Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize Recipient Announced
Dr. Elizabeth Varon won the 2020 Lincoln Prize for her book Armies of Deliverance: A New History of the Civil War (Promotional and file photos via Gettysburg College)
By Katie Oglesby, Assistant News Editor
Elizabeth R. Varon, author of Armies of Deliverance: A New History of the Civil War (call number E468 .V37 2019 in the Musselman Library) was announced as the 2020 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize recipient on Feb. 12, 2020. Gettysburg College and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History will be hosting an event to award her with this prize of $50,000 and a replica of the “Lincoln the Man” bust. This event, at the Union League Club in New York City, New York will be on April 23, 2020.
Gettysburg College President Robert Iuliano, alongside a few trustees of the college, was on the board that judged and selected the recipient of this prize, which is awarded every year to a scholar of a work pertaining to Abraham Lincoln or the Civil War.
Varon’s novel details the history and most important parts of the American Civil War from a more modern perspective, examining the social history as well as the militaristic history of this era. It was judged amongst 109 other pieces of scholarship. The board narrowed these down to eight finalists, from which Varon was chosen as the recipient of the prize.
The novels of each of the seven finalists are also located in the Musselman Library to be read by members of the campus community. Their respective call numbers are listed with the titles below for easy finding in the library.
The finalists for the award include:
- Eric Foner with The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution (KF4541 .F68 2019)
- Matthew Fox-Amaton with Exposing Slavery: Photography, Human Bondage, and the Birth of Modern Visual Politics in America (E449 .F768 2019)
- Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers with They Were her Property: White Women as Slave Owners in the American South (E446 .J66 2019)
- W. Caleb McDaniel with Sweet Taste of Liberty: A True Story of Slavery and Restitution in America (E444.W815 M35 2019)
- Jessie Morgan-Owens with Girl in Black and White: The Story of Mary Mildred Williams and the Abolition Movement (E444.W746 M67 2019)
- Joseph P. Reidy with Illusions of Emancipation: The Pursuit of Freedom and Equality in the Twilight of Slavery (E441 .R35 2019)
- David Silkenat with Raising the White Flag: How Surrender Defined the American Civil War (E468.9 .S56 2019)
