Birthright Citizenship and Allegiance - The Journal of the Civil War Era Birthright 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...

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

Don't delay -- application materials should be sent to RichardsCenter@psu.edu by TOMORROW, April 15!

The @richardscenter.bsky.social and @jcwe.bsky.social
announce a journal article workshop for advanced graduate students, recent PhDs, assistant professors, and independent scholars.

“I Was Detected by My Laugh”: The Brief Military Career of Margaret Cathrine Murphy - The Journal of the Civil War Era CW: 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...

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...

NU professor Kate Masur on U.S. Supreme Court taking up birthright citizenship The 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 ...

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

Opinion | Trump Says Birthright Citizenship Was for ‘the Babies of Slaves.’ He’s Wrong.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear arguments about birthright citizenship. Here, for the NYTimes and with Kate Masur, I offer a view of what those of you who think historically should be listening for. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/30/o...

Why is protecting a universal birthright citizenship principle so critical?

Historians @marthasjones.bsky.social and @katemasur.bsky.social shed light on one answer with the words of Abraham Lincoln:

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.

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...

On this #MSWL day I’m looking for serious nonfiction on the American Civil War era by writers doing meaningful research and translating their findings for a broad public - military history, social and political history, major figure biography. For @uncpress.bsky.social Civil War America series.

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 Unspendable Pension of Henrietta Emory Meads - The Journal of the Civil War Era Sometime 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...

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-...

The SCWH Grad Student Connections Comm is pleased to announce a discussion with @jcwe.bsky.social co-editor @gregdowns.bsky.social. Dr. Downs will discuss publishing your article with the JCWE, article publishing tips, and take questions: us06web.zoom.us/j/8857214479...

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

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise cloud communications.

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...

The SCWH Grad Student Connections Comm is pleased to announce a discussion with @jcwe.bsky.social co-Editor Dr. Greg Downs. @gregdowns.bsky.social will discuss publishing your article with the JCWE, article publishing tips, and take questions from you. Zoom Link: us06web.zoom.us/j/8857214479...

Don't Delay -- Apply TODAY for one of the 2026-2027 Predoctoral Fellowships!

Deadline for submitting application packet is March 1, 2026!

Please help share this amazing opportunity to be a part of the Richards Center Community!!

richardscenter.la.psu.edu/fellowships/...

A Tentative Start: Animal Rights in Florida During Reconstruction - The Journal of the Civil War Era Shortly 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...

In today's Muster, Karl Miller examines the Reconstruction-era roots of the Animal Rights Movement www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2026/02/a-te...

Henry 'Box Brown: Tobacco Worker, Stage Magician, Tourist Attraction - The Journal of the Civil War Era Henry ‘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...

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...

We are excited to welcome these new members to the board! And deeply thankful for the service of our past board members 🙏

Muster Call for Graduate Student Submissions - The Journal of the Civil War Era The Society of Civil War Historians’ Graduate Student Connection Committee, together with Muster, the blog of The Journal of the Civil War Era, is calling for submissions from graduate students. Muste...

In today's Muster, we are announcing a call for gradate student submissions www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2026/01/must...

Civil War historians! If you published your first book in 2025 on a topic related to the Civil War (broadly construed), please consider submitting it for the Center for Civil War Research's Wiley-Silver Prize! The deadline is Friday, February 20.
olemiss.edu/civil-war-re...

Jan. 6 and the Long Shadow of Civil War- and Reconstruction-Era Political Violence Two days after the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, we...

ICYMI @jcwe.bsky.social editors @katemasur.bsky.social and Gregory Downs discuss January 6 and the legacy of Civil War-era violence with @talkingpointsmemo.com talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/jan-6-a...

Remembering Reconstruction’s Lost Generation - The Journal of the Civil War Era Benjamin 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...

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

Death by Lightning - An Ode to Service - The Journal of the Civil War Era In 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...

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...

Dylan Penningroth, Joshua Strayhorn, Tera Hunter

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.

Canada 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 Era Hundreds 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...

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...

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

For more on this historical context, see this amicus brief from @marthasjones.bsky.social and @katemasur.bsky.social

www.brennancenter.org/media/14006/...

Previewing the December 2025 JCWE - The Journal of the Civil War Era With this issue of the journal, we complete six years as coeditors and feel inspired by the work of so many of our professional colleagues who keep scholarly journals functioning and humbled by Bill B...

In today's Muster, Kate Masur and Gregory Downs preview the December issue of the journal www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/12/prev...

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.