BRIDGEPORT, CT —The Housatonic Museum of Art (HMA), in partnership with Interpreting Sports (IS), LLC, was recognized on Friday, September 12th at the American Association for State and Local History’s (AASLH) Annual Conference with a 2025 Award of Excellence for the exhibition “The Making of an Icon: Walter Iooss and Sports Photography.” Now in its 80th year, the AASLH Leadership in History Awards remain the nation’s most prestigious recognition of achievement in preserving and interpreting state and local history.
The exhibition which ran from March 6 through August 2, 2024, featured 47 works from the museum’s collection of 141 photographs by legendary sports photographer, Walter Iooss. Often called “the Rembrandt of sports photography,” Iooss has shaped the visual narrative of sports for more than six decades, capturing both the triumphs and struggles of athletes across disciplines.
Presented in collaboration with Interpreting Sports of Somerville, MA, The Making of an Icon: Walter Iooss and Sports Photography explored how photography builds legends, celebrates heroism, and reveals the human stories behind athletic performance. The exhibition was accompanied by a series of special programs, including conversations with Iooss, sportswriter Ivan Maisel, and journalism professor Adam Rugg, along with opening and closing receptions, curator-led tours, and a virtual tour created for online audiences.
“We are grateful to be recognized by the AASLH for this year’s Leadership in History Award and have the opportunity to honor Walter Iooss’ work and career,” says Kathryn Leann Harris, Founder & CEO at Interpreting Sports. “Both the Housatonic Museum of Art and Iooss’ photographs invited us to unpack the lives of iconic athletes and delve into the impact of sports and iconography by asking questions of individual and group identity, critical controversies, and collective memory-making. We greatly appreciate our colleagues at the Housatonic Museum of Art and partners for championing the type of interpretive work that positions in the forefront the athletes’ humanity and invites visitors to discover new parts of themselves in the artwork.”
“It has been such a pleasure working with Interpreting Sports to bring this exhibition and related programs to life,” says Jennifer Reynolds-Kaye, Director of the Housatonic Museum of Art. “We are thrilled that AASLH recognized the importance of Walter Iooss’ contributions not only to sports history, but also to the larger stories of humanity throughout the twentieth century. We are grateful to our partners at Connecticut Humanities and the Lyman Allyn Art Museum who understood the vision and carried this project to the finish line.”
This marks the second consecutive year HMA has received the AASLH Award of Excellence. In 2024, the organization will recognize 54 projects nationwide for their outstanding contributions to state and local history. Support for this exhibition was provided by CT Humanities, and several key loans were provided by the collection of the Lyman Allyn Art Museum, New London, CT.
For more information about the AASLH Leadership in History Awards, visit www.aaslh.org.