PRESENTED TO THE
AFRICAN AMERICAN CIVIL WAR MUSEUM
AND TO
MS. WENDY SWANSON
The CWRTDC presented its expanded Ed Bearss Awards on Wednesday, June 15th. More details are posted HERE (https://cwrtdc-
Carl Adams's presentation "March to Juneteenth" followed the ceremony, and is available HERE (_________).
Edwin Cole Bearss spent more than seven decades crusading for historic preservation, expanding interest and education in history, and leading countless tours of battlefields and other sites, particularly for the Smithsonian Associates. He was the author of more than two dozen books and served as a consultant on numerous films and documentaries, including Ken Burns’ The Civil War, in which Ed appeared.
Born in Billings, Montana in 1923, Ed graduated from high school in 1941 and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. He was severely wounded in a South Pacific battle in 1944 and spent over two years in hospital recovery. After the war, Ed received degrees in foreign service from Georgetown University and in history from Indiana University. In 1955, he joined the U.S. National Park Service, where his research led to the discovery of the Union gunboat USS Cairo at the bottom of the Yazoo River and which is now on display at the Vicksburg National Military Park.
Ed also served as the Chief Historian of the NPS from 1981 to 1994 and was later named Historian Emeritus. In retirement, while leading tours with his signature swagger stick, Ed was often flocked by attendees and NPS Rangers eager to meet and hear from the legend. Because of his personal wartime experience, he was uniquely able to communicate the horror and confusion of combat during the Civil War. Ed had an encyclopedic memory and could recount every detail of Civil War history, and he emphasized the benefit of having "boots on the ground" at a battlefield. Ed selflessly and tirelessly devoted himself to a mission to foster interest in history, and he generously succeeded in that effort. Ed passed away in 2020 at the age of 97, and he is dearly missed by those who knew him.
Edwin C. Bearss Preservation Award: The CWRTDC is proud to announce that the recipient of the Preservation Award is the African American Civil War Museum (https://www.
Edwin C. Bearss Legacy Award: The Board also approved the creation of an annual Legacy Award, which is non-monetary, to be given to persons who exemplify and emulate Ed’s mission through their own efforts to preserve U.S. Civil War historic sites, landmarks, and education. The CWRTDC is pleased to announce that the recipient of the Legacy Award is Ms. Wendy Swanson of Falls Church, VA. Among only one of Ms. Swanson’s many contributions to Civil War-related preservation was to host annual parties to celebrate Ed’s birthday as an opportunity to solicit donations for the preservation or interpretation of the historic sites Ed selected. Over the years, her efforts (and those of the “Bearss Brigade”) collected over $250,000 to support such activities.
The ceremony will be followed by a presentation from CWRTDC member Carl Adams entitled March to Juneteenth, which will cover his in-depth research into the more than 20,000 United States Colored Troops from regiments comprised of men from all over the country who were sent to Texas at the close of the War to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation. Mr. Adams’ research helped support the bi-partisan recognition of the event as a Federal holiday.
