JAMES HARROD TRUST

Press release

On May 15, the James Harrod Trust, a Harrodsburg-based historic preservation organization, awarded their Clay Lancaster Award for Historical Research and Writing to Stuart W. Sanders, a Danville author.

Sanders is the former executive director of the Perryville Battlefield Preservation Association and much of his work has focused on Kentucky Civil War history. He is the author of three books, including “Perryville Under Fire: The Aftermath of Kentucky’s Largest Civil War Battle,” “The Battle of Mill Springs, Kentucky,” and “Maney’s Confederate Brigade at the Battle of Perryville.”

In a review of “Perryville Under Fire,” Civil War historian Ethan Rafuse wrote that Sanders “has clearly spent great time and effort researching and thinking about this subject. Drawing on an impressive range of resources, he provides a vivid account of the havoc that followed the October 1862 battle.”

Sanders has also contributed essays to the books “Kentuckians in Gray: Confederate Generals and Field Officers of the Bluegrass State” (published by the University Press of Kentucky), multiple volumes of “Confederate Generals in the Western Theater” and several volumes of “Confederate Generals in the Trans-Mississippi”(published by the University of Tennessee Press).

He is also the author of the e-book “Lincoln’s Confederate Little Sister: Emilie Todd Helm,” which looks at the compelling life of Mary Todd Lincoln’s sister, a Lexington native who was married to rebel General Ben Hardin Helm.

Another essay that Sanders has written, “A Lost Cause in the Bluegrass: Two Confederate Monuments in Lexington, Kentucky,” will appear later this year in the collection “Controversial Monuments and Memorials: A Guide for Community Leaders.”

Sanders has also written numerous articles, essays, and book reviews about Kentucky history for multiple magazines, journals and newspapers.

He currently serves as the history advocate for the Kentucky Historical Society, where he works to communicate the value and relevance of history to the public. As part of this work, he has written guest columns and op-ed pieces that have appeared in more than forty newspapers across the state.

Sanders, a Centre College graduate, recently spoke as the college’s Founders Day lecturer. He spoke about the school’s history as Centre’s bicentennial approaches in 2019.