Redli gets Heritage Keeper Award

Hard work and dedication to preserving Montana’s history has earned Penny Redli a statewide award.

At the end of September, Redli, the executive director of the Museum of the Beartooths, was presented the Heritage Keeper Award at the Montana History Conference in Helena.

Given by the Montana Historical Society’s (MHS) Board of Trustees, the maximum of three recipients received Heritage Keeper Awards this year.

The award “honors exemplary commitment, effort, and impact in identifying, preserving, and presenting Montana’s historical and cultural heritage for current and future generations,” according to the MHS website.

The recipients show a “commitment to Montana historical and cultural preservation beyond the requirements of professional employment,” the website details.

An MHS press release describes Redli as demonstrating “a lifelong commitment to preserving and sharing the histories of Carbon and Stillwater Counties and to improving museum practices across the state.”

Redli has been at the Museum of the Beartooths in Columbus for almost 10 years.

In addition to her daily efforts actively searching and preserving Stillwater County’s history and keeping the Museum of the Beartooths operating for visitors, Redli has also been instrumental in beginning a new program within the county government to aid with the official records retention process.

With a vision broader than Stillwater County, Redli has served in the statewide Museums Association of Montana (MAM), according to the MHS event program. As the chair of MAM’s annual conference and through her work with MAM’s board of directors, she has helped distribute information about museum management, artifact conservation, and historic interpretation to museums big and small across the state.

Since 2002, Redli has served on the Culture & Aesthetics Projects Advisory Committee, making funding recommendations to the state legislature, according to the program. Redli has also served on the Humanities Montana Board of Directors for the last five years.

Before coming to Columbus, Redli was the executive director of the Carbon County Historical Society and Museum in Red Lodge, her hometown.