The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) has announced that the Ridgefield Historical Society, Ridgefield Pride, and the Ridgefield High School Gender and Sexuality Alliance are the recipients of an Award of Excellence for the Ridgefield LGBTQIA+ Oral History Project. The AASLH Leadership in History Awards are the most prestigious recognition for achievement in the preservation and interpretation of state and local history.
The Ridgefield LGBTQIA+ Oral History Project was a two-year, community centered initiative led by the Ridgefield Historical Society in partnership with Ridgefield Pride and the Ridgefield High School Gender and Sexuality Alliance. Created to address the absence of LGBTQIA+ voices in Ridgefield’s historical record, the project trained high school students in oral history best practices and they recorded interviews with LGBTQIA+ Ridgefielders across generations. With support from CT Humanities and guidance from nationally recognized LGBTQIA+ historian and project advisor Susan Ferentinos, PhD, the project resulted in 26 filmed oral history interviews with 33 adult interviewees, excerpts of which were published in The Queer Side of Ridgefield: LGBTQIA+ Experiences of Ridgefield, Connecticut, creating a permanent, publicly accessible record of Ridgefield’s LGBTQIA+ history for students, educators, researchers, and the wider community. The full interviews are available here.
This year, AASLH confers 42 national awards honoring people, projects, exhibits, and publications. The winners represent the best in the field and provide leadership for the future of state and local history. The 2026 awards will be presented at a luncheon in September at the AASLH Annual Conference in Providence, Rhode Island, a joint conference with the National Council on Public History.
The AASLH awards program was initiated in 1945 to establish and encourage standards of excellence in the collection, preservation, and interpretation of state and local history throughout the United States. The AASLH Leadership in History Awards not only honor significant achievement in the field of state and local history, but also bring public recognition of the opportunities for small and large organizations, institutions, and programs to make contributions in this arena. For more information about the Leadership in History Awards, contact AASLH at 615-320-3203 or go to www.aaslh.org.
The Ridgefield Historical Society preserves, interprets, and fosters public knowledge of Ridgefield’s historical, cultural, and architectural heritage. www.ridgefieldhistoricalsociety.org
Ridgefield Pride celebrates Ridgefield’s LGBTQIA+ community by educating, promoting awareness, understanding, and acceptance, fostering a sense of belonging, and providing support for LGBTQIA+ individuals, their friends, and their families. www.ridgefieldpride.org
Ridgefield High School’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) provides a welcoming student space that supports LGBTQIA+ students and allies while encouraging inclusion, understanding, and connection within the school community.
The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH), a national nonprofit association, provides leadership and resources to help the history community thrive and make the past more meaningful for all people. AASLH serves the tens of thousands of history organizations, professionals, and volunteers around the country who help people of all ages develop critical thinking skills and understand how learning history helps society make progress toward justice. Through research, advocacy, and our field-leading professional development program, AASLH advances public history practice and connects history practitioners to critical issues in the field and to one another. For more information about AASLH visit www.aaslh.org.
