Stearns History Museum is proud to announce they have been reaccredited for the next ten years by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM). They are the only county museum in Minnesota accredited by AAM. Only around 3% of the nation’s 33,000 museums are accredited.

Stearns History Museum strives to live up to the values and best practices of museum management every day with the AAM. Recognized as the field’s gold standard for museum excellence for 50 years, AAM accreditation signifies a museum’s quality and credibility to the entire museum community, to governments and outside agencies, and to the museum-going public.

The accreditation process is a rigorous process of self-assessment and peer review and generally takes 8-16 months to complete. Due to the pandemic, it took the Stearns History Museum 24 months to complete the process this time. Two core questions guide every review:

How well does the museum achieve its stated mission and goals?

How well does the museum's performance meet standards and best practices as they are generally understood in the museum field, as appropriate to its circumstances?
The mission of the Stearns History Museum is to connect people through the power of history and culture. Their vision is to offer a premier cultural heritage experience in Central Minnesota.

Stearns History Museum is committed to:

Preserving a rich and diverse history by collecting and curating archival materials and three-dimensional objects.
Engaging everyone who lives in and visits Stearns County and Central Minnesota.
Inspiring people to think about our past, our present, and our future through the lens of history.
Thriving by maximizing opportunities for innovation.
For more information contact Amy Degerstrom at [email protected] or call 320-253-8424.