The Weemsy Awards™ are awarded every December to spotlight the most absurd, false, and/or outrageous claims about U.S. history in the past year by public figures. They are in the spirit of other annual awards such as the Darwin Awards (fatal stupidity), The Golden Dukes (political corruption), and The Razzies (worst film performances).

The Weemsies™ were started in 2019 by historian Edward T. O’Donnell when he became frustrated by the number of stupid, false, and outrageous claims made about US history by public officials, usually to justify their support for or opposition to a law or policy (e.g., “The Founding Fathers were Christian nationalists"). The awards are appropriately named for Parson Weems, the first biographer of George Washington, who made up many enduring myths about the first president (e.g., the cherry tree incident). Their purpose is to improve the quality and accuracy of public discourse by calling attention to public figures who misrepresent history out of ignorance or as a means to advance themselves or their agenda. 
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Edward T. O’Donnell is a historian, writer, podcaster, and public speaker. He earned his Ph.D. in US History from Columbia University. He is a professor of history and former Chair of the History Department at Holy Cross College in Worcester, MA where he teaches courses on reform movements, Irish American history, the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, and US wars.
He is the author of Henry George and the Crisis of Inequality: Progress and Poverty in the Gilded Age (Columbia University Press, 2015), Ship Ablaze: The Tragedy of the Steamboat General Slocum (Random House, 2003), and the US history textbook (co-author) Visions of America: A History of the United States (Pearson, 3rd ed. 2016). He also has created two video courses for The Great Courses (aka The Teaching Company): 

Turning Points in American History
America in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era.
O’Donnell is also a popular public speaker. You can see video clips of some of his talks here.
For more information, please visit his website: www.EdwardTODonnell.com.
You can follow Ed on TikTok, Instagram, Youtube, Twitter, BlueSky, and Threads all at @InThePastLane.

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The Weemsy Awards™ were mentioned in The New Yorker! 
Read it here