Researchers are invited to apply for week-long, short-term, long-term and remote fellowships to support scholarship in the collections of the William L. Clements Library. The fellowship program at the Clements Library facilitates research in the world-class materials housed in the collections, the bulk of which relates to the history and culture of the United States and Caribbean before 1900.
The William L. Clements Library will award three new fellowships in addition to those awarded in previous years. Through the Fellowship Program, the Clements Library hopes to continue its dedication to the expansion of fields, disciplines, foci, and approaches to historical materials. The Clements Library believes that much of history has yet to be written; therefore, supporting historical writers is crucial to the field’s future. The Fellowship Program will commit to providing funds for projects inspired by intellectual curiosity, critical evaluation, and the strong desire to discover and present new knowledge of the past.
Previous years’ fellows have pursued topics such as (yet not limited to) the United States, the Caribbean, the Atlantic World, Native American history and cultures, African-American history and culture, as well as the histories of science, health, technology, medicine, material culture, cartography, graphic/visual art, and disability studies. Researchers on a wide variety of topics and dedications will find ample and rich source materials in the library’s materials.
Applications for the William L. Clements Library Fellowship Program are now open. In order to be considered for a fellowship, an applicant must submit their application materials by January 15, 2024. If awarded, the fellowship must be completed between June 1st, 2024 and May 31st, 2025.
Descriptions of all fellowship opportunities are listed here. With some exceptions, fellowships at the William L. Clements Library are open to doctoral candidates, faculty, independent researchers, and scholars of public history institutions. Fellowships support research for book projects, articles, dissertations, creative projects, digitization projects, and many other forms of scholarship. Descriptions of each fellowship opportunity will be listed on the library’s website, but applicants do not need to specify a particular fellowship in their application. The selection committee will match each applicant’s project with the fellowship award for which their project is best suited.
Curious about whether William L. Clements Library’s Fellowship Program will appropriately support your project’s scope and interest? All questions are welcome, and may be directed to [email protected].
New Fellowship Offerings – 2024-2025
Mary G. Stange Fellowship for Creative and Performing Artists and Writers
- Week-long residential fellowship with a stipend of $1,500
- Artist-in-residence fellowship supports any use of the collections by artists, writers, journalists filmmakers, documentarians, playwrights, or professional creatives
- Preference will be given to projects created for the general public, rather than academic or educational audiences
Clayton Lewis Fellowship in American Visual Culture
- Week-long residential fellowship with a stipend of $1,500
- Open to any researcher whose topic is supported by the visual and graphic collections
- Established in honor of Clayton Lewis, retired Curator of Graphics
Ephemera Society of America Fellowship
- Short-term residential fellowship with a stipend of $2,500
- Open to any researcher whose topic engages with the study of pre-1900 ephemera, loosely defined as printed or written items which were not expected to be retained or preserved
- The successful applicant will plan to share their research with the Ephemera Society of America by submitting a proposal to The Ephemera Journal and to the ESA Annual Conference