Ed and Sue Curtis of Salisbury received awards Saturday at the N.C. Society of Historians Awards Program, held at the Hilton Garden Inn in Mooresville.
The NCSH was created in 1941 for the purpose of collecting, preserving and perpetuating history about the state. Awards were presented by President Elizabeth Bray Sherrill for sharing the history of people, places and events.
The Curtises have worked since 1998 to locate and share a true history about the Confederate military prison located in Salisbury and the thousands ordered to serve as guards or sent to Salisbury as prisoners.
Ed Curtis received a Joe M. McLaurin Newsletter Award for his work as editor of the Salisbury Confederate Prison Association Inc. publication, The Prison Exchange.
The quarterly newsletter for the 2012-2013 SCPA year was printed in Salisbury and mailed to more than 200 members in 28 states, District of Columbia, Canada and Singapore, as well as to a number of museums and libraries.
Each eight-page newsletter was filled with material by the editor and president, plus donations of information from many members of the SCPA Inc. Included were transcriptions of official documents mentioning the prison or someone who was there, images, a period calendar, book lists and military and genealogical material on both prisoners and guards.
Announcements were printed on articles, books and talks by members and SCPA activities such as the December 2012 Prison display at the library, donations to the Hefner VA Medical Center, wreaths placed for Union and Confederate soldiers and a table on East Bank Street with information on the prison during Historic Salisbury’s OctoberTour.
Sue Curtis received a Paul Green Multimedia Award as chairman of the 16th Annual Salisbury Confederate Prison Symposium, which had attendees from Canada, Massachusetts, Virginia, New York, West Virginia, Georgia, Michigan, South Carolina, Ohio. Indiana, and various cities in North Carolina.
The April 5-7 symposium, hosted by the Robert F. Hoke Chapter No. 78 of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, brought visitors and descendants together to learn more about the military prison established in North Carolina by the Confederate Government.
The judges used descriptions of the symposium from publications and reviewed the symposium’s keepsake program booklet and place mat containing images and information.
The symposium was presented the Multimedia Award due to its exceptional and varied offerings. The Symposium included a banquet and lecture by an author on Friday; displays; six lectures on Saturday at Catawba College by descendants, authors, historians and a physician; two public memorial services on Sunday morning for Confederate soldiers and Union prisoners with flags, speakers, music and re-enactors in blue and gray; and a tour of the prison site for registered guests on Sunday afternoon.