Emerging Civil War Presents Annual Awards

Originally published October 2019 · pp. 12

Emerging Civil War Presents Annual Awards Emerging Civil War presented its 2019 ECW Awards at its annual Symposium earlier this month in Spotsylvania, Virginia. Award recipients included: Historian John Coski of the American Civil War Museum in Richmond, recipient of the Emerging Civil War Award for Service in Civil War Public History; • Historian A. Wilson Greene, recipient of the Emerging Civil War Book Award for 2018; • C-SPAN, recipient of the Brig. Gen. Thomas Greely Stevenson Award; and • Historian Sarah Kay Bierle, ECW’s managing editor, recipient of the Brig. Gen. Emory Upton Award. •

Emerging Civil War’s Award for Service in Civil War Public History recognizes the work of an individual or organization who has made a significant impact on the field of public history in a way that helps the general public better connect with America’s defining event. “We have a strong public history mission at ECW, and we want to recognize, and offer our gratitude to, the work of others who share that same mission,” explains ECW Editor-inChief Chris Mackowski.

This year’s recipient, John Coski, is Historian and Director of Research & Publications at the American Civil War Museum, a position he’s held since 2014. Prior to that, he served in a variety of positions at the Museum of the Confederacy, including historian and director of the library and research, since 1988. He’s the author of dozens of publications, including the groundbreaking The Confederate Battle Flag: America’s Most Embattled Emblem (Harvard University Press, 2005). Coski earned his B.A. from Mary Washington College and his M.A. and Ph.D. in History from the College of William and Mary. He worked summers at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, Antietam National Battlefield, and the Colonial Williamsburg

Award-winners John Coski and A. Wilson Greene share a laugh during the Sixth Annual Emerging Civil War Symposium at Stevenson Ridge.

Foundation. He has delivered more than 250 public talks, conference papers, and panel discussion commentary around the country on a wide range of topics. He recently began research toward what he hopes to be a booklength history of Belle Isle, tentatively entitled Belle Isle: Life and Death, Past and Present on America’s Founding River. “John Coski is one of the people in the Civil War community I respect the most,” said ECW Chief Historian Chris Kolakowski in presenting the award. “Since 1988, John has been the maven of the library of the Museum of the Confederacy and its successor, the American Civil War Museum. This is an essential collection for anyone wanting to understand any aspect of the Confederate war. Everyone who has come in contact with him recognizes his expertise, his modesty and willingness to share, and his absolute professionalism.” Kolakowski also lauded the accessibility of Coski’s scholarship. “John Coski is a fantastic scholar on the Civil War and Confederate iconography,” he said. “His publications on the naval war and the Confederate battle flag provide superb information and important perspectives.” The Emerging Civil War Book Award recognizes a work of Civil War history with a public history focus published in the preceding calendar year. Recipients are chosen by ECW’s stable of published authors, making the award the only peer-to-peer award given by Civil War writers to Civil War writers. This year’s selection, A Campaign of Giants: The Battle for Petersburg (UNC Press, 2018) by A. Wilson Greene, opens a sweeping new three-volume history of the Petersburg Campaign, taking readers from Grant’s crossing of the James in mid-June 1864 to the fateful Battle of the Crater on July 30. Greene is the former president of the Pamplin Historical Park and the National Museum of the Civil War Soldier. The author of several books, he is also a former historian with Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, and he is one of the founding fathers of the modern preservation movement. “Will Greene’s A Campaign of Giants is a wonderful work done by a preeminent expert on the Petersburg Campaign,” said ECW Book Review Editor Ryan T. Quint. “For too long now, the months-long operation around Petersburg has

ECW Editor-in-Chief Chris Mackowski presents the Brig. Gen. Thomas Greely Stevenson Award to producer Russell Logan of C-SPAN’s History TV. been misunderstood, with only a handful of books available to help readers understand the full scope of what happened outside the Cockade City. With this first book, Greene brings the reader from the beginning of the fighting to the famed explosion of the Crater in an easily readable and more easily understood prose. We at the Emerging Civil War eagerly anticipate the follow-up books that will complete this excellent trilogy.” Quint also announced two finalists for the ECW Book Award: Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David W. Blight (Simon & Schuster, 2018) and Fighting Means Killing: Civil War Soldiers and the Nature of Combat by Jonathan M. Steplyk (University Press of Kansas, 2018). The Brig. Gen. Thomas Greely Stevenson Award is presented to an individual or organization in recognition of their outstanding service to ECW. This year’s recipient was C-SPAN. For the past five years, C-SPAN has taped all or portions of each ECW Symposium. During the award presentation, Mackowski asked the assembled audience how many of them had watched an ECW presentation on C-SPAN. All hands rose. “And I can’t tell you how many times I, or one of my ECW colleagues, has gone to speak somewhere and have had people come up to us and say, ‘I saw you on C-SPAN,’” Mackowski added.

“The reach C-SPAN has given ECW has been invaluable.” C-SPANs series on the Civil War is part of American History TV, which runs on C-SPAN 3 for 48 hours each weekend starting at 8 a.m. Saturdays. American History TV also airs on all holidays and in prime time when Congress is out of session. Once their Civil War programming debuts on TV, it then also become available on their website, c-span. org/history. Since American History TV officially launched in 2011, they have aired more than 600 programs related to the Civil War—including dozens of ECW segments. C-SPAN and ECW share a common mission, said C-SPAN producer Russell Logan, who accepted the award. “We like to give a platform for new voices,” he said. The Brig. Gen. Emory Upton Award is presented each year to a member of the ECW community who has performed exceptional service to the organization. “The award is essentially our staff person of the year award,” Mackowski explained. This year’s recipient, Sarah Kay Bierle, is Emerging Civil War’s managing editor. Bierle is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the blog and oversees the work of its editorial board. She is also the author of the new ECW Series book Call Out the Cadets: The Battle of New Market. Bierle has a B.A. in History from Thomas Edison State University and is exploring and enjoying her career path as a historian, writer, and speaker. Emerging Civil War is the collaborative effort of more than two-dozen historians committed to sharing the story of the Civil War in an accessible way. Founded in 2011 by Kris White and Chris Mackowski, Emerging Civil War features public and academic historians of diverse backgrounds and interests, while also providing a platform for emerging voices in the field. Initiatives include the award-winning Emerging Civil War Series of books published by Savas Beatie, LLC; the “Engaging the Civil War” Series published by Southern Illinois University Press; an annual symposium; a speaker’s bureau; and a daily blog: www.emergingcivilwar.com.