The Journal of the Civil War Era

The Journal of the Civil War Era

@jcwe.bsky.social

The JCWE—published by @uncpress.bsky.social and @richardscenter.bsky.social —is home to the most creative new work on the many issues raised by slavery, the sectional crisis, war, emancipation, and Reconstruction. https://tinyurl.com/4hnmffeu

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The Journal of the Civil War Era
@jcwe.bsky.social

In today's Muster, we congratulate JCWE editor Kate Masur for her collaborative project winning the 2026 James Harvey Robinson Prize for Teaching Aids www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2026/10/jcwe...

journalofthecivilwarera.orgJCWE editor's collaborative project wins 2026 James Harvey Robinson Prize for Teaching Aids - The Journal of the Civil War EraThe American Historical Association awarded its 2026 James Harvey Robinson Prize to Kate Masur and Liz Clarke for Freedom Was in Sight!: A Graphic History of Reconstruction in the Washington, DC, Regi...
The Journal of the Civil War Era
@jcwe.bsky.social

In today's Muster, Keila Grinberg and Fabiane Popinigis discuss the origins of the "Noisy Archives" special issue of the JCWE www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2026/10/jcwe...

journalofthecivilwarera.orgJCWE Special Issue Interview with Keila Grinberg and Fabiane Popinigis - The Journal of the Civil War EraIn today’s Muster, JCWE Associate Editor Robert Bland discusses the journal’s recent special issue, “Noisy Archives: Race and the Social History of the Law in Brazil,” with Keila Grinberg and Fabiane ...
The Journal of the Civil War Era
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In today's Muster, Megan Bever interviews Lesley Gordon about her recent book, Dread Danger: Cowardice and Combat in the American Civil War (Cambridge University Press, 2025) www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2026/09/inte...

journalofthecivilwarera.orgInterview with Lesley Gordon - The Journal of the Civil War EraIn today’s Muster, associate editor Megan Bever interviews Lesley Gordon about her recent book, Dread Danger: Cowardice and Combat in the American Civil War (Cambridge University Press, 2024). Gordon ...
The Journal of the Civil War Era
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In today's Muster, Lindsey Peterson highlights how digital scholarly collections can help historians recover lost histories from the Civil War era www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2026/08/find...

journalofthecivilwarera.orgFinding Rabbit: What One Freedman’s Story Reveals About Scholarly Editing - The Journal of the Civil War EraArchives and special collections have long connected users with the raw materials of our history. Researchers visiting our reading rooms encounter the past one page, photograph, and reel at a time. Wi...
The Journal of the Civil War Era
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In today's Muster, David Ballantyne and Charles Lane recalculate the Colfax Massacre's death toll www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2026/07/how-...

journalofthecivilwarera.orgHow Many Died in the Colfax Massacre? - The Journal of the Civil War EraOn April 13, 1873 approximately 140 heavily armed white men, led by ex-Confederate officers, attacked a roughly equal number of Black men occupying the courthouse in Colfax, seat of Grant Parish, Loui...
The Journal of the Civil War Era
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In today's Muster, Daniel Crofts highlights the importance of Kentanji Brown Jackson's concurrence to the Supreme Court's majority decision on Trump v. Barbara (2026) www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2026/07/reas...

journalofthecivilwarera.orgReasons for Hope: Kentanji Brown Jackson, Civil War Era History, and the Supreme Court’s Struggle over the Second Founding - The Journal of the Civil War EraYou didn’t expect this.  Part of a majority segment of a U.S. Supreme Court decision—that is, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s concurrence in the birthright citizenship case—builds upon and amplifies t...
The Journal of the Civil War Era
@jcwe.bsky.social

In today's Muster, Kris Plunkett reflects on the place of the Lost Cause in Cherokee memory of the Civil War www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2026/07/the-...

journalofthecivilwarera.orgThe Stand Watie Monument, the Lost Cause, and Oklahoma Cherokee Memory of the Civil War - The Journal of the Civil War EraIn 1921, the United Daughters of the Confederacy erected a monument in Tahlequah, Oklahoma in honor of Stand Watie and the Cherokee soldiers he led, inscribed: “Only full blood indian[sic] Brig. Gen. ...
The Journal of the Civil War Era
@jcwe.bsky.social

In today's Muster, we congratulate Amy Murrell Taylor for winning the @richardscenter.bsky.social Prize for the best article published in the @jcwe.bsky.social . Congratulations Dr. Taylor! www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2026/06/anno...

