Customs House Museum receives Southeastern Museums Conference awards

CLARKSVILLE, TN – The Customs House Museum & Cultural Center is pleased to announce they are a recipient of 11 awards in Technology and Publications for the 2026 Southeastern Museums Conference.

The SEMC Technology Competition recognizes excellence in the use of technology within southeastern museums and celebrates the accomplishments of innovative work. The Customs House Museum won gold awards for the Becoming Clarksville iPad Tour in the category of Digital Education and for the Flying High Digital Signage in the category of Gallery Installations. The museum won silver awards for the Ben Clark Video in Digital Education, The Museum Store Online Store for Digital Marketing, and the QR Code Transcription of Sam Houston Letter in Virtual Media. In the bronze awards, the Customs House Museum won for the 250th Logo Badge in Digital Education, Wilma Rudolph Social Media Post in Digital Marketing, and Monthly Happenings E-Newsletters in Digital Marketing.

For the SEMC Publications Competition, the Customs House Museum won bronze awards for A Night in Capri Sponsorship Packet Mailer in “The Island Remembers” Annual Appeal Mailer in the Mailers & Calendars of Events category, Reception Invitations – bundle in the Invitations category, and the Juneteenth Poster in the Poster category.  

“The Customs House Museum’s professional staff produces amazing, award-winning work year after year,” said Frank Lott, Executive Director of the Customs House Museum. “We appreciate the acknowledgement of their talent by their peer organizations.”

As technology continues to gain importance throughout the museum field, expectations and standards were exceptionally high for this year’s applicants. The 2026 SEMC Technology Competition received a record number of applications from a wide variety of museums across the southeast.

Winning entries were expected to demonstrate innovation, effective design, accessibility, creativity, and recognition of institutional identity. Recipients of the awards were judged by an appointed jury of museum professionals across the region who specialize in the fields of digital media and technology.

Award winners will be celebrated at the 2026 Annual Meeting Awards Luncheon on September 30, 2026, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, as well as in the Winter 2026 Edition of INSIDE SEMC, a digital publication of the Southeastern Museums Conference. This designation recognizes the Customs House Museum’s contribution to professional standards in Southeastern museums.