The Journal of the Civil War Era

The Militia Act of 1903 in Historical Context - The Journal of the Civil War Era Recent events have turned public attention to the previously obscure Militia Act of 1903 and the even more obscure historians and political scientists interested in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century ...

In today's Muster, Law Professor Mark Graber discusses the historical context for the Militia Act of 1903 www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/07/the-...

Conversation with June 2025 Special Issue Editors Joan E. Cashin and Alaina E. Roberts - The Journal of the Civil War Era In today’s Muster, Associate Editor Robert Bland discusses the JCWE’s June special issue on material culture with guest editors Joan E. Cashin and Alaina E. Roberts. Dr. Cashin is a professor of histo...

In today's Muster, Joan Cashin and Alaina Roberts discuss their special issue of the JCWE on Material Culture during the Civil War era www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/07/conv...

Andrew Donnelly, Confederate Sympathies, and the History of Same-Sex Romance during the Civil War Era - The Journal of the Civil War Era In today’s Muster, associate editor Robert Bland is joined by Andrew Donnelly to discuss his new book Confederate Sympathies: Same-Sex Romance, Disunion, and Reunion in the Civil War Era. Professor Do...

In today's Muster, Andrew Donnelly discusses his new book, Confederate Sympathies: Same-Sex Romance, Disunion, and Reunion in the Civil War Era www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/06/andr...

You still have until June 15 to submit an essay for the Anthony E. Kaye Memorial Essay Prize! Please consider if you are an early career scholar working on any topic concerning the Civil War era.

Interview with Michael Allen on a Career in Public History - The Journal of the Civil War Era Today’s Muster features an interview with Michael Allen, a retired National Park Service official. Over the course of his nearly four decade career, Allen has played a pivotal role in how several Civi...

In today's Muster, Michael Allen discipline discusses his nearly 40-year career in public history www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/06/inte...

One week remains to submit for the Center for Civil War Research's 2025 conference, "New Directions in the Legal History of the Civil War Era," happening in Oxford, MS Oct. 16-18. Details below; please share! @jcwe.bsky.social @joursouhist.bsky.social @historians.org

olemiss.edu/civil-war-re...

In this brief, @marthasjones.bsky.social and I demonstrate that free Black Americans spent decades claiming birthright citizenship against those who denied it, that the Framers of the 14 Amend. listened, and that these facts should matter to today's Courts.
www.brennancenter.org/media/13981/...

2025 Tom Watson Brown Book Award - The Journal of the Civil War Era The $50,000 Tom Watson Brown Book Award is presented annually by the Watson-Brown Foundation and the Society of Civil War Historians to the author or authors of the best book “on the causes, conduct, ...

In today’s Muster, we congratulate Dr. Edda Fields-Black on being awarded the 2025 Tom Watson Brown Book Award for Combee: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom during the Civil War. www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/05/2025...

Extension: The deadline for the Anthony E. Kaye Memorial Essay Prize has been extended to June 15. The JCWE and the SCWH invite all early career scholars to submit essays on any topic concerning the Civil War era. The winning submission will earn the author a $1,000 award

Conversation with Historian and Curator Jill Newmark - The Journal of the Civil War Era In today’s Muster, JCWE Book Review Editor Megan Bever is joined by Jill L. Newmark, independent historian and former Curator and Exhibition Specialist at the National Library of Medicine, National In...

In today's Muster, JCWE Book Review Editor Megan Bever is joined by Jill L. Newmark, for a conversation about her recent book Without Concealment, Without Compromise: Black Civil War Surgeons www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/05/conv...

You can read their award-winning articles in the JCWE's Winter 2024 special issue on Black internationalism muse.jhu.edu/issue/53788

Congratulations to Bianca Dang and Christina C. Davidson - The Journal of the Civil War Era The Latin American Studies Association recently awarded both Bianca Dang and Christina C. Davidson with their 2025 Best Article Prize. Dr. Dang and Dr. Davidson  were honored for their respective cont...

In today's Muster, we celebrate JCWE contributors Bianca Dang and Christina Davidson for receiving the Latin American Studies Association's 2025 Best Article Prize. www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/04/cong...

Congratulations!!