journalofthecivilwarera.orgAnnouncing the Winner of the 2025 George and Ann Richards Prize - The Journal of the Civil War EraAmy Murrell Taylor has won the $1,000 George and Ann Richards Prize for the best article published in The Journal of the Civil War Era in 2025. The article, “More Than a ‘Pile of Rude Boards’: Space, ...
The Journal of the Civil War Era
@jcwe.bsky.social

In today's Muster, Michael Wise examines the role of providence and prestige as pillars of proslavery religion in the Civil War era South www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2026/06/prov...

journalofthecivilwarera.orgProvidence and Prestige: Misguided Faith and Ambition in Southern Defenses of Slavery - The Journal of the Civil War EraIn his November 1860 sermon, “Slavery a Divine Trust: Duty of the South to Preserve and Perpetuate It,” Benjamin Morgan Palmer argued that the providential trust was “to conserve and to perpetuate the...
The Journal of the Civil War Era
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In today's Muster, Drew Baird examines the role of the Union Pacific in shaping the Greater Reconstruction in the American West www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2026/06/a-po...

journalofthecivilwarera.orgA Power in the Land: Union Pacific in the Greater Reconstruction - The Journal of the Civil War EraRailroads have long been subjects of Civil War era studies. Scholars have cast them as promoters of growth before the conflict, agents of capacity and connection during the war itself, and instruments...

The Journal of the Civil War Era reposted

Richards Center Penn State
@richardscenter.bsky.social

The June 2026 issue of @jcwe.bsky.social is a special one focused on the social history of the law in Brazil. The articles are currently free to read: www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/june2026/

journalofthecivilwarera.orgCurrent Issue - The Journal of the Civil War EraVolume 16, No. 2 June 2026 Special Issue: “Noisy Archives: Race and the Social History of the Law in Brazil” This special issue examines how Brazilian historians have engaged with legal sources to rec...
The Journal of the Civil War Era
@jcwe.bsky.social

In today's Muster, Cassandra Jane Werking examines the long history of Fort Pickens and its place in Florida and national memory www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2026/06/stan...

journalofthecivilwarera.orgStand Firm Like Fort Pickens: Confederate Florida and the Long Struggle over Unionist Memory - The Journal of the Civil War EraDespite being in Confederate Florida, United States Fort Pickens repelled enemy attempts to gain control of the Union holdout. Situated on the bay of Pensacola, Fort Pickens remained in U.S. control f...
The Journal of the Civil War Era
@jcwe.bsky.social

In today's Muster, JCWE editor Megan Bever interviews author Ian Delahanty about his recent book, Embracing Emancipation www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2026/05/jcwe...

journalofthecivilwarera.orgJCWE Conversation with Ian Delahanty - The Journal of the Civil War EraIn today’s Muster, JCWE associate editor Megan Bever interviews Ian Delahanty. Delahanty is an associate professor of history at Springfield College and the author of Embracing Emancipation: A Transat...
The Journal of the Civil War Era
@jcwe.bsky.social

In today's Muster, Brook Thomas reflects on Birthright Citizenship and postbellum debates around the idea of allegiance www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2026/04/birt...

journalofthecivilwarera.orgBirthright Citizenship and Allegiance - The Journal of the Civil War EraBirthright citizenship is controlled by the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of t...
The Journal of the Civil War Era
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In today's Muster, William Horne examines the harrowing story of Margaret Cathrine Murphy, a woman who posed as a man to enlist in the Union Army www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2026/04/i-wa...

journalofthecivilwarera.org“I Was Detected by My Laugh”: The Brief Military Career of Margaret Cathrine Murphy - The Journal of the Civil War EraCW: sexual violence and self-harm On May 17, 1863, Margaret Cathrine Murphy found herself in an unlikely situation: being interrogated as a spy while imprisoned in Annapolis. As she explained, she was...

The Journal of the Civil War Era reposted

American Historical Association
@historians.org

What does the Fourteenth Amendment actually say about birthright citizenship? AHA member Kate Masur breaks down its historical foundations as the Supreme Court takes up the issue. 🗃️ #history #humanities #SCOTUS

cbsnews.comNU professor Kate Masur on U.S. Supreme Court taking up birthright citizenshipThe U.S. Supreme Court is set Wednesday to weigh in on President Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship. Northwestern University professor and historian Kate Masur joins Dana Kozlov to ...
The Journal of the Civil War Era
@jcwe.bsky.social

If you are an advanced graduate student, recent PhD, assistant professor, or independent scholar with a Civil War Era research topic, please consider applying for this workshop.

