ALTOONA, Pa. — Mark Frederick is the recipient of a 2026 Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Award from Preservation Pennsylvania.
Frederick, a 2017 communications graduate of Penn State Altoona, received the Leadership Award in Education for his work at the Pennsylvania Military Museum in Boalsburg.
When the museum closed for a major renovation, Frederick worked to prevent its educational mission from closing with it. He expanded the museum’s Living History Weekend series, creating immersive programs interpreting the Civil War, World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War through period encampments, demonstrations, guided tours and hands-on family activities.
Frederick also coordinates lantern tours at the historic Boalsburg Cemetery, presents a regular History After Hours lecture series, and has taken the museum’s stories to regional events and the Pennsylvania Farm Show. His innovative “Ghost Front: A World War II Experience” drew approximately 400 visitors for an outdoor experience featuring reconstructed foxholes, guided patrols, interpretation of the Hürtgen Forest and Battle of the Bulge, and family programming.
Founded in 1982, Preservation Pennsylvania is the commonwealth’s only independent, statewide, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to safeguarding historically and architecturally significant places.
The preservation awards recognize the people and projects that demonstrate preservation can strengthen local economies, create opportunities for learning and gathering, and help Pennsylvania’s heritage remain visible and meaningful.