Mike Crane

A University of Arkansas – Fort Smith professor was recently recognized by the Kentucky Historical Society for a scholarly article he authored.

 

Dr. Mike Crane, assistant professor of history, earned the Richard H. Collins Award from the society. The recognition honors an article published in The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society judged to have made the most outstanding contribution to Kentucky history that year.

 

Crane won for his article “The Demise of Slavery on the Border: Federal Policy and the Union Army in Henderson, Kentucky.” The piece examines the disintegration of slavery in a Kentucky county during the Civil War, where the Union army actively recruited slaves, a microcosm of a national trend as Union forces marched through slave areas after Lincoln’s issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation.

 

Crane said he was honored to receive the award.

 

“It is wonderful for my work be judged by my peers as being worth such a prestigious award in Kentucky history,” he said. “The editors at the Register of the Kentucky Historical Society do an excellent job producing an outstanding journal.”

 

Crane has extensively published research on Southern historical topics, specifically in Civil War-related areas. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University, a master’s degree from Purdue University, and a doctorate from Vanderbilt University. He came to UAFS in 2011 after teaching at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

 

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