Apply for a Clements Library Fellowship

With the exception of the Townshend, Price, Miller, and Forty-three Foundation Fellowships, all Clements Library fellowships are open to doctoral candidates, faculty, independent researchers, and scholars in public history institutions.

Long-Term Fellowships

Long-term fellowships require a minimum residency of four months for full-time library research. Fellows will be selected on the basis of the applicant’s scholarly qualifications, the potential significance of the project, and the fit of the proposed research with the collections at the Clements Library.

Norton Strange Townshend Fellowship

Named for physician and educator Norton Strange Townshend (1815-1895), this fellowship offers $15,000 in support of scholarly research on nineteenth-century American history and culture. Successful applicants are expected to spend a minimum of four months at the Clements. A completed Ph.D. or equivalent qualifications are required at the time of application.

Jacob M. Price Dissertation Fellowship

In honor of Dr. Jacob M. Price (1925-2015) and his commitment to junior scholars, this fellowship offers $12,000 to support graduate student dissertation work on any topic of American history and culture. A four month residency is required for full-time library research.

Dorothy and Herman Miller Fellowship in Great Lakes History

Established in honor of Dorothy Miller (1923-2018) and Herman Miller (1924-2021), this long-term fellowship supports scholars conducting research on topics related to the history and culture of the Great Lakes Region. A completed Ph.D or equivalent qualifications are required at the time of application.

Short-Term Fellowships

Short-term fellowships offer $2,500 and require a minimum residency of one month for full-time library research. Fellows will be selected on the basis of the applicant’s scholarly qualifications, the potential significance of the project, and the fit of the proposed research with the collections at the Clements Library.

Reese Fellowship in the Print Culture of the Americas

Funded by the William Reese Company, this fellowship encourages research in the history of the book and other print formats, bibliography, and other aspects of print culture in America, including publishing and marketing, from the sixteenth century to 1900. Projects may investigate any printed genre (e.g. books, prints, newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, published photographs, broadsides, maps, etc.). Support for work in manuscript collections will be limited to projects related to printed materials (e.g. annotations in books, publishers’ business archives, etc.).

Howard H. Peckham Fellowship on Revolutionary America

Established in honor of the Clements’ second director, Howard H. Peckham (1910-1995), this fellowship supports research about American history and culture between 1764 and 1815.

Alfred A. Cave Fellowship

Established by Mary C. Koslovsky in memory of her husband Dr. Alfred A. Cave, this fellowship supports research conducted on Native American topics.

Norton Strange Townshend Fellowship

Named for physician and educator Norton Strange Townshend (1815-1895), this fellowship supports scholarly research on nineteenth-century American history and culture.

Julius S. Scott III Fellowship in Caribbean and Atlantic History

This short-term fellowship is named for Dr. Julius Scott, a Lecturer in Afroamerican and African Studies at the University of Michigan. The fellowship supports early-career researchers (postdoctoral researchers and Ph.D candidates) working in the fields of Atlantic and Caribbean history, broadly construed.

John W. Shy Memorial Fellowship

This short-term fellowship honors Professor John Shy, the preeminent American authority on the military aspects of the Revolutionary era. Professor Shy’s legacy will continue in the form of this fellowship, which provides $2,500 in support of graduate students researching any topic supported by the collections.

Week-Long Fellowships

Week-long fellowships require a one-week minimum residency for full-time library research. Fellows will be selected on the basis of the applicant’s scholarly qualifications, the potential significance of the project, and the need for intensive research in materials unique to the Clements Library.

Mary G. Stange Fellowship

The Mary G. Stange Fellowship offers $1,500 to support research on any topic supported by the collections. Unique projects are encouraged.

Norton Strange Townshend Fellowship

Named for physician and educator Norton Strange Townshend (1815-1895), this $1,500 fellowship supports scholarly research on nineteenth-century American history and culture.

Brian Leigh Dunnigan Fellowship in the History of Cartography

Established in honor of Brian Leigh Dunnigan, Map Curator Emeritus and former Associate Director of the Clements Library, this $1,500 fellowship is open to researchers working on any topic supported by the cartographic collections.

David B. Kennedy and Earhart Fellowship

The David B. Kennedy and Earhart Fellowship offers $1,500 to support research on any topic supported by the collections.

James E. Laramy Fellowship in American Visual Culture

This week-long fellowship provides $1,500 for any researcher working on a topic supported by the library’s collection of visual and graphic materials. Creative projects welcome.

Jacob M. Price Digital Fellowship

Digital Fellowships offer a non-residential opportunity to support researchers working remotely on any topic that can be supported by digitized library materials. We can consider proposals for items that meet all of the following criteria:

• Stable enough for standard handling on one of our scanners
• Being digitized in full (no single pages from books or selected items from manuscript collections)
• Under 900 pages or 0.5 linear feet total
• Out of copyright
• Can be added to one of our digital collections and made freely available after digitization
• Cannot be added to another institution’s holdings

Applications should identify items or small collections to be digitized in full, up to 900 pages or 0.5 linear feet total. See digitization criteria for details. Confirming that materials are eligible for digitization is strongly encouraged prior to application submission. Grants provide digital files of the materials and $1,000 to support research using them.

Introduction to Archival Research Fellowships

These fellowships exist to help students gain their first experience working in a major research library with primary sources while researching and writing a senior thesis or paper.

Forty-three Foundation Fellowship

Open to senior-class undergraduate and first or second year graduate students at the University of Michigan or Yale University, this $1,000 award supports research on any topic in American history and culture supported by the collections. A minimum of five full research days is required for this fellowship, but they can be scheduled non-consecutively as need be.

Transatlantic Fellowship

Through a partnership with the American Trust for the British Library (ATBL), our 2023-2024 Transatlantic Fellowship is designed to support at least four weeks of research between both the British Library and the William L. Clements Library, with at least one week of research time at each institution. The award will be $5,000 USD (paid via the ATBL) and is meant to be applied to transportation and lodging expenses. This Fellowship is open to graduate students at a doctoral level or post-doctoral or equivalent experience, applicants 18 years or older, resident in the U.S. or abroad. Please Note: The Transatlantic