The Best of 2011 (Kris White)
Next up, we hear from ECW co-founder Kris White on his favorite Civil War memories from 2011:
2011 marked the year that I stepped back into the Civil War community after a lengthy hiatus. The year has been busy and though I will not mark all of the highlights, I will briefly discuss four I have thoroughly enjoyed.
The year brought a feature article for Chris Mackowski and me in Blue and Gray Magazine. Chris and I are proud to team with Editor Dave Roth, who runs a great publication. I can’t say enough about Dave and how great a person/editor he is.
In May, I was able to relive one of my favorite memories as an historian. I assisted my close friend and colleague Jake Struhelka with the annual illumination of the Fredericksburg National Cemetery. This event is awe inspiring, and in a former life I was one of the event coordinators. It was great to get back to the park where I spent many years and made many friendships.
Late August brought the launch of Emerging Civil War. This project has been the most fulfilling of my career. It has been great reconnecting with friends and colleagues that I haven’t seen in years, and great helping to give a voice to up and coming historians. The site has introduced me and the world to some outstanding authors. I am very proud of the content the site has produced, and I am very determined to keep the site and list of authors expanding through 2012.
Recently I have been working on a passion project that I took up in 2006. The project has been to put together a readable campaign study of the Battles of 2nd Fredericksburg and Salem Church. After five years, the project is finally entering the late stages of the writing process. Once completed, it will be one the last major “to-do’s” of my career taken care of.
All in all, 2011 was a great year, and 2012 is shaping up to be the same.