Welcome
The Society of Civil War Historians (SCWH) is an association of scholars dedicated to exploring slavery, the sectional crisis, Civil War, emancipation, and reconstruction roughly from the 1830s through 1880. The society also looks at the legacies of the conflict that continue to have an impact on society today. SCWH’s mission is to encourage scholarly activity and academic exchange among historians, graduate students, and professionals who interpret history in museums, national parks, archives, and other public facilities. SCWH’s goal is to bring greater coherence to the historical field by encouraging the integration of social, military, political, and other forms of history and generally to promote the study of the Civil War era.
News
Society of Civil War Historians Biennial Conference to be held June 14-16, 2012, at the Hyatt Regency, Lexington, Kentucy. (program)
Tom Watson Brown Book Prize
Mark W. Geiger wins Tom Watson Brown Book Prize
The Society of Civil War Historians announced that Mark W. Geiger, a Kluge Fellow at the John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., was the recipient of the Society’s $50,000 book prize. The prize, funded by The Watson-Brown Foundation, was awarded for Geiger’s 2010 book, Financial Fraud and Guerrilla Violence in Missouri’s Civil War, 1861-1865 (Yale University Press, 2010). Using obscure county court records, Geiger uncovered an audacious financial fraud by secessionist planters and Missouri bankers to funnel bank funds illegally to the rebel Missouri State Guard. The scheme bankrupted much of the state’s planter elite, leaving a leadership void that only intensified Missouri’s guerrilla violence during the war.
Tad Brown, President of the Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc., presented the book prize at a dinner held in Dr. Geiger's honor during the Southern Historical Association Meeting in Baltimore, MD on October 28, 2011.
Stephen V. Ash, Professor of History at The University of Tennessee, chaired the prize jury. The jury consisted of Ash, Carol Reardon, the George Winfree Professor of American History at The Pennsylvania State University, and Stephen Berry, Associate Professor of History at The University of Georgia. Tad Brown, President of the Watson-Brown Foundation, served as a non-voting member of the jury.
The Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc., through creativity, diligence and financial support, labors to improve education in the American South by funding its schools and students, preserving its history, encouraging responsible scholarship, and promoting the memory and values of our spiritual founders. More information about the Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc. can be found on their website.
