LTHP’s annual preservation awards program honors individuals, organizations and businesses for their impactful and passionate efforts to save historic places, build civic pride and foster engagement in their communities. This year’s 10 award recipients were nominated by the public earlier this spring and selected based on:
- the significance and magnitude of the nominee’s contributions and/or achievements;
- consistent or innovative involvement with and commitment to culture;
- benefit of the nominee’s contributions to Louisiana’s cultural understanding
2024 Awards Recipients:
Main Street Award: Denham Springs Main Street | Denham Springs, LA
-
Recognizes a Main Street community that exemplifies the strategic use of creativity, historic preservation and culture to build a climate for cultural expression, improve quality of life, enhance existing assets, and strengthen economic opportunity while respecting the quality of the area.
Education Award: Poverty Point World Heritage Site | Epps, LA | demonstration classes, night tours, foraging tours
-
Recognizes an individual or organization that, through educational efforts, helped broaden appreciation for the importance of the value of historic preservation in Louisiana.
Leadership Award: Maida Owens, Director, Louisiana Folklife Program | Baton Rouge, LA
-
Recognizes an individual who is making or has made a significant contribution to the advocacy and promotion of historic preservation, or the development of his or her cultural discipline in a community, region, or state.
Organizational Excellence Award: Natchitoches Historic Foundation, Restoration of the Roque House
-
Recognizes an organization that successfully leveraged assets to provide greater cultural value to its region within the state such as a heritage tourism project, or restoration/preservation effort such as adaptive reuse.
Stewardship Award:
Bogalusa Coca-Cola Bottling Plant
Columbia – Graves Homeplace
Donaldsonville – River Rd African American Museum Rosenwald
Grand Coteau – Chatrian House
Lafayette – Roy House
Madisonville – Fairview Riverside State Park
New Orleans – Dodwell House
Tallulah – Scottland Plantation – Lt. Col. Porter Johnson
-
Recognizes exemplary historic preservation, restoration, rehabilitation, and reconstruction projects — residential or non-residential — that adhere to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and have been completed within the last three years.
Diverse Heritage Award: Tara Dudley | Austin, TX
Author, “Building Antebellum New Orleans: Free People of Color and Their Influence”, 2021, University of Texas Press
-
Recognizes achievements in the promotion and preservation of Louisiana’s multicultural or underserved heritage. Projects eligible for this award include rehabilitation or restoration projects, interpretive programs, heritage leadership or other activities that re-examine, emphasize or further our understanding of the diverse heritage of Louisiana.
Living Trades Award: Jeff Poree | New Orleans, LA | 5th Generation Master Plasterer
Recognizes an individual who has continued to use a traditional technique or method in construction to achieve authenticity in the preservation, restoration or reconstruction of historic resources on a project within Louisiana; the technique must be one that is considered both artistic in nature and rare in today’s construction practices.
Heritage Media Award: Cierra Chenier | New Orleans, LA | Noir in NOLA social media, reporter at Scalawag Magazine
-
Recognizes outstanding works published or produced within the last two years (journalism, films, books, websites or other media) on Louisiana historic preservation themes, topics, issues, projects or local history and architecture.
Sue Turner Preservationist of the Year Award: Erin Edwards | Advocacy for saving west St. John Parish
-
Recognizes the efforts of an individual who has made a significant contribution to historic preservation in Louisiana.
Winnie Byrd Preservationist Extraordinaire Award: Ann Masson | New Orleans, LA
-
Recognizes an individual who has made a lasting impact on the historic resources of Louisiana through a body of work.
