William McGovern has won the John T. Hubbell Prize for the best article published in Civil War History during 2019. His study, “`City of Refuge’: Child Refugees and Soldiers’ Orphans in Civil War St Louis,” appeared in the December 2019 issue of Civil War History. The prize recipient was selected by the journal’s editorial advisory board. The prize earns the recipient a $1,000 award from The Kent State University Press.

His article explores the efforts of voluntary organizations and the Union army to mitigate the hardships faced by displaced and orphaned children from throughout Missouri and the Mississippi Valley. During the Civil War, St. Louis served as a magnet for both white and black refugees, and children constituted a significant portion of the overall displaced population. Believing refugees and orphans to be especially vulnerable, city charities, aid organizations, and the army provided care and assistance, but racism and sectional animosity often fueled suspicion of many migrant children. Philanthropic and military leaders, as McGovern maintains, argued that the orphaned children of fallen Union soldiers deserved special attention.

Now in its 66th year of publication, Civil War History is published quarterly by The Kent State University Press. Edited by Brian Craig Miller (Mission College) and Associate Editor Frank Towers (University of Calgary), it is the premier journal in the study of the American Civil War.

William McGovern is Assistant Professor of Global Studies at Akita International University in Japan. He earned his Ph.D. in History from the University of California, San Diego in 2016.

Awarded annually by The Kent State University Press, the John T. Hubbell Prize recognizes the extraordinary contribution to the field of its namesake, who served as editor of Civil War History for thirty-five years.