American Revolution museum honors filmmaker Ken Burns

The medal and $25,000 prize will be presented at a private event at the museum April 11.

Associated Press

October 11, 2018

Ken Burns participates in the "The Vietnam War" panel during the PBS portion of the 2017 Summer TCA's at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Sunday, July 30, 2017, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns is being honored in Philadelphia with an award from the Museum of the American Revolution.

The museum announced Thursday that Burns will receive the Gerry Lenfest Spirit of the American Revolution Award. The museum says the award honors Burns’ “lifetime of work advancing understanding of our national history and revolutionary spirit.”

The medal and $25,000 prize will be presented at a private event at the museum April 11.

The museum’s chairman emeritus H.F. (Gerry) Lenfest, who died in August, created the award to recognize distinguished achievement in advancing public awareness and understanding of history and of its relevance in the “American experiment.”

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Burns is now planning an American Revolution documentary film project.

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