In winter 2011, the National Constitution Center was proud to have received accreditation from the American Association of Museums (AAM).
Accreditation is the highest national recognition for a museum, and has been achieved by less than 5% of museums in the nation.
AAM accreditation is the field's primary vehicle for quality assurance, self-regulation, and public accountability, reflecting a museum's commitment to excellence on all levels. To ensure that American museums achieve these goals, each member of the AAM must undergo a periodic re-accreditation review. The National Constitution Center’s next accreditation review will take place in 2023.
Visitors benefit from this achievement since accredited museums can more easily secure funding from other institutions, thus allowing them to offer a wider range of public programs and exhibitions. Accreditation also ensures that a museum is not only an exemplary steward of public dollars, but of the artifacts in their collections, which preserve our heritage for future generations.
“We are thrilled to receive this great honor from the American Association of Museums, especially as a relatively young museum,” said National Constitution Center President and CEO David Eisner. “Accreditation signifies that we not only are fulfilling our commitment to ourselves, our peers, and the public as set forth in our mission, but we also firmly rank among the top museums in Philadelphia and across the nation.”
According to the Accreditation Commission Report, the National Constitution Center is “an outstanding example of an institution that uses a wide variety of tools…to expand its audience, including traveling exhibitions, special programs, awards, and social media.” The Commission acknowledged that, since its inception, the Center has woven the goals of its mission directly into the fabric of the institution, citing the Center’s outreach to educators and students as an example of excellence in this area.
Accreditation is a strict, formal process that examines all aspects of a museum's operations, including governance, collections stewardship, educational programs, financial stability, high professional standards, and continued institutional improvement.
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, reviews and evaluates a self-study and Visiting Committee report to determine whether a museum should receive accreditation.
Of the nation’s estimated 17,500 museums, 779 are currently accredited, including the following in Philadelphia: Independence National Historical Park, Independence Seaport Museum, Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania, Museum of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Please Touch Museum, The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, The Franklin Institute, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, and Woodmere Art Museum, Inc.