ECW Honors the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable with 2026 Award

Emerging Civil War has selected the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable as the recipient of its 2026 Civil War Round Table of the Year Award. The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable is based in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Emerging Civil War Round table of the Year Award recognizes Civil War Round Tables for their efforts in the previous calendar year in engaging with both the Civil War community and the public at large.

At first glance the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable seems like most other groups sprawled across the United Sates. Their monthly meetings include a speaker, dinner, trivia, and a raffle. The group does significantly more beyond its monthly meetings, however. They hold supplemental gatherings including a holiday party and their Annual Dick Crews Memorial Debate, where members debate one another on a chose topic (the 2025 topic was which Civil War personality you would want to have dinner with). Members do not merely attend meetings. They are forming their own community.

Founded in 1956, the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable has been around for some time. In February 2025, the organization celebrated its 600th regular meeting. While many round tables are shrinking in size, the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable has been expanding. They have catalogued a growth of approximately 25% each year in membership size with regular meetings averaging between 70 and 120 participants.

Instead of stagnating however, Cleveland’s round table has been an instrument of community connectedness. The organization completes annual field trips to battle sites. In 2025, the organization hosted the Ulysses Grant Cleveland Campaign, sponsoring a week of interactions between living historian Curt Fields and local historical groups, schools, and media outlets. Cleveland’s round table also interfaces with local National History Day competitions and sponsored their own local award for students writing about the Civil War. For the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable, the organization goes beyond internal meetings to gain knowledge, prioritizing expanded knowledge of the Civil War era across the city.

The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable has demonstrated that round tables can flourish today through a combination of purposeful meetings, community interaction, and clear vision. Emerging Civil War is proud to honor the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable with its 2026 Civil War Round Table of the Year Award.

About Emerging Civil War

Emerging Civil War is the collaborative effort of more than thirty five 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.