The Buffalo Bill Center of the West (BBCW) has been awarded reaccreditation by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) Accreditation Commission, following its February 2026 review. The distinction places the center among a distinguished community of museums that have chosen to hold themselves publicly accountable to the highest standards in the field.

The alliance accreditation is the museum field's most rigorous peer-reviewed recognition, requiring an extensive self-study and on-site evaluation against the Alliance's National Standards and Best Practices for U.S. Museums. Fewer than 5% of the nation's museums have earned this distinction.

In its letter to the center, the accreditation commission commended the BBCW for several exemplary areas of practice — particularly its education programs and collecting practices, which both preserve and bring to life the culture of the American West. The commission also highlighted the center's commitment to excellence, ensuring its collections and programs are accessible for years to come, and praised its institutional culture of continual innovation.

“Through a rigorous process of self-assessment and review by its peers, the museum has shown itself to be a good steward of its resources held in the public trust and committed to a philosophy of continual institutional growth,” the commission wrote.

The reaccreditation affirms what visitors and staff have long known: the Buffalo Bill Center of the West is not only a steward of irreplaceable Western American history, but a living, evolving institution that continually grows to serve its community and the broader public. The center's next accreditation self-study is due in March 2036.