AAA RACE Project Wins Awards

Mary Margaret Overbey
RACE Project Director

Since its debut in January 2007, the RACE Are We So Different? public education program has received three national awards and one national nomination. In April, the RACE website (www.understandingRACE.org) received the Interactive Media 2007 Award for an Outstanding Achievement in Education. Also in April, the RACE website was among five nominees selected for a 2007 Webby Award in science, including the Hubble Space Station website, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NOVA Science NOW and Earth Guide. The Hubble Site won the award.

In June, AAA received the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) Association’s Advance America 2007 Award of Excellence for developing the RACE Are We So Different? program. The AAA was recognized for developing an innovative public education program that propels America forward. AAA was among 19 associations to receive an Award of Excellence and an opportunity to compete for ASAE’s highest honor, the Summit Award.

In July, AAA received ASAE’s Associations Advance American 2007 Summit Award for developing and producing the RACE Are We So Different? program. The Summit Award is bestowed on associations for taking action to improve the quality of American society through exemplary volunteer activities. AAA’s multidisciplinary, collaborative RACE Project has involved AAA members and other association members in developing the program. AAA is among six associations slated to receive the award at the Summit Awards Dinner September 25, 2007, at the National Building Museum in Washington DC.

Celebrating after the Advisory Board meeting at the Science Museum of Minnesota are (L–R) Mary Margaret Overbey, Janis Hutchinson, Irma McClaurin, Jeffrey Long, Yolanda Moses and Faye Harrison. Photo courtesy Joseph Jones

RACE Are We So Different? is proving to be a popular and critically-acclaimed program. More than 500,000 people were estimated to have visited the RACE exhibit and the website from January–June 30, 2007. The RACE exhibit opened at the Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM) which produced it, and SMM reported a total attendance of 246,037 between January 10 and May 6, 2007. The exhibit opened at the Charles H Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit May 25 and closes September 4. The Charles Wright Museum reports that attendance has been close to projections, with positive responses from visitors and the media. Attendance at the exhibit has not yet been reported.

Visitors enjoy an interactive experience at the RACE exhibit during its stay at the Science Museum of Minnesota. Photo courtesy AAA and Science Museum of Minnesota

The RACE exhibit is booked at 11 additional venues through mid-2011, the current length of AAA’s tour agreement with the SMM. At this time, more than 20 museums are on a waiting list to host the exhibit.

As of June 30, 272,727 people had visited the RACE website. The average number of visitors per day is 1,600 and visitors are spending time at the site, averaging 23.15 hits per visitor. Since opening, the website has received more than 5 million hits.

The RACE Project has received extensive media coverage. More than 40 articles, commentaries and reports have appeared in print, broadcast and web cast media since December 2006. Educators are recognizing the usefulness of the RACE exhibit and website for teaching. Education World, for example, gave the RACE website an A+ overall, with an A+ for content and site design.
The RACE Advisory Board, chaired by Yolanda Moses, met April 13–14 at the SMM in St Paul, Minnesota to complete their work and celebrate the outcomes of the RACE project. Advisory board members toured the RACE exhibit, reviewed the RACE website, and observed visitors response to the exhibit and website, located inside the exhibit. The advisory board was delighted, complimenting project partners (SMM, S2N Media, Inc that produced the website, Marmillion + Company that assisted with communications, Randi Korn & Associates that conducted exhibit evaluation, and Museum Solutions that conducted website evaluation), project staff (Mary Margaret Overbey, Amy Beckrich and Joseph Jones), and each other for a job well done.

The advisory board recommended AAA produce a duplicate and a smaller version of the RACE exhibit to meet the demands of museums and organizations. The board also recommended updating and maintaining the RACE website. AAA is working toward these ends.

While the Ford Foundation grant to the RACE Project closed April 30, 2007, the NSF continues to support RACE Project activities through 2008. Community meetings and teacher-training workshops will be held at museum sites to bring RACE Are We So Different? to communities in regions across the US. Models for effective dialogues and teacher training will be developed as a result.