in New Orleans. They were also crucial partners through their contributions as National Trust representatives following the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Camille's work as a founding member of the National Trust Community Investment Corporation, and role as the ground person for the 2024 PastForward conference, is a testament to her lifelong passion for preservation.

Richard H. Driehaus Foundation National Preservation Awards

The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation National Preservation Awards, the nation’s most coveted and prestigious awards, are bestowed on historic preservation efforts that demonstrate excellence in execution and a positive impact on the vitality of their towns and cities. Read more about this year’s Driehaus awardees in the fall issue of Preservation magazine.

Journal Square Block | Milwaukee, Wisconsin

The Milwaukee Journal newspaper complex in the center of Milwaukee's downtown has been transformed through community-centered development that honors the historic buildings, their former use, and original elements. Three buildings now serve a new purpose through an "educational eco-system" featuring 141 accessible apartments for a young workforce, the first student housing for the nearby technical college, and a high school that bridges the gap between K-12 and post-secondary learning.

The Barton Academy for Advanced World Studies | Mobile, Alabama

The Barton Academy Foundation, Mobile County Public Schools, and Downtown Mobile Alliance came together to accomplish the renovation of Barton Academy with three key goals. They were to rehabilitate the oldest public school building in Alabama into a world-class school; to open its doors to students of all races for the first time in its history; and to spur redevelopment. Achieving this took a ten-year odyssey of planning and fundraising to reap huge community dividends.

Hinchliffe Stadium | Paterson, New Jersey

Hinchliffe Stadium is one of two remaining Negro League ballparks that has faced multiple threats against its preservation. Through an overall $100 million redevelopment project within the Great Falls National Historic Park, the stadium was revitalized using multiple sources of funding to not only preserve the site, but also transform it into a vibrant community space and economic driver. The Stadium has come a long way since it was listed on America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in 2010.

Emerging Leaders in Historic Preservation Award

The Emerging Leaders in Historic Preservation Award recognizes emerging preservation leaders who demonstrate innovative thinking and achievement in advancing historic preservation in their local, state, or national communities.

Dolly Marshall | Lawnside, New Jersey

Dolly Marshall is a historian and preservationist committed to interpreting hidden Black history through education, community engagement, and partnerships across the State of New Jersey and nationally. Through her leadership to restore Mount Peace Cemetery, a place where African Americans in 1900 could be buried with dignity as they were not allowed in whites-only cemeteries, Dolly has uncovered important untold stories, including its connection to the Underground Railroad, as well as the location of her own ancestors. She currently serves as the historic preservation specialist for the city of Camden, New Jersey.

The National Trust/Advisory Council on Historic Preservation Award for Federal Partnerships in Historic Preservation

This award, presented in partnership with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, honors a project or program in which a federal agency and one or more non-federal partners, including tribes, have together achieved an exemplary preservation outcome.

Emmett Till & Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument Designation | Multiple Cities

In 2020, the The Emmett Till & Mamie Till-Mobley Institute and the Emmett Till Interpretive Center (ETIC) formed a coalition to lead a Till National Park Campaign featuring Roberts Temple (Chicago, Illinios), the Tallahatchie County Courthouse (Sumner, Mississippi), and Graball Landing (Glendora, Mississippi). In 2022, Secretary Deb Haaland visited both sites and was moved to action.

Working closely with the Department of Interior, the Till Institute and ETIC supported the designation of the Till National Monument on July 25, 2023 to preserve these sites in perpetuity. The monument is also an important educational resource that engages visitors with a pivotal chapter of American history.

Trustees’ Award for Organizational Excellence

The Trustees' Award for Organizational Excellence recognizes a nonprofit organization, large or small, that has demonstrated sustained and superlative achievement in historic preservation.

Historic Columbia | Columbia, South Carolina

Historic Columbia is a private, non-profit preservation advocacy organization founded in 1961. Since then, it has evolved into a community leader with world-class facilities and programming. Through strategic partnerships, they engage previously underrepresented people and communities in preservation initiatives that range from bricks-and-mortar rehabilitation and restoration, to the recording of lost buildings and people.

In addition to stewarding five historic sites, Historic Columbia has successfully submitted the Columbia Historic Commercial District and Melrose Heights-Fairview-Oaklawn district in the National Register, and established the Columbia Jewish Heritage Initiative, the LGBTQ Columbia History Initiative, and the Columbia City of Women Initiative. Its commitment to diversity and inclusion is reflected in its Board of Trustees; seven of the fifteen members are persons of color, and eight identify as women. Historic Columbia's membership has grown from 400 in 2004 to more than 900 today.

Trustees Emeritus Award for Historic Site Stewardship

The Trustees Emeritus Award for Historic Site Stewardship recognizes success and innovation in historic preservation, management, and programming at historic sites.

Sixteenth Street Baptist Church | Birmingham, Alabama

Sixteenth Street Baptist Church has successfully restored its buildings and become a shining example of preservation, cultural revitalization, and social activism. During the civil rights movement of the 1960s, the church served as the organizational headquarters, site of mass meetings, and rallying point for Black Americans protesting widespread institutionalized racism in Birmingham, Alabama. The Ku Klux Klan bombing of the church in 1963 was followed by President Lyndon Johnson's signing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act into law.

Today, the church remains committed to serving the community, as well as the more than 100,000 tourists who visit annually to tour the redesigned educational spaces and multi-media museum experiences that focus not only on the bombing and its aftermath, but also on the aesthetic significance of the church's design by Black architect W. A. Rayfield.

John H. Chafee Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Achievement in Public Policy

The John H. Chafee Award for Outstanding Achievement in Public Policy recognizes an individual or group of individuals who have done outstanding work in preservation advocacy.

Former U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy | Montpelier, Vermont

Patrick Leahy served as a U.S. Senator from Vermont from 1975 to 2023, making him one of the longest-serving senators in American history. Throughout his career, Senator Leahy has been a profound and vocal advocate for historic preservation, recognizing the value of protecting America's cultural and historical heritage. His impact on historic preservation is particularly highlighted by his fiscal support of the Historic Preservation Fund while chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and his efforts to rename a national grant program in honor of the late Vermonter Paul Bruhn.

This grant program provides crucial funding for the rehabilitation of historic properties in small, rural communities. By securing the highest funding level ever for the program at $7.5 million in fiscal year 2020, Leahy demonstrated his commitment to preserving the past as a wise investment in the future.