MERRILL PETERSON'S "LINCOLN IN AMERICAN MEMORY" WINS
	1995 PHI BETA KAPPA BOOK AWARD AT U.VA. FOR BEST 
	SCHOLARLY BOOK AIMED AT A WIDE AUDIENCE

	CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Dec. 7 -- The winner of the 1995 Phi
Beta Kappa Book Award at the University of Virginia is Merrill D.
Peterson, history professor emeritus, for his study, "Lincoln in
American Memory" (Oxford University Press, 1994). 
	The award citation praised Peterson's book as "a work that
once again proves the remarkable vision of its author.  In 'Lincoln
in American Memory' Peterson has achieved what many might assume
unlikely, if not impossible:  a fresh and penetrating new approach
to the image of Abraham Lincoln."  "Lincoln in American Memory" was
also a finalist for a 1995 Pulitzer Prize.
	The Phi Beta Kappa book award, sponsored by Beta of Virginia
Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, is designed to affirm the principle that
excellent scholarship not only generates new knowledge and insights
but makes such knowledge and insights available to those beyond the
confines of the scholar's own discipline.  By recognizing authors
who achieve scholarly excellence and make their work accessible and
relevant to a wide range of readers, Phi Beta Kappa hopes to promote
the development of community among scholars of the liberal arts and
sciences.  Each year's winner is presented with a check for $500.
	Other books written by U.Va. faculty and designed for
honorable mention in the book award competition were "The Theater in
Nineteenth Century Spain" (Cambridge University Press, 1994) by
Spanish professor David Gies and "Love and Theft:  Blackface
Minstrelsy and the American Working Class" (Oxford University Press,
1993) by assistant professor of English Eric Lott.
	Nominations for the 1996 Phi Beta Kappa Book Award are due
Monday, Dec. 18.
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December 6, 1995
For further information contact Kathryn A. Neeley at (804) 924-6117.