For the fifth year in a row, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is recognized among the nation’s best history museums. A four-week online vote can put the Freedom Center on top. To do so, the Freedom Center will have to beat out a group of 19 other history museums from across the country – including locally as Cincinnati Museum Center’s Cincinnati History Museum is also in the running. Voting is open now. Voting ends at 11:59 a.m. EST on February 10.
Finalists are selected by a panel of experts and editors. This is the fifth consecutive year the Freedom Center has been a finalist, winning in 2023. They also secured second place finishes in 2024 and 2021 and a third place finish in 2022.
“We are again humbled to find ourselves among such a distinguished list of history museums across the country,” said Woodrow Keown, Jr., president & COO of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. “Pursuing that top spot is not about pride, but a commitment to elevate these stories of freedom within our walls; stories that remain relevant and critical to our continued journey to equity today.”
The Freedom Center is a nationally-accredited museum by the American Alliance of Museums, a distinction held by just 6% of the museums nationwide. Since its opening in 2004, it has shared stories of freedom’s heroes from the era of the Underground Railroad to modern day. The museum is located on the banks of the Ohio River, where many enslaved people took their first steps on free soil after self-liberating through the Underground Railroad in the mid-1800s. Through immersive, thought-provoking exhibits, programming and films, the Freedom Center continues to be a convener of dialogue around issues of freedom, the denial of freedom, systemic racism, implicit bias and modern-day enslavement.
Each person can vote one time per day, per device. Voting closes February 10 at 11:59 a.m. You can vote at 10best.usatoday.com/awards/travel/best-history-museum-2025.
Feature Image: Provided