March 7, 2014 - Constance Williams fishes with her 6-year-old son Duncan Winston, Jr. during a visit to the Children's Museum Friday afternoon. The museum has become accredited by the American Alliance of Museums and is ranked in the top two percent of children's museums in the United States.MEMPHIS - The Children's Museum of Memphis is being recognized nationally.
The Commercial Appeal eports the museum has been awarded accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums, the Washington-based advocacy organization and watchdog group that develops standards for the country's estimated 17,500 museums, science centers, historic sites, aquariums and so on.
Dewey Blanton is director of strategic communications for the Alliance. He says only about 1,000 of those institutions have been awarded accreditation, and the Children's Museum of Memphis is only the eighth children's museum out of about 400 such sites to earn the honor.
A private nonprofit organization, the museum depends entirely on admissions fees and donations to cover an annual budget of about $2.4 million.