Mark E. Steiner, professor of law at South Texas College of Law Houston, won his second Award of Superior Achievement from the Illinois State Historical Society (ISHS) — this time for his book Lincoln and Citizenship, published in 2021 by Southern Illinois University Press.
The award, announced April 9, recognizes “superior achievement that serves as a model for the profession and reaches a greater public.” In announcing the award, the ISHS said of Dr. Steiner’s book: “Exceptionally well-written and researched…. This is a valuable addition to Lincoln studies, raising the questions likely to confront students, admirers and critics of the Civil War president in the coming decades.”
The award notification continues: “I was impressed by the author’s writing style and scholarship. Steiner… argues his case well, and his summary is spot on.”
Dr. Steiner also authored An Honest Calling: The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln, for which he won his first ISHS Award of Superior Achievement. He received both his law degree and a doctorate in history from the University of Houston.
Lincoln and Citizenship can be found here: http://siupress.siu.edu/books/978-0-8093-3812-2
Here are additional reviews:
“An attorney, law professor, immigration specialist, former associate editor of the Lincoln Legal Papers, and author of the best book on Lincoln’s legal career, Mark E. Steiner is uniquely qualified to describe and analyze Lincoln’s evolving views of citizenship. Because that subject has been inadequately treated by previous historians, this thoroughly researched, convincingly argued book is an especially welcome addition to the Lincoln literature.” —Michael Burlingame, editor of Sixteenth President-in-Waiting: Abraham Lincoln and the Springfield Dispatches of Henry Villard, 1860-1861
“This volume brings together in a highly useful, concise way decades of scholarship on Lincoln and citizenship and manages to add new insights and details as well. This is the starting point for any study of Lincoln and race, Lincoln and rights, and, of course, Lincoln and citizenship.” —Michael Vorenberg, author of Final Freedom: The Civil War, the Abolition of Slavery, and the Thirteenth Amendment
“Mark E. Steiner’s book offers a sophisticated examination of the way African American abolitionists and community leaders pressured President Lincoln to recognize their citizenship rights. By placing Lincoln’s views on colonization within the context of his evolving ideas about race and nation, Steiner’s analysis is an important and much-needed contribution to scholarship on Abraham Lincoln.” —Ousmane K. Power-Greene, author of Against Wind and Tide: The African American Struggle against the Colonization Movement
