Inaugural Gail Braxton Distinguished Service Award Goes to Gail Braxton
Braxton was honored for 40 years of service to the Washington Heritage Museums.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
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To honor Gail Braxton’s 40 years of service to the Washington Heritage Museums, the organization both created an award in her honor and gave her the award.
Braxton received the inaugural Gail Braxton Distinguished Service Award at the 10th anniversary Bourbon and Boxwood celebration earlier this month.
“Gail Braxton’s volunteer service spans more than four decades—a legacy not simply measured in years, but in lives touched, stories preserved, and history brought to life,” said Anne Darron, WHM’s executive director, during the ceremony on October 4. “Her work has been foundational to our mission, and her presence has been a constant source of wisdom, warmth, and quiet leadership.”
Braxton’s time with WHM—which maintains and interprets five historic sites in Fredericksburg with ties to George Washington, including the Mary Washington House and Mary Washington Monument—began when the museums were under the stewardship of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (APVA). She became the volunteer director of the Mary Washington Branch of the APVA and in that role was crucial in overseeing the transition from APVA to the newly-created WHM in 2012.
Recently, Braxton has served as the honorary chair of the capital campaign for the Mary Washington Monument, and she continues to serve actively on multiple committees and as a volunteer docent at the St. James’ House.
During the award presentation, Darron recalled first meeting Braxton as a historic preservation student at then-Mary Washington College in 1983.
“Even then, Gail was a pillar of calm and competence,” Darron recalled. “She welcomed me with kindness, encouraged my curiosity, and modeled what it meant to serve with purpose.”
WHM will present the Gail Braxton award, an engraved pewter bowl, annually to individuals who “embody [Braxton’s] spirit of outstanding service, leadership, and love of history,” according to a press release about the award.
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