Harold Holzer

Harold Holzer (born February 5, 1949) is a scholar on Abraham Lincoln and the political culture of the Civil War era. He serves as co-chairman of the United States Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission,appointed to the commkission by President Bill Clinton and elected co-chair by his fellow commissioners; and as Senior Vice President for External Affairs at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where he is responsible for marketing, communications, government relations, internal communications, visitor services, and multicukltural development at the nation's largest art institution.

In his work as a historian, Holzer has authored, co-authored, and edited 30 books, as well as more than 400 articles for magazines and journals, plus chapters and forewords for more than 20 additional books. He is a frequent guest on television (C-Span, the History Channel), a lecturer, and has curated five museum exhibitions of original art, including three shows of Lincoln art at the Lincoln Museum in Fort Wayne. He serves as guest historian for the forthcoming (October 2009) exhibition "Lincoln and New York" at the New-York Historical Society. He has performed, throughout the nation, stage programs entitled "Lincoln Seen and Heard" and "The Lincoln Family Album"--both of which combine period pictures with authentic words--with such actors as Sam Waterston, Liam Neeson, Richard Dreyfuss, Holly Hunter, and Dianne Wiest. The programs have been staged at such venues as: the White House, the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library, the Library of Congress, the Lincoln Association of Los Angeles, the Lincoln Forum at Gettysburg, and next, in February 2009, at Ford's Theatre, site of tjhe Lincoln assassination.

Before joining the Metropolitan Museum in 1992, Holzer was special counselor to the New York State economic development director (and executive vice president of the State's Urban Development Corp.)in the administration of Governor Mario M. Cuomo (with whom he wrote the 1993 book, "Lincoln on Democracy," which has now been translated into four languages). Before that, he was director of communications at WNET/Channel 13, the flagship PBS station in New York, and in the 1970s, served as a political press secretary--first to Rep. Bella S. Abzug (D-NY) in Congress and in her campaigns for the U. S. Senate and Mayor of New York; and in the 1977 general election mayoral campaign of Mr. Cuomo. Holzer started his career as a reporter, later editor, for the onetime news weekly the "Manhattan Tribune."

Works

*1984- "The Lincoln Image" with Mark E. Neely, Jr. and Gabor S. Boritt
*1985- "Changing the Lincoln Image" with Neely and Boritt
*1987- "The Confederate Image" with Neely and Boritt
*1990- "Lincoln on Democracy" with Mario M. Cuomo
*1990- "The Lincoln Family Album" with Neely
*1993- "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: The Civil War in Art" with Neely
*1993- "The Lincoln-Douglas Debates"
*1993- "Washington and Lincoln Portrayed"
*1993- "Dear Mr. Lincoln: Letters to the President"
*1996- "Witness to War"
*1996- "The Civil War Era"
*1998- "The Lincoln Mailbag: America Writes to the President"
*1999- "The Union Preserved" with Daniel Lorello
*1999- "The Lincoln Forum: Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg, and the Civil War" (co-edited with John Y. Simon and William Pederson)
*1999- "Lincoln as I Knew Him"
*2000- "The Union Image" with Neely
*2000- "Lincoln Seen and Heard"
*2000- "Abraham Lincoln, The Writer" (named to the Children's Literature Choice List, and the Bank Street "Best Children's Books of the Year")
*2001- "Prang's Civil War: The Complete Battle Chromos of Louis Prang"
*2002- "State of the Union: New York and the Civil War"
*2002- "The Lincoln Forum: Rediscovering Abraham Lincoln" (co-edited with Simon)
*2004- "The President is Shot! The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln"
*2004- "Lincoln at Cooper Union: The Speech That Made Abraham Lincoln President"
*2005- "Lincoln in the Times: The Life of Abraham Lincoln as Originally Reported in the New York Times" (co-edited with David Herbert Donald, St. Martin's Press)
*2007- "Lincoln Revisited" (co-edited with Simon and Dawn Vogel)
*2007- "Lincoln's White House Secretary: The Adventurous Life of William O. Stoddard"

Honors

*1984, 1990, 1993, 2005- Barondess Award of the Civil War Round Table of New York
*1988- Diploma of Honor from Lincoln Memorial University
*1988, 1993, 2004- Award of Achievement from the Lincoln Group of New York
*1988- George Washington Medal from the Freedom Foundation
*1989- Writer of Distinction Award from the International Reading Association
*1992- Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Lincoln College
*1993- Award of Superior Achievement from the Illinois State Historical Society
*1996- Manuscript Society of America award for "Dear Mr. Lincoln"
*2000- Newman Book Award of the American Historical Print Collectors Society for "The Union Image"
*2002- Nevins-Freeman Award of The Civil War Round Table of Chicago
*2005- Lincoln Prize for "Lincoln at Cooper Union: The Speech That Made Abraham Lincoln President" [ [http://www.gettysburg.edu/about/offices/provost/cwi/lincoln_prize/lincoln_prizepastwinner.dot Gettysburg College - Lincoln Prize Past Winners ] ]
*2006- Honorary degrees by Illinois College and University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth
*2006- The Lincoln Group of The District of Columbia's annual award of achievement

Appearances

A frequent guest on television, Holzer has appeared on C-SPAN, The History Channel, PBS, The Today Show, and "The Charlie Rose Show". [ [http://charlierose.com/guests/harold-holzer Harold Holzer - Charlie Rose ] ] C-SPAN broadcasted Holzer's stage presentation "Lincoln Seen and Heard" with Sam Waterston and "Grant Seen and Heard" with Richard Dreyfuss. In February 2005, President and Mrs. Bush hosted a special Lincoln's birthday-eve performance of "Lincoln Seen and Heard" live from the White House. [ [http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/02/20050211-9.html President, Mrs. Bush Honor "Lincoln: Seen and Heard" Performance ] ]

References

External Links

* [http://www.haroldholzer.com Official Site of Harold Holzer]
* [http://www.lincolnbicentennial.gov/ Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission]