Lincoln scholar Richard Current dies at age 100

The Associated Press, Thursday, November 1, 2012, 12:10pm (PDT)

NEW YORK (AP) — A prolific and award-winning Abraham Lincoln scholar who for decades was a leader in his field has died. Richard Nelson Current was 100.

Fellow historian Harold Holzer said Thursday that Current died Oct. 26 in Boston. Current's many books included "The Lincoln That Nobody Knew" and "Lincoln the President," winner of the Bancroft Prize in 1956. He also wrote about Daniel Webster, the invention of the typewriter and the state of Wisconsin. In his 90s, he translated essays and stories by the Norwegian author Knut Hamsun.

Born in Colorado City, Colo., Current was an undergraduate at Oberlin College and received a doctorate in history from the University of Wisconsin. The Richard Nelson Current Award of Achievement was established in 1995 by the Lincoln Forum, with winners including Doris Kearns Goodwin.