Guelzo is the only two-time winner of the Lincoln Prize, an award funded by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and administered jointly with the Lincoln and Soldiers Institute at Gettysburg College. In 2000, he won for his book, Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President, and in 2005, he won for Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation: The End of Slavery in America. The Lincoln Prize, awarded since 1991, has been given to historians including, Ira Berlin, David W. Blight, Ken Burns and James McPherson.

The Gilder Lehrman American History and Law Institute at Spanish River High School was created in the fall of 2005 and has an enrollment of 90 students. It is the first Gilder Lehrman history program in Florida.

The Gilder Lehrman Institute sponsors 31 history schools and 14 Saturday academies nationwide. Gilder Lehrman history schools are rigorous, college-preparatory schools centered on American history. They have a track record of raising test scores and sending more than 90 percent of graduating seniors to college. At the core of these schools is a four-year sequence of courses in American history. In many of these schools, the entire student body participates in the Gilder Lehrman program. In other schools, including Spanish River High School, a select portion of the student body participates. Spanish River High School also has a Saturday academy. Saturday academies offer students free elective courses on Saturday mornings.