Williamson Prize Criteria

The Williamson Prize for outstanding individual leadership in historic preservation recognizes an individual who has:

• maintained high standards and achieved success in historic preservation
• revitalized a neighborhood, town or place, or otherwise has had a positive impact on the community through historic preservation;
• demonstrated above-and-beyond commitment to preservation over an extended period of time.

Activities—individually or in combination—that might warrant a nomination include but are not limited to:

• leadership in projects that saved or protected a historic place or places*;
• creation of or superlative leadership in campaigns, programs or events that substantially raised preservation awareness in a community;
• leadership in advocacy for saving endangered places and/or revitalizing downtowns and neighborhoods.

The award comes with $1,000 and the Williamson Prize statue created by Evansville artist John McNaughton.

Williamson Prize Background

In naming our individual award, Indiana Landmarks honors the impactful career of J. Reid Williamson, Jr., president of Indiana Landmarks from 1973 to 2005. A change agent for the organization and the state, Reid Williamson advanced the preservation movement by stressing the importance of local preservation organizations and by using restoration as a tool to revitalize entire neighborhoods and towns. Under his leadership, Indiana Landmarks created regional offices to serve the entire state, and grew in membership, staff and endowment. See a record of Williamson Prize winners.

*For stellar brick-and-mortar transformation of a landmark, Indiana Landmarks gives the Cook Cup for Outstanding Restoration, presented each year in April. For outstanding preservation achievement by a nonprofit organization, and for impactful youth-serving preservation programs, Indiana Landmarks annually presents the Sandi Servaas Memorial Award.