3. Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal, Cincinnati, OH

Press Contacts:
Elizabeth Pierce 513-368-2139; epierce@cincymuseum.org
Tabari McCoy 513-287-7054; tmccoy@cincymseum.org
Web Site: http://www.cincymuseum.org/

In its 25th year, African Culture Fest offers a marketplace of hands-on activities, dance and musical performances and storytelling during CMC’s annual Passport to the World series of culture festivals. Photo by Scott Bowers.

The Cincinnati Museum Center is a national model of excellence as an educational and cultural complex that has successfully merged cultural institutions under the historic Union Terminal’s great half-dome. The combined Cincinnati History Museum, Museum of Natural History and Science, the Duke Energy Children’s Museum, the Robert D. Lindner Family OMNIMAX® Theatre, the Cincinnati Historical Society Library & Archives, the Geier Family Collections & Research Center, and the Richard & Lucile Durrell Edge of Appalachia Preserve represent the largest cultural institution in the city and the most visited museum in Ohio. Established in 1990, the Center has evolved as a safe place to foster community dialogue on topics such as Civil Unrest in Cincinnati: Voices of our Community, and a place where Cincinnati youth can learn leadership skills that will benefit them for the rest of their lives. It’s little wonder that the Cincinnati Museum Center stands as a trusted hub for lifelong learning in its urban community.

Senator Sherrod Brown (OH) “I’m pleased to join in celebrating the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal as the 2009 recipient of the National Medal for Museum and Library Service Award. The museum’s resources serve as a window into our history as city, state, and nation. I’m proud to recognize the Cincinnati Museum Center’s outstanding contribution to the cultural education and inspiration of the greater Cincinnati community.”

Senator George V. Voinovich (OH) “I have long loved Cincinnati’s Union Terminal and remember when the Cincinnati Museum Center was created to occupy the magnificent Art Deco icon of Cincinnati. What a fabulous journey the Cincinnati Museum Center has had from those early days after the merger of the Cincinnati Historical Society and Natural History Museum, to now serving more than 1.3 million visitors each year! I just visited the Museum Center in April and was particularly impressed by the science exhibits. The Center is a phenomenal asset to the community, helping the region’s students better appreciate and understand science and its role in the world around them. This IMLS award is icing on the cake for an institution that so many Cincinnatians know and love.”