Abraham Lincoln Scholar Richard Nelson Current Passes Away

A NOTICE TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE LINCOLN FORUM

DEAN OF LINCOLN SCHOLARS RICHARD NELSON CURRENT DIES AT AGE 100

The Executive Committee of The Lincoln Forum announces with profound sadness--along with great gratitude for a long life well lived--the passing of a founding member, peerless mentor, and major inspiration. The long-reigning "dean of Lincoln scholars"--a title he deservedly held for decades--Richard Nelson Current, died in Massachusetts on Friday, October 26, twelve days after his 100th birthday.

Richard Current, born October 5, 1912 in Colorado City (now a part of Colorado Springs), CO, earned his BA from Oberlin, his MA from The Fletcher School of Diplomacy at Tufts, and his PhD from the University of Wisconsin. Over a long and distinguished career in academia, he taught at Rutgers, Hamilton College, Northern Michigan University Lawrence University, the University of Illinois, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and the University of Wisconsin. He also served as a Harmsworth Professor of History at Oxford and a Fulbright Lecturer. As most members know, for 17 years the Forum's annual award of achievement has borne his name--a sign of our respect, affection, and gratitude for his original and steadfast support of our organization. Though too frail in recent years to attend our annual symposia, his presence remained keenly felt--and we will continue to strive to live up to his example of great scholarship and great friendship.

Among Richard Current's many seminal works on Lincoln were: The Lincoln Nobody Knows and Lincoln and the First Shot. He completed J. G. Randall's multi-volume Lincoln biography with the magisterial Lincoln the Man: Last Full Measure, which won the coveted Bancroft Prize. He also won a Logan Hay Medal from the Abraham Lincoln Association and a lifetime achievement Lincoln Prize. His other books included Speaking of Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln's Loyalists, Those Terrible Carpetbaggers and Loie Fuller: Goddess of Light--which he coauthored with his beloved wife, Marcia Ewing Current.

The Lincoln Forum family extends its sincerest condolences to our longtime dear friend, Marcia. Knowing that a genuine giant and dear friend has left us, we feel that we share her loss.