In May 2011, IMH was honored with a historic preservation award from the U.S. President’s Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP), as one of the partners who is working with the U.S. Marine Corps Base Quantico to document archaeological sites associated with three Civil War Confederate camps and the CSS George Page, a side-wheel steamship. The ACHP notes that “these sites were involved in the Battle of the Potomac, a struggle by both sides to control navigation from the nation’s capital from immediately after Virginia’s secession in April 1861 until March 1862. Among the military highlights associated with this campaign to control the Potomac River were the first use of an aircraft carrier in history; first Medal of Honor presented to a Navy recipient for actions in the Civil War; first use of a floating anti-ship mine in American waters; and, the issuance by President Abraham Lincoln of General War Order 3 mandating immediate military action to relieve the Confederate blockade of Washington, D.C.” The sites are now listed to the National Register of Historic Places.
Others recognized in the ceremony were Kathleen S. Kilpatrick, Virginia State Historic Preservation Officer; Joseph F. Balicki, associate director, cultural resources, John Milner Associates, Inc; Robb Hampton, director, National Public Lands Day, National Environmental Education Foundation; Carmelo Melendez, director of Facilities Division, Marine Corps Base Quantico (MCBQ); Bruce Frizzell, head, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Branch, MCBQ; Elizabeth Kimmerly, head, National Environmental Policy Act Coordination Section, MCBQ; and, John Haynes, base archaeologist, MCBQ. Bill Utley attended the award ceremony in Washington D.C. to receive the award for IMH.