Year in Review 2015: #10

One of our traditions here at Emerging Civil War is to take some time at year’s end to look back at the most-read posts of the year. Between now and the New Year, we’ll count down our top ten posts.

This isn’t especially scientific, of course. We don’t crunch numbers and adjust for variables. Posts that go up later in the year end up at a numerical disadvantage because they just don’t have the time to accumulate views the way posts do from earlier in the year. That said, it’s still fun to look back at some of the great work our authors have done this year.

Coming in at number ten…

is a post from Chris Mackowski that dates to May 15, 2015. Days earlier, Chris had worked at the Stonewall Jackson Shrine on the anniversary of Jackson’s death, and during the course of the day, Chris had an interaction with a visitor that put his role as an interpreter and his role as steward into conflict.

Looking back, the encounter foreshadowed the discussions about Confederate heritage that erupted nationwide the following month following the church shooting in Charleston, SC. In the wake of that tragedy, America discussed race and racism more vigorously than it had since the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. Intimately tied to that debate were issues related to Confederate heritage and memory.

Our tenth-most-read post of 2015: “Interpretations vs. Stewardship: A Conundrum at the Jackson Shrine” by Chris Mackowski.