Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize

The Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize is awarded annually for the finest scholarly work in English on Abraham Lincoln, the American Civil War soldier, or a subject relating to their era.

The $50,000 prize was co-founded and endowed by businessmen and philanthropists Lewis Lehrman and the late Richard Gilder, principals of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History in New York and co-creators of the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the largest private archives of documents and artifacts in the nation.

Gilder and Lehrman established the Lincoln Prize in 1990, together with Prof. Gabor Boritt, Director Emeritus of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College. Since founding the Prize in 1990, Gilder and Lehrman have bestowed more than $1 million on the annual winners, including special prizes.

The 2022 recipient of the Lincoln Prize is Caroline E. Janney, author of “Ends of War: The Unfinished Fight of Lee’s Army after Appomattox.”

News

Jon Meacham, Jonathan W. White named winners of Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize

The bronze replica of Augustus Saint-Gaudens’s life-sized bust

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and Gettysburg College announced that Jon Meacham, author of “And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle” (Random House), and Jonathan W. White, author of “A House Built by Slaves: African American Visitors to the Lincoln White House” (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers), are joint recipients of the 2023 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize.

March 8, 2023

Caroline E. Janney wins 2022 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize

Caroline posing for a picture

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and Gettysburg College announced on February 15 that Caroline E. Janney, author of “Ends of War: The Unfinished Fight of Lee’s Army after Appomattox” (The University of North Carolina Press), is the recipient of the 2022 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize.

February 15, 2022

David S. Reynolds wins 2021 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize

Headshot of David S. Reynolds

Gettysburg College and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History have named David S. Reynolds, author of Abe: Abraham Lincoln in His Times (Penguin Press) as the recipient of the 2021 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize.

February 12, 2021

2021 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize finalists announced

Photo of a bust of Abraham Lincoln

Gettysburg College and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History have announced the finalists for the 2021 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize.

January 26, 2021

2020 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize recipient announced

Headshot of Elizabeth Varon

Gettysburg College and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History announced today that Elizabeth R. Varon, author of Armies of Deliverance: A New History of the Civil War (Oxford University Press), is the recipient of the 2020 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize. Varon is on the Executive Council of the John L. Nau III Center for Civil War History and Langbourne M. Williams Professor of American History at the University of Virginia.

February 12, 2020

 

Remembering the life and legacy of Richard Gilder, Jr.

Visionary Gettysburgian and 1997 Gettysburg College honorary degree recipient, Richard Gilder, Jr., passed away on Tuesday, May 12, 2020 at the age of 87.

Gilder was a business leader and philanthropist who was passionate about preserving history and educating younger generations.

Read more about Richard Gilder, Jr.