Announcing the 2025 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize Finalists

New York, NY, February 3, 2025—The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History is pleased to announce the finalists for the 2025 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize:

  • Robert K. D. Colby, An Unholy Traffic: Slave Trading in the Civil War South (Oxford University Press)

  • Edda L. Fields-Black, Combee: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom During the Civil War (Oxford University Press)

  • Lesley J. Gordon, Dread Danger: Cowardice and Combat in the American Civil War (Cambridge University Press)

  • Jon Grinspan, Wide Awake: The Forgotten Force That Elected Lincoln and Spurred the Civil War (Bloomsbury Publishing)

  • Allen C. Guelzo, Our Ancient Faith: Lincoln, Democracy, and the American Experiment (Knopf)

  • Nigel Hamilton, Lincoln vs. Davis: The War of the Presidents (Little, Brown and Company)

These finalists were recommended to the board from 71 book submissions reviewed by a three-person jury: Michael Burlingame, Chancellor Naomi B. Lynn Distinguished Chair in Lincoln Studies at the University of Illinois Springfield; Martha Hodes, Professor of History at New York University; and John Rodrigue, Lawrence and Theresa Salameno Professor of History at Stonehill College.

James G. Basker, President and CEO of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, observed, “The six finalists for the 2025 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize examine the Civil War from new angles of vision, exploring the roles of enslaved people seeking freedom, the experiences of soldiers on the battlefield, and the efforts of Abraham Lincoln and his supporters to preserve the American republic. In its landmark thirty-fifth year, the Lincoln Prize continues to honor books that are feats of historical writing, inquiry, and research.”

The winner of the 2025 prize will be announced in early March. All of the finalists will be invited to an event on Tuesday, April 8 hosted at the Harvard Club in New York City, where the winner will be recognized and awarded a $50,000 prize and a bronze replica of Augustus Saint-Gaudens’s life-size bust Lincoln the Man.

About the Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize 
The Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize is awarded annually to a work that enhances the general public’s understanding of Abraham Lincoln, the American Civil War soldier, or the American Civil War era. The $50,000 prize was established in 1990 by businessmen and philanthropists Lewis E. Lehrman and the late Richard Gilder, in partnership with Gettysburg College and Professor Gabor Boritt, Director Emeritus of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College.

About the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Founded in 1994, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History is the nation’s leading K–12 American history organization. The Institute’s mission is to promote the knowledge and understanding of American history through educational programs and interactive resources for teachers, students, and the general public. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History is supported through the generosity of individuals, corporations, and foundations. The Institute’s programs have been recognized by awards from the White House, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Historical Association, the Council of Independent Colleges, the Daughters of the American Revolution, and the Organization of American Historians.

PRESS CONTACT 
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landon@gilderlehrman.org 
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