Emanuel “Tersh” Boasberg III

Since the first years of the modern Civil War battlefield preservation movement, Emanuel “Tersh” Boasberg III has been a tireless advocate for saving hallowed ground. Drawing on his legal expertise and commitment to historic preservation, he played a key role in protecting threatened battlefield landscapes and his efforts helped shape the preservation movement, demonstrating the importance of legal advocacy in safeguarding America's historic places.

A Harvard Law School graduate and Washington, D.C., lawyer specializing in preservation and land-use issues, Boasberg provided the legal muscle for the Save the Battlefield Coalition, Annie Snyder's grassroots organization that defeated plans for a mall on the Manassas battlefield.

He helped establish the Brandy Station Foundation and worked closely with preservationist and fellow Edwin C. Bearss Lifetime Achievement Award honoree Clark B. Hall to defeat plans for a racetrack and a massive residential and industrial development on the Brandy Station Battlefield.

His call for a study of the state of battlefield preservation, published in The Washington Post in 1992, helped lead to the establishment of the congressional Civil War Sites Advisory Commission. 

From 2000 to 2011, Boasberg chaired the District of Columbia's Historic Preservation Review Board.