BALTIMORE, Maryland (March 20, 2019) – The Star-Spangled Banner Flag House has achieved accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), the highest national recognition afforded the nation’s museums. Accreditation signifies excellence to the museum community, to governments, funders, outside agencies, and to the museum-going public.
Alliance Accreditation brings national recognition to a museum for its commitment to excellence, accountability, high professional standards and continued institutional improvement. Developed and sustained by museum professionals for over 45 years, the Alliance’s museum accreditation program is the field’s primary vehicle for quality assurance, self-regulation and public accountability. It strengthens the museum profession by promoting practices that enable leaders to make informed decisions, allocate resources wisely, and remain financially and ethically accountable in order to provide the best possible service to the public.
“On behalf of the Flag House and its Governing Authority we would like to thank the American Alliance of Museums for their continued dedication to core standards of museum excellence,” said Executive Director Amanda Shores Davis. “In hindsight, when I came on as a freshman director in 2014, with a very green board, accreditation as a long-term goal was ambitious and maybe a little crazy, but I’m incredibly proud of the work we’ve done to successfully rise to the challenge. Accreditation was the end goal, but the process to get here is what will allow the Flag House to continue its trajectory toward continued excellence, accessibility, and equitability. The Flag House is a better museum with a clearer sense of purpose for the future.”
Of the nation’s estimated 33,000 museums, over 1070 are currently accredited. The Flag House is one of only 23 museums accredited in Maryland and only 4 museums accredited in Baltimore.
Accreditation is a very rigorous but highly rewarding process that examines all aspects of a museum’s operations. To earn accreditation a museum first must conduct a year of self-study, and then undergo a site visit by a team of peer reviewers. The Alliance’s Accreditation Commission, an independent and autonomous body of museum professionals, considers the self-study and visiting committee report to determine whether a museum should receive accreditation.
“Accredited museums are a community of institutions that have chosen to hold themselves publicly accountable to excellence,” said Laura L. Lott, Alliance president and CEO. “Accreditation is clearly a significant achievement, of which both the institutions and the communities they serve can be extremely proud.”
About the American Alliance of Museums
The American Alliance of Museums has been bringing museums together since 1906, helping to develop standards and best practices, gathering and sharing knowledge, and providing advocacy on issues of concern to the entire museum community. Representing more than 35,000 individual museum professionals and volunteers, institutions, and corporate partners serving the museum field, the Alliance stands for the broad scope of the museum community. For more information, visit www.aam-us.org.