Lindsey Peterson Interview on "'Home Builders': Free Labor Households and Settler Colonialism in Western Union Civil War Commemorations" - The Journal of the Civil War Era In today’s Muster, associate editor Robert D. Bland speaks with Lindsey R. Peterson about her March 2025 JCWE article “‘Home-Builders’: Free Labor Households and Settler Colonialism in Western Union C...

In today's Muster, Lindsey Peterson discusses her March 2025 JCWE article "Home-Builders": Free Labor Households and Settler Colonialism in Western Union Civil War Commemorations. This article received the 2023 Anthony Kaye Memorial Essay Award. www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/04/lind...

TOMORROW!

Join us on Zoom, Friday, April 11 at 1pm ET FOR SHA's Classic Texts in Southern History, featuring W.E.B. Du Bois's Black Reconstruction in America!

Featuring Hilary Green, Michael Fitzgerald, Alaina Roberts, and Robert Greene II. Email Whitney Nell Stewart for zoom link.

In today's Muster, @martenj.bsky.social examines the lives of draftees from the Sixth Wisconsin and what their stories tell us about the broader military experience www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/.../alternat...

In today's Muster, @melissadevelvis.org discusses her new book, Gendering Secession: White Women and Politics in South Carolina, 1859–1861 www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/03/inte...

The JCWE is seeking submissions for the Anthony E. Kaye Memorial Essay Prize. The submission deadline is June 1, 2025. For more information, see the link below. www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/03/call...

Are you a scholar who is working on issues related to politics, the state, or capitalism during the Civil War era? If so, please consider submitting a proposal for this JCWE special issue. The deadline for submission is April 25, 2025. www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/03/call...

⬇️ Deadline for this workshop is April 1 ⬇️. Please apply if you've got a relevant article in the works and want a structure for getting feedback and moving toward submitting to a peer reviewed journal! @jcwe.bsky.social @richardscenter.bsky.social

If you work on political economy in the Civil War era check out this CFP! It will be a wonderful issue of the @jcwe.bsky.social plus you’ll get to participate in a manuscript workshop with the other contributors at @richardscenter.bsky.social at Penn State as part of the process. 🗃️

The Journal of the Civil War Era will have a special issue on political economy edited by me, @maggor.bsky.social, Sofia Valeonti & Nicolas Barreyre. I'll post again when the link is up on the Muster, but wanted to get the word out now. See CFP. Submission deadline is April 25. 🗃️

Teaching the Civil War: Chattanooga’s Confederate Cemetery - The Journal of the Civil War Era Today’s Muster continues our series Teaching the Civil War. Each post in the series has examined a different method that college and K-12 teachers have used to make the Civil War era come alive in the...

In today's Muster, our Teaching the Civil War series continues. Mark Johnson and Michael Thompson discuss a team-teaching experience at a local Confederate cemetery.
www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/03/teac...

Editors's Note for March 2025 JCWE - The Journal of the Civil War Era Lorien Foote – The Civil War and Its Place in Military History: A Roundtable This roundtable discussion among War and Society historians places the American Civil War in a comparative military context...

The March 2025 issue of the JCWE is now available! Today's Muster offers a preview of the journal's most recent volume. www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/03/edit...

Happy book publication day! Writing and researching Unforgettable Sacrifice was a journey. I am forever grateful to my family and community kinskeepers who inspired the book and ensured that I narrated their past with accuracy, dignity, and respect. 1/3

In today's Muster, JCWE Book Review editor Megan Bever talks with Dr. Guiliana Perrone about her book Nothing More than Freedom (Cambridge University Press, 2023) www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/02/conv...

Book Interview with Bennett Parten - The Journal of the Civil War Era Today’s Muster features an interview with Dr. Bennett Parten, author of the recently released Somewhere Toward Freedom: Sherman’s March and the Story of America’s Largest Emancipation. Dr. Parton is a...

In today's Muster, Bennett Parten discusses his new book Somewhere toward Freedom: Sherman's March and the Story of America's Largest Emancipation www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/02/book...

Please consider applying for this awesome opportunity!

We love place-based education too! In case you missed Ian Delahanty's post on teaching the Civil War, check it out as you head into the weekend.

Photography, Visual Culture and Building a Black Civil War Memory Archive - The Journal of the Civil War Era I am a collector of early African American photography and visual culture. I began my collection after attending a NEH Summer Institute focused on the visual culture of the American Civil War. I initi...

In today's Muster, Hilary Green examines the role of photography in Black Civil War memory www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/02/phot...