Announcing the 2018 Lincoln Prize Finalists

Gettysburg College and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History have announced the finalists for the 2018 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize.

• Edward L. Ayers, The Thin Light of Freedom: The Civil War and Emancipation in the Heart of America (W.W. Norton and Company)
• Ron Chernow, Grant (Penguin Press)
• Gordon C. Rhea, On to Petersburg: Grant and Lee, June 4–14, 1864 (LSU Press)
• Tera W. Hunter, Bound in Wedlock: Slave and Free Black Marriage in the Nineteenth Century (Harvard University Press)
• Cate Lineberry, Be Free or Die: The Amazing Story of Robert Smalls’ Escape from Slavery to Union Hero (St. Martin’s Press)
• Graham A. Peck, Making an Antislavery Nation: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Battle over Freedom (University of Illinois Press)
• Adam I. P. Smith, The Stormy Present: Conservatism and the Problem of Slavery in Northern Politics: 1846–1865 (University of North Carolina Press)

These finalists were recommended to the board from 113 book submissions reviewed by a three-person jury: James Oakes, Distinguished Professor of History and Graduate School Humanities Professor at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York; Elizabeth Varon, Langbourne M. Williams Professor of American History at the University of Virginia; and Peter Cozzens, a prize-winning historian and former foreign service officer.

“We are pleased to see these books—the seven best works of the year on the Civil War period—chosen as finalists for the Lincoln Prize,” said Jim Basker, President of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. “The prize is in its 28th year and any of these outstanding books would make a worthy addition to our distinguished list of past Lincoln laureates.”

The winner of the 2018 prize will be announced on Monday, February 12—the 209th anniversary of the famed president’s birthday. All of the finalists will be invited to an event in April hosted at the Union League Club in New York City, where the winner will be recognized and awarded a $50,000 prize and a bronze replica of Augustus Saint-Gauden’s life-sized bust Lincoln the Man.

The prize has been awarded annually to a work that enhances the general public’s understanding of the Civil War era. It was co-founded in 1990 by businessmen and philanthropists Richard Gilder and Lewis Lehrman, co-chairmen of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History in New York and co-creators of the Gilder Lehrman Collection.

About the Gilder Lehrman Institute
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, and the Organization of American Historians.

About Gettysburg College
Founded in 1832, Gettysburg College is a highly selective four-year residential college of liberal arts and sciences with a strong academic tradition. Alumni include Rhodes Scholars, a Nobel laureate, and other distinguished scholars. The college enrolls 2,600 undergraduate students and is located on a 200-acre campus adjacent to the Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania.