When Deborah Liles ('13 Ph.D.), lecturer in history, was writing a paper for a graduate class at UNT, she discovered there were no books about Texas women's activities during the Civil War. That inspired her to edit Women in Civil War Texas: Diversity and Dissidence in the Trans-Mississippi (UNT Press).

The essays include topics such as Texas women's support of secession and the effects of ethnicity on their experiences. Beverly Rowe ('99 Ph.D.) and Linda S. Hudson ('99 Ph.D.) are among the contributors.

The book won the Ottis Lock Award for the Best Book on East Texas History from the East Texas Historical Association in 2017 and the Liz Carpenter Award for Best Book on the History of Women for 2016.