ECW Honors Childress Agency with Stevenson Award

Emerging Civil War (ECW) has selected Childress Agency as the recipient of this year’s Brig. Gen. Thomas Greely Stevenson Award. The Stevenson Award is presented to an individual or organization in recognition of outstanding service to ECW.

Childress Agency is a top-rated digital marketing agency located in the Washington, D.C., metro area. With more than 800 clients, Childress Agency has been ranked among the best web development companies and social media marketing agencies in the Greater Washington area by Expertise.com.

Throughout 2022, Childress Agency worked with ECW on a complete website redesign, which was launched in December.

“ECW is a digital-based entity, so overhauling our entire site was not without risks,” pointed out ECW Editor-in-Chief Chris Mackowski. “The entire effort proved to be a massive undertaking. Childress Agency worked closely with us every step of the way, from helping us refine a vision for our final product to migrating more than a decade’s worth of content to fixing little bugs and gremlins that popped up as we familiarized ourselves with the new site. They were responsive, encouraging, and professional all the way.”

Ata Birol, Childress Agency’s vice president of digital, served as point person for the agency’s work on the project. “We greatly value the strong and productive relationship we’ve cultivated with ECW over the years,” he said. “The successful launch of ECW’s new website was a collaborative effort, and we are thrilled that it has had a positive impact on ECW’s endeavors. It is truly an honor to be recognized for our contributions to ECW’s success.”

Childress Agency is helmed by Gerald Childress, president and chief executive officer. The agency focuses its work on “the impacts of integrity, resourcefulness, transparency, and intellectual curiosity that elevate client relationships into long-term partnerships.”

“We have been working with Childress Agency for years,” says ECW Managing Editor Sarah Kay Bierle, who serves as ECW’s point person with Childress and led the website transition. “We chose them because we wanted someone local who could be responsive to our needs—we’re historians, not techies! They were wonderful, and it’s been nice to see them grow into an industry leader even as we’ve grown, too.”

Birol says the relationship is exactly the kind of long-term partnership Childress Agency hopes to cultivate with its clients. “This recognition motivates us to continue striving for excellence and to contribute to ECW’s ongoing success,” he added. “We are truly proud to be a part of ECW’s journey.”

The Stevenson Award is named after Brig. Gen. Thomas Greely Stevenson, a Union division commander killed at the 1864 Civil War battle of Spotsylvania Court House. ECW holds its annual symposium at Stevenson Ridge, a historic property on the battlefield adjacent to the area where Stevenson was killed.

Past recipients of the Stevenson Award include cartographer Edward Alexander of Make Me a Map, LLC; Sarah Keeney of Savas Beatie, LLC; Jack Melton of Civil War News; C-SPAN; historian Gregory A. Mertz; Sylvia Frank Rodrigue of Southern Illinois University Press; and publisher Ted Savas.

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About Emerging Civil War

Emerging Civil War is the collaborative effort of more than thirty historians committed to sharing the story of the Civil War in an accessible way to the general public. Founded in 2011 by Chris Mackowski, Jake Struhelka, and Kristopher D. White, Emerging Civil War features public and academic historians of diverse backgrounds and interests, while also providing a platform for emerging voices in the field. Initiatives include the award-winning Emerging Civil War Series of books published by Savas Beatie, LLC; an annual symposium; a speakers’ bureau; and a daily blog: www.emergingcivilwar.com.

Emerging Civil War is recognized by the I.R.S. as a 501(c)3 not-for-profit corporation.