Initiatives

lehrman institute

The Lehrman Institute is dedicated to public policy, educational and historical research. It was founded in 1972 by Lewis Lehrman. The Lehrman Institute has sponsored a wide range of research and discussion in the fields of economics, historical research, foreign policy and urban policy. Its major concentration is currently the improvement of education at the elementary, secondary and college levels.

Lewis E. Lehrman, Chairman of the Executive Committee
Frank P. Trotta, Jr., President

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AbrahamLincoln.org researches and promotes the study of the life of America’s 16th President and the impact he had on the preservation of the Union, the emancipation of black slaves, and the development of democratic principles which have found worldwide application. It maintains six websites on Mr. Lincoln’s life and work:

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Gilder Lehrman Collection

The Gilder Lehrman Collection, exceeding 60,000 items, documents the political and social history of the United States. Consisting of letters and diaries, maps, pamphlets, sketchbooks, printed books, photographs and other materials, the collection is particularly rich in the revolutionary, early national, antebellum and Civil War periods. The collection contains important letters by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, and other prominent figures that vividly record the issues and events of their day. The collection also includes the diaries of numerous Civil War soldiers, correspondence of such notable women as Mercy Otis Warren and Catherine Macaulay, and materials that trace the history of slavery and abolition. For more information about the Gilder Lehrman Collection, contact the Collection’s curator, Sandra Trenholm.

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Lincoln Soldiers

The purpose of the Lincoln and Soldiers Institute and the Lincoln Prize is to encourage the study of Abraham Lincoln, the American Civil War soldier and subjects relating to their era of American history, which helped shape the United States and the world.

The Lincoln Prize at Gettysburg College is awarded annually by the Lincoln and Soldiers Institute for the finest scholarly work in English on either Abraham Lincoln, the American Civil War soldier, or a related subject. The Prize generally goes to a book, but in rare instances an important article or essay might be honored. The Prize is intended to encourage new scholarship, but a lifetime contribution to the study of Mr. Lincoln or the American Civil War soldier may qualify for the award. The Prize is supervised and awarded by the five trustees of the Lincoln and Soldiers Institute, who appoint a jury of three historians or qualified specialists.

Dr. Gabor Boritt, Chairman, Board of Trustees
Dr. James Basker, President

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Gilder Lehrman Center

The Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition, a part of the Yale Center for International and Area Studies, is dedicated to the investigation and dissemination of information concerning all aspects of the Atlantic slave system and its destruction. It seeks to foster an improved understanding of the role of slavery, slave resistance, and abolition in the founding of the modern world by promoting interaction and exchange between scholars engaged in research in each of these distinct areas, and by assisting in the translation of scholarly information into public knowledge through publications, educational outreach and other programs and events. The Gilder Lehrman Center is supported by Richard Gilder and Lewis Lehrman through the Gilder Lehrman Institute in New York City.

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Gilder Lehrman Institute

Founded in 1994, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History promotes the study and love of American history. Increasingly national and international in scope, the Institute’s initiatives target audiences ranging from students and scholars to the general public. The Institute creates history-centered schools and academic research centers; organizes seminars and enrichment programs for educators; produces print and electronic publications and traveling exhibitions; and sponsors lectures by eminent historians. The Institute funds awards including the Lincoln and Frederick Douglass Book Prizes and offers fellowships for scholars to work in the Gilder Lehrman Collection and other archives.

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Fredrick Douglass Book Prize

Each year the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition presents the Frederick Douglass Book Prize, a $25,000 award for the most outstanding nonfiction book published in English on the subject of slavery and/or abolition and antislavery movements. Publishers and authors are invited to submit books that meet these criteria.

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George Washington Book Prize

The George Washington Book Prize is co-sponsored by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, Washington College and George Washington’s Mount Vernon. It recognizes the year’s best books about the nation’s founding era, especially those that have the potential to advance broad public understanding of American history. The $50,000 award is the largest prize nationwide for a book on early American history, and one of the largest literary prizes of any kind.

» Read more about the George Washington Book Prize