Richards Center Penn State@richardscenter.bsky.social

The @richardscenter.bsky.social and @jcwe.bsky.social announce a journal article workshop for advanced graduate students, recent PhDs, assistant professors, and independent scholars. Application materials should be sent to RichardsCenter@psu.edu by April 15, 2026!

The Journal of the Civil War Era
@jcwe.bsky.social

In today's Muster, JCWE Book Review Editor Megan Bever talks with Maria Angela Diaz about her book Continuous State of War, published in 2004 by UGA Press www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2026/03/jcwe...

journalofthecivilwarera.orgJCWE Conversation with Maria Angela Diaz - The Journal of the Civil War EraIn today’s Muster, JCWE Book Review Editor talks with Angela Diaz about her book, Continuous State of War: Empire Building and Race Making in the Civil War-Era Gulf South, which was published by UGA P...
The Journal of the Civil War Era
@jcwe.bsky.social

Advanced graduate students, the deadline for the Richards Center's Predoctoral Dissertation Fellowship in the history of the Civil War Era has been extended to March 15, 2026. If you are working on any subject that considers the Civil War broadly, please consider applying.

The Journal of the Civil War Era
@jcwe.bsky.social

In today's Muster, William Horne provides a close reading of a pension dispute within the Maryland Freedmen's Bureau records and highlights the ongoing struggle over gender, race, and rights in the postbellum South. www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2026/02/the-...

journalofthecivilwarera.orgThe Unspendable Pension of Henrietta Emory Meads - The Journal of the Civil War EraSometime in July 1867, Henrietta Emory wrote to a clerk in the Claim Division of the Maryland Freedmen’s Bureau describing the challenges she had faced in trying to get money due to her as a soldier’s...
The Journal of the Civil War Era
@jcwe.bsky.social

Now available for free! Please check out this important special issue. Now more than ever, the Civil War era provides us with important lessons for our harrowing current moment

UNC Press@uncpress.bsky.social

What Is To Be Done? Historians of Crisis in a Moment of Crisis a special Issue of @jcwe.bsky.social is available to READ FOR FREE now on @projectmuse.bsky.social. 18 Civil War–era historians reflect on scholarship, teaching & today’s political crisis. Read it now👇 muse.jhu.edu/journal/516

muse.jhu.eduProject MUSE - The Journal of the Civil War Era

The Journal of the Civil War Era reposted

Society of Civil War Historians
@scwhistorians.bsky.social

The SCWH Graduate Student Connections Committee is hosting an interview with Dr. Gregory Downs, @jcwe.bsky.social co-editor, about publishing with the Journal of the Civil War Era. Please attend and come with questions! The virtual event is February 27, 5-6 EST: us06web.zoom.us/j/8857214479...

us06web.zoom.usJoin our Cloud HD Video MeetingZoom is the leader in modern enterprise cloud communications.
The Journal of the Civil War Era
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In today's Muster, Karl Miller examines the Reconstruction-era roots of the Animal Rights Movement www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2026/02/a-te...

journalofthecivilwarera.orgA Tentative Start: Animal Rights in Florida During Reconstruction - The Journal of the Civil War EraShortly after the end of the Civil War, Florida wrote a new state constitution and held elections to seat a legislature. Tasked with handling the issues that arose in postbellum Florida society, the l...
The Journal of the Civil War Era
@jcwe.bsky.social

In today's Muster, ongoing contributor Elliott Martin writes about Henry 'Box' Brown and Richmond's public history landscape www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2026/01/henr...

journalofthecivilwarera.orgHenry 'Box Brown: Tobacco Worker, Stage Magician, Tourist Attraction - The Journal of the Civil War EraHenry ‘Box’ Brown had a variety of identities in his life-tobacco factory worker, escaped slave, abolitionist, lecturer, and touring panoramist and entertainer on the English stage. In recent years, a...
The Journal of the Civil War Era
@jcwe.bsky.social

In today's Muster @robertdbland.bsky.social examines the legacy of the Reconstruction generation www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2026/01/reme...

journalofthecivilwarera.orgRemembering Reconstruction’s Lost Generation - The Journal of the Civil War EraBenjamin Franklin Randolph was part of a generation that changed the nation’s political history. Born free and raised in Ohio, he attended Oberlin College and after graduating he served as a principal...
The Journal of the Civil War Era
@jcwe.bsky.social

In today's Muster, @richcondon.bsky.social explores the recent Netflix series Death by Lightning and its portrait of James Garfield as the last "Lincoln Republican" www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/12/deat...

journalofthecivilwarera.orgDeath by Lightning - An Ode to Service - The Journal of the Civil War EraIn his inaugural speech on March 4, 1881, newly elected President James Garfield emphasized the importance of ongoing Reconstruction, asserting that the “elevation of the negro race from slavery to th...

