Miranda Peters, Fort Ticonderoga Director of Museum Collections, was recently awarded the Museum Association of New York (MANY) Rising Star Award for Collections/Exhibitions. The award was presented at the MANY Annual Meeting in Cooperstown, NY.
Peters joined Fort Ticonderoga’s museum leadership staff four years ago to document, preserve, and make accessible the museum’s holdings, considered one of the world’s most comprehensive collections of military material culture from the 18th century. Under her leadership, numerous prestigious grants were secured to expand the collection staff to undertake challenging projects, preserve the objects, and make them accessible to the world on a new online collections database.
“It is such an honor to receive this recognition from MANY,” said Peters. “The entire team in the Collections Department has undertaken transformative work to document, preserve, and make accessible Fort Ticonderoga’s remarkable collections. We have a commitment to share our lessons learned with our peers in the museum community and to provoke an active discussion about the past and its importance to present and future generations.”
“With constant drive and always seeing opportunities in challenges, Peters has tackled several significant projects,” said Beth Hill, Fort Ticonderoga President and CEO. “This recognition from MANY reaffirms what we already know that Miranda Peters is a leader in the museum field. Her work has revolutionized our ability to make our museum holdings a singular educational resource for our staff, academic partners, historians, K-12 educators and students, and others who utilize them. As an institution, we have made collections management a priority to ensure that our holdings are cared for and made available today and for posterity.”
Peters also serves as editor-in-chief of the museum’s collections-based publications. She has transformed three collections storage facilities and developed a new archaeological study room where researchers have access to thousands of 18th-century archaeological objects recovered from the historic site throughout the 20th century. Her creative approach to making the best use of space nearly doubled the available shelving for the museum’s collections. Further, Miranda addressed conservation priorities, sought special funds for the work in partnership with the museum’s development staff, and developed plans to ensure the proper care of museum holdings. Prior to serving as Director of Museum Collections at Fort Ticonderoga, Peters was the Collection Manager for The Preservation Society of New Port County. She holds a Master of Arts in Decorative Arts, Design History and Material Culture from the Bard Graduate Center.
About Fort Ticonderoga
Welcoming visitors since 1909, Fort Ticonderoga preserves North America’s largest 18th-century artillery collection, 2,000 acres of historic landscape on Lake Champlain, and Carillon Battlefield, and the largest series of untouched Revolutionary War era earthworks surviving in America. As the premier place to learn more about our nation’s earliest years and America’s military heritage, Fort Ticonderoga engages more than 75,000 visitors each year with an economic impact of more than $12 million annually and offers programs, historic interpretation, boat cruises, tours, demonstrations, and exhibits throughout the year, and is open for daily visitation May through October. Fort Ticonderoga is supported in part through generous donations and with some general operating support made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
America’s Fort is a registered trademark of the Fort Ticonderoga Association.
Photo: Miranda Peters, Fort Ticonderoga Director of Museum Collections, was recently awarded the Museum Association of New York (MANY) Rising Star Award for Collections/Exhibitions. The award was presented at the MANY Annual Meeting in Cooperstown, NY.