Reinhard H. Luthin

Reinhard Henry Luthin (January 26, 1905 – November 24, 1962) was a historian best known for his contribution to the history of President Abraham Lincoln. He was a noted professor of history at Columbia University, with a lifelong interest in facts regarding Lincoln's life and times.

Reinhard H. Luthin

Life and career

He was born on January 26, 1905 in Manhattan, New York City.

Dr. Luthin, a Fulbright Scholar, graduated from Columbia University with honors in History in June 1934. Later he received his doctoral degree from Columbia University where he co-authored Lincoln and the Patronage with the Dean of Columbia University (1943–1950), Harry Carman. New York Times writer, Theodore Mack, was quoted as saying "the conclusion of the authors at the end of this enlightening and scholarly work does credit to the time and energy that must have gone into it."

As a Fulbright Scholar, he studied and taught as a Professor of American and European history at the University of Decca, Pakistan, for one year. In 1947, Columbia University received a $1.5 million bequest from Frederic Bancroft, a former librarian, author and lecturer. He requested that this money be used for the expansion of Columbia University's research resources in American history. Through this bequest, Luthin was hired to the library staff. It was here, in the position of bibliographer, that he expanded the collection of American books and other literary items.

In addition to his teaching at Columbia University, Luthin taught as a visiting lecturer at Trinity College (Connecticut), the College of William & Mary and before retirement taught at the University of Pittsburgh. He was a former fellow in history at Duke University. President John F. Kennedy, in his 1955 book Profiles in Courage, referenced Luthin's American Demagogues as one of his sources.

Luthin died of cancer at age 57 at his home in Manhattan, New York City.

Book reviews

• Roots Go Deep, The New York Times, Frank Adams, November 29, 1954 regarding "American Demagogues" Luthin 1959.
• Mr. Lincoln from Illinois, Theodore Mack, The New York Times, June 6, 1943.

Web reference

• ”Reinhard Luthin, A Biographer, 57, Ex-Columbia Teacher Dies of Cancer, Wrote of Lincoln“. The NY Times November 26, 1962
• Dean Carman, Columbia University

Authored works

• The Real Abraham Lincoln; A complete one volume history of his life and times. R. Luthin (1960).
• The First Lincoln Campaign. R. Luthin (1964).
• Abraham Lincoln and the Tariff. R. Luthin (1944).
• Lincoln and the Patronage. Harry Carman and Reinhard H. Luthin (1943).
• Pennsylvania and Lincoln's rise to Presidency. R. Luthin (1943).
• Some Demagogues in American History. American Historical Review R. Luthin (1954).
• The First Lincoln Campaign. R. Luthin (1964).
• A Discordant Chapter in Lincoln's Administration; The Davis Blair Controversy. R. Luthin (1944).
• Abraham Lincoln became a Republican. R. Luthin (1944).
• Lincoln and the American Tradition. R. Luthin (1951).
• Indiana and Lincoln's Rise to Presidency. R. Luthin (1942).
• American Demagogues; Twentieth Century. R. Luthin (1959).
• Organizing the Republican Party in the "Border-Slave" Regions: Edward Bates Presidential Candidacy in 1860. R. Luthin (1944).
• The Seward-Fillmore Feud and the Crisis of 1850. Carman, Harry J., and Reinhard H. Luthin. New York History (April 1943): 163–84

References

• Adams, Effie Kaye; Experiences of a Fulbright Teacher, 1956.
• "Columbia Expands History Research; $1,509,389 Gift to be used to widen resources in American Field", The New York Times, April 1947.