Civil War Trails receives public history award from Emerging Civil War

Chris Mackowski, Drew Gruber, Richard Lewis of Civil War Trails

The head of Civil War Trails credits community partners for the organization’s recent recognition for promoting history through hundreds of roadside markers.

Emerging Civil War, a collaboration of 30 historians, bestowed its 2023 Award for Service in Civil War Public History to CWT at its annual meeting in Spotsylvania County, Va.

“It’s never about me, but about our partners who make this program tick,” CWT executive director Drew Gruber told the Civil War Picket in an email.

Based in Williamsburg, Va., Civil War Trails is considered the world’s largest “open air museum,” with signs and markers at about 1,400 sites across six states: Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

“This award recognizes the work of thousands of community leaders, archivists, and local historians who have proposed and researched their local stories which manifest as a Civil War Trails site,” Gruber said in a news release about the award. All signs are generated at the grass-roots level, he said.

Print and digital brochures help travelers find their way, Gruber said. “And when they arrive, they'll find a Civil War Trails sign that will fuel their imagination as they picture the historic events swirling around them.” (At left: Sign in Korean, Spanish in Chantilly, Va.)

The award recognizes the work of an individual or organization that has made a significant impact on the field of public history in a way that better helps the general public connect with America’s defining event, according to ECW.

Chris Mackowski, ECW editor-in-chief, said CWT’s red bugle logo signals a worthwhile roadside stop.

“Civil War Trails has made Civil War history accessible and immediate to travelers, who can explore the story of the war at their own pace and according to their own interest while enjoying plenty of surprises along the way,” Mackowski said in the release. “It’s a wonderful way to encourage people to engage with history in a way that’s meaningful to them.”

The editor touted CWT’s relationships with tourism agencies and businesses.

Past recipients of the award include American Battlefield Trust; historian and author Gary Gallagher; Dave Ruth, former superintendent at Richmond National Battlefield; and the late D. P. Newton, founder of the White Oak Civil War Museum.