The award honors an individual, institution, or organization that promotes greater public awareness, appreciation, or support of archives. Stewart, who lives in Florida, has published eight books that are designed to assist writers, researchers, historians, film and video makers, content producers, and the public in finding historically rich, celluloid-based moving images preserved in the motion picture holdings of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). From the generic (what’s in the vault and how do you find it), to the specific (story titles of the Universal Newsreels), and the detailed (scene-by-scene descriptions of 36 WWI aviation titles), Stewart’s publications inform and invite others to explore America’s film vault.

As his nominator noted: "Phil Stewart displays an incredibly high commitment to accurate research of NARA’s motion picture collection."