Zoar recognized with award
Historic Zoar Village’s Tracy Britton, left, Tammi Mackey-Shrum and Linn Mahaffey accepted the 2017 Institution of the Year award at the Ohio Museum Association’s 2018 annual meeting at the Dayton Art Institute on April 16.
Historic Zoar Village has been awarded the distinction of 2017 Institution of the Year by the Ohio Museum Association, the state’s leading advocate for connecting and empowering Ohio museums and museum professionals.
The annual award recognizes institutional accomplishments that are considered outstanding models or best practices in the field of museum operation. Zoar was selected due to the successful planning and implementation of two simultaneous celebrations: the 2017 Zoar bicentennial and the 100th anniversary of Fort Laurens becoming a state memorial.
Fort Laurens is a sister site to Zoar, and both locations are managed by the Zoar Community Association.
“Combined, these year-long celebrations attracted more than 26,000 visitors, an increase of nearly 65 percent over 2016,” said Tammi Mackey-Shrum, site director. “We made huge leaps in our goals of providing history and cultural outreach programs for our visitors and also elevated our national visibility through activities like Zoar’s National Historic Landmark dedication, hosting the Communal Studies Association’s annual meeting during our own ‘homecoming’ event for Zoar descendants and managing a traveling exhibit that was installed at museums in several other states.”
The travelling exhibit was seen by an estimated 10,000 visitors at locations including the Amana Colonies in Iowa; Harmony, Pennsylvania; and the German-American Heritage Museum in Washington, D.C.
Jon Elsasser, president of Zoar Community Association, said the celebrations also had a significant local impact.
“In addition to driving greater tourism that benefited our local businesses, we also engaged the local education and arts communities in programming,” Elsasser said. “The Tuscarawas Philharmonic and Tuscarawas Valley High School hosted commemorative events on our behalf, which was a great way for us all to come together to celebrate our community’s heritage while forming new connections with each other.”
Local re-enactors and volunteers also got involved in a range of activities including Fort Laurens’ Centennial Community Celebration last August and its annual Veterans Day Ceremony.