Kay Jorgensen

In 2016, Kay Jorgensen, longtime owner and editor of Civil War News, announced her retirement after nearly three decades as a leading voice in the Civil War history community. She sold the publication to Atlanta-based artillery expert Jack Melton, who also acquired its sister publication, The Artilleryman.

Although Civil War News would continue in its familiar format — a mix of current events, book reviews, event listings and other features appealing to a broad audience of history enthusiasts — Jorgensen's departure marked the end of an era.

“I wanted to retire because almost my whole adult life I have lived by deadlines,” Jorgensen explained.

The origins of Civil War News can be traced to suburban Philadelphia and Boston, where Kay and her late husband, Pete Jorgensen, respectively, grew up surrounded by historic sites that inspired their lifelong interest in history. The pair met as journalism graduate students at Boston University and married a year later.

After graduation, Kay worked as a daily newspaper reporter, college English instructor, newspaper advisor and summer weekly newspaper reporter. Pete worked as a weekly newspaper editor and corporate publications director. Together, they sought a newspaper they could purchase and operate.

In 1969, the Jorgensens acquired their first publication, a weekly newspaper in suburban Boston, which eventually grew into a chain of six newspapers. A decade later, inspired by Pete's enthusiasm for artillery, they founded The Artilleryman magazine.

After selling their weekly newspapers in 1986, they purchased the Civil War Book Exchange from founder Mike Cavanaugh. Recognizing an opportunity to combine their passion for history with their experience in journalism, the Jorgensens launched Civil War News in April 1989 as a current-events newspaper for people interested in the Civil War.

“We aimed from the beginning to have content that reflected the many interests in the Civil War community — ‘cross-fertilization,’ Pete called it — with special emphasis on books and historic preservation,” Jorgensen recalled. “We aimed at readers much like ourselves who cared about and read about history; visited sites; attended seminars, tours and events; collected; took part in living history; and otherwise followed their Civil War interests.”

The second issue of Civil War News featured stories and photographs from Jekyll Island, Georgia, where the film Glory was being produced and where the Jorgensens maintained a vacation home. The publication soon developed the recognizable format and familiar contributors that would make it an important resource for the Civil War community.

As the newspaper's reputation grew, journalists frequently turned to Jorgensen for perspective on the Civil War community, particularly the number of people involved in reenactments and living history.

“I didn’t have a good answer, but I would tell them there was a much larger community [than just soldiers],” Jorgensen recalled. “Living historians include people portraying civilians, slaves, contrabands, Sanitary and Christian Commissions, nurses, clergy and many other nonmilitary figures.”

Unlike publications increasingly dependent on online news gathering, Jorgensen relied heavily on contributions from readers and organizations across the country.

“Our briefs came from news releases and newsletters sent to Civil War News and from readers who forwarded clippings, news tips and news links from their areas,” she explained.

Following Pete Jorgensen's death in 2009, Kay continued editing and publishing the newspaper. During the Civil War sesquicentennial, Civil War News became an especially valuable resource, promoting anniversary events and sharing local stories from across the country.

Over nearly three decades, Jorgensen and her staff documented significant changes in the public's understanding of the Civil War. Greater attention to previously overlooked perspectives, including those of African Americans, women and civilians, helped broaden the historical narrative and deepen public engagement with the period.

The publication also chronicled advances in archaeological research and historic preservation. Its coverage included the discovery, recovery and conservation of the Confederate submarine H. L. Hunley, as well as the recovery of significant artifacts from the USS Monitor. Developments in forensic science and computer technology eventually allowed researchers to reconstruct the faces of sailors lost aboard the Monitor, bringing new dimensions to these historic discoveries.

From its earliest issues, battlefield preservation remained a central concern of Civil War News. The newspaper followed the growing recognition of threatened historic sites after the release of the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission report and documented the emergence of local preservation organizations across the country.

Through its reporting, readers could follow the evolution of the Trust from a small organization of preservation-minded historians into a national leader in battlefield protection, increasingly successful in securing federal and state funding to preserve historic landscapes.

Jorgensen chronicled numerous preservation battles, including opposition to Disney's proposed development near Manassas, efforts to prevent a Walmart development near the Wilderness Battlefield and the remarkable reclamation of historic land at Franklin, Tennessee.

She also documented the many controversies surrounding Gettysburg, including debates over the park's visitor center, removal of the National Tower, restoration of historic viewsheds, demolition of the original Cyclorama building and proposals for nearby casinos.

Throughout these changes, book reviews remained an essential feature of Civil War News, reflecting the Jorgensens' original commitment to historical scholarship. As new generations of historians continued to explore the Civil War, the number of books submitted for review grew substantially. In 2013 alone, the newspaper published a record 306 reviews, eventually moving some reviews online to accommodate the volume of new scholarship.

Jorgensen's nearly three decades at the helm of Civil War News helped connect historians, preservationists, reenactors and enthusiasts across the country. Her commitment to thoughtful journalism, historical scholarship and battlefield preservation made the publication an enduring voice in the Civil War community.

In 2016, the Trust recognized her contributions with the Edwin C. Bearss Lifetime Achievement Award. Her work helped elevate battlefield preservation as a national concern and ensured that the stories of threatened historic places reached audiences far beyond the battlefields themselves.