The Journal of the Civil War Era reposted

Richards Center Penn State
@richardscenter.bsky.social

Congrats to postdoc scholar Dr. Joshua Strayhorn on a great manuscript workshop on “Freedom’s Promise: Black Mobility, Migration, and Freedom Dreams in Eastern North Carolina, 1862-1898!” And many thanks to the invited scholars, Dr. Tera Hunter & Dr. Dylan Penningroth, for their valuable feedback.

The Journal of the Civil War Era
@jcwe.bsky.social

In today's Muster, Cassandra Jane Werking explores irregular warfare along the Canadian border and how this conflict challenges our current hemispheric story of the American Civil War www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/12/cana...

journalofthecivilwarera.orgCanada Caught in the Cross Fire: How U.S. Major General John Adams Dix Confronted Confederate Violence on the International Border - The Journal of the Civil War EraHundreds of miles from the cacophony of hissing Minié balls, rumbling artillery fire, and thumping drums that defined the acoustic environment of battlefields in established theaters of war, Major Gen...
The Journal of the Civil War Era
@jcwe.bsky.social

Congratulations to former Muster editor @hngreen.bsky.social for being included on this illustrious list!

UNC Press@uncpress.bsky.social

Brian Kwoba's HUBERT HARRISON is listed as a Best Black History Book of 2025 by AAIHS 👏 www.aaihs.org/the-best-bla...

aaihs.orgThe Best Black History Books of 2025 - AAIHSWe are pleased to release this year’s AAIHS list of the best books published in 2025! Check out this extraordinary list of great books from 2025 that offer varied historical perspectives on the Black ...

The Journal of the Civil War Era reposted

Tom “T.M.” Wolf
@tomtmwolf.bsky.social

For more on this historical context, see this amicus brief from @marthasjones.bsky.social and @katemasur.bsky.social www.brennancenter.org/media/14006/...

jamelle@jamellebouie.net

bad actors like wurman are why i think it is important to place the birthright clause in the full context of section 1 and section 1 in the context of both dred scott and the two decades of antislavery and abolitionist agitation and political thinking that proceeded it

The Journal of the Civil War Era reposted

Richards Center Penn State
@richardscenter.bsky.social

Richards Center CFA for the Mark & Ann Persun Visiting Scholars Program for tenured faculty in history at the rank of Associate Professor. For the 2026-27 academic year, the fellowship is open to scholars of the Civil War Era, broadly conceived, who study military or political history.

The Journal of the Civil War Era
@jcwe.bsky.social

In today's Muster, Amanda Laury Kleintop explores the hidden history of compensated emancipation in Maryland www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/12/comp...

journalofthecivilwarera.orgCompensated Emancipation in Maryland during the Civil War - The Journal of the Civil War EraHistorians have long marked President Abraham Lincoln’s January 1, 1863, Emancipation Proclamation as the harbinger of immediate, uncompensated emancipation in both the Confederacy and the Border Stat...
The Journal of the Civil War Era
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In today's Muster, JCWE Book Review Editor Megan Bever chats with J Matt Ward about his book Garden of Ruins (LSU Press, 2024) www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/11/jcwe...

journalofthecivilwarera.orgJCWE Conversation with J Matt Ward - The Journal of the Civil War EraIn today’s Muster, J Matt Ward, Assistant Professor of History at Quincy University, chats with JCWE Book Review Editor Megan Bever about his book, Garden of Ruins (LSU Press, 2024).
The Journal of the Civil War Era
@jcwe.bsky.social

In today's Muster, Clark North examines Stephen Douglas' role in shaping debates over citizenship and voting rights in antebellum Illinois www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/11/step...

journalofthecivilwarera.orgStephen Douglas’ Fictitious Case: Immigrant Voting in Antebellum Illinois - The Journal of the Civil War EraBoth sides agreed on the facts. Both sides, the Whigs and the Democrats,  agreed that on August 6, 1838, Jeremiah Kyle went to the window of a polling booth in Galena, Illinois. Both sides agreed that...