Oregon Heritage Excellence Awards recognize individuals, organizations, and projects for outstanding heritage efforts. The nomination process is an opportunity to honor work that goes above and beyond expectations, serves as a model for future work, and inspires others. Special consideration is given to the development of new ideas, approaches, and innovations.
The Sally Donovan Award for Historic Cemetery Preservation is a special category that recognizes outstanding contributions in the preservation of Oregon Historic Cemeteries.
In 2022, a new non-competitive category was added for Standout Heritage Volunteers. Heritage organization have the opportunity to recognize volunteers at the statewide level who have greatly contributed to their organization.
Deadline: Nominations are closed for 2024. The 2026 Heritage Excellence Awards will be open for nominations in fall of 2025.
Timeline: The excellence awards have transitioned to a once a biennium celebration in coordination with our in person conference during even years. The nomination period opens in early November and closes in mid-January. The contact identified in the application will be notified of the review committee’s decision in February. Award winners are publicly recognized at Oregon Heritage’s Conference gathering in April of even years.
Application Process
.
2024 Oregon Heritage Excellence Awards:
Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center for exceptional work in preserving the Maxville townsite, a multi-racial logging community established in Wallowa County in the 1920s.The multi-phased approach included acquisition of the land, project of the last remaining building, archaeological research, and listing the site on the National Register of Historic Places. View Video.
Oscar Hult for his service and dedication to preserving and promoting Albany’s heritage. View Video.
Talent Historical Society’s Documenting the Almeda Fire project, for a comprehensive documentation project following the 2020 Almeda Fire that had a devastating impact on communities in Southern Oregon. View Video.
US Army Corps of Engineers for the Willamette Valley Project Section 106 Programmatic Agreement resulting in a groundbreaking approach to consultation and setting a new standard for collaborative decision-making in historic preservation efforts. View Video.
Peggy Sigler for over three decades of impact in preserving Oregon’s heritage, promoting its value, and heritage advocacy efforts. View Video.
City of Salem’s Historic Landmarks Commission and its innovative approach in protecting cultural and archaeological resources that serves as a model locally and nationally. View Video.
Kelly Cannon-Miller for her dedication, strategic vision, and collaborative spirit in Deschutes County heritage preservation efforts and beyond. View Video.
Kimberly Moreland for her dedication to and service in documenting, preserving, and championing Oregon's heritage with a focus on Oregon’s African American history. View Video.
The Liberty Theatre, Home of the Little Theatre on the Bay in North Bend, for their extensive renovation effort preserving the theatre's 1924 architecture while modernizing its amenities and accessibility. View Video.
Mark Beach for his 30 years of service in researching and sharing Oregon’s North Coast history. View Video.
Mary Jo Morelli for her dedicated advocacy for historical preservation and education in Forest Grove for close to five decades. View Video.
The 2024 Sally Donovan Award for Historic Cemetery Preservation goes to Cricket Soules for nearly two decades of work transforming the Marshfield Pioneer Cemetery from a neglected site into a vibrant community space and educational resource. View Video.
2022 Oregon Heritage Excellence Awards:
Awards presentation was held on April 28 during the 2022 Virtual Oregon Heritage Conference.
- Jefferson Public Radio’s Jefferson Exchange Underground History Program, Ashland. A monthly radio segment that spotlights little-known aspects of Oregon’s history through the lens of archeology. View Video.
- Capitol History Gateway Project, Salem. A multi-year project that resulted in exhibits, events, tours, and a digital welcome center at the Oregon State Capitol building. View Video.
- It Did Happen Here Podcast, Portland. The It Did Happen Here Podcast honors the memory of Mulugeta Seraw and records the movement that disrupted White Nationalist organizing in Oregon in the late 1980s and 1990s. View Video.
This year there is a new award category for standout heritage volunteers and recognizing their critical contributions to heritage preservation efforts in Oregon. View Video.
The 2022 Standout Heritage Volunteers are:
- Robert Zimmerling, Lewis and Clark National Historic Park
- MaryPat "Patti" Ball, Jefferson Historical Society and Museum
- Kristine Deacon, Oregon State Archives
- Willie B. Richardson, Oregon Black Pioneers
- Robert Butler, Malheur Country Historical Society
- Larry Landis, Benton County Historic Resources Commission
- Cory Mesloh Hamann, Big Butte Historical Society
- Barbara Trout, Tillamook County Pioneer Museum and Kilchis Point Reserve
- Bruce Carey, Friends of Kam Wah Chung & Co Museum, Oregon State Parks
- Carol Knapp, SOULA: Eagle Brewery Project
- Oregon Post Commander David Solomon, American Legion Post 19, Albany
- Doug Reynolds, USFS Malheur National Forest Passport in Time program
- Eric Williams, Astoria Public Library
- Gayle Lewis, Oregon Chinese Diaspora Project (OCDP)
- Oregon State Capitol Volunteer Team, Oregon State Capitol and Capitol History Gateway
- Steve Hussey, Archaeological Society of Central Oregon
- William "Bill" Sparks III, Grand Lodge of Oregon Cemetery Committee
- Carla Wright, Prairie City Historic Cemetery District
Previous Awardees (2007-2021)