Records of Achievement Award
The Records of Achievement Award is the highest honor bestowed by the National Archives Foundation to an individual whose contributions have fostered a broader national awareness of the history and heritage of the United States as exemplified in the National Archives’ records.
Previous recipients of the Foundation’s award include: Secretary Lonnie Bunch, Michael Beschloss, Jon Meacham, First Lady Laura Bush, the late Cokie Roberts, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, Ken Burns, David M. Rubenstein, the late John Hope Franklin, David McCullough, Tom Brokaw, Annette Gordon-Reed, Brian Lamb and C-SPAN, James McPherson, Robert Edsel, Taylor Branch, and the stars and creators of the Broadway musical “Hamilton” – Lin-Manuel Miranda, Thomas Kail, and Ron Chernow.
Highlights of the celebration included a cocktail hour; theater program and award presentation; a seated dinner in the Rotunda and Rotunda Galleries – just steps away from the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and Bill of Rights; and a dessert reception.
For more information about the Records of Achievement Award and Gala, email Margaret.Tompkins@archivesfoundation.org.
To learn more about some of our past recipients of the Records of Achievement Award, click on their name below.
- Lonnie Bunch (2023)
- Michael Beschloss (2022)
- Jon Meacham (2021)
- Cokie Roberts (2019)
- Laura Bush (2018)
- Tom Hanks (2017)
- Ron Chernow, Thomas Kail, and Lin-Manuel Miranda (2016)
- Taylor Branch (2015)
- Robert Edsel (2014)
- Steven Spielberg (2013)
- Jacqueline B. Mars (2012) *Heritage Award Winner*
- David M. Rubenstein (2011)
- Ken Burns (2010)
- Annette Gordon-Reed (2009)
- James McPherson (2008)
- John Hope Franklin (2007)
- Brian P. Lamb and C-SPAN (2006)
- Tom Brokaw (2005)
- David McCullough (2004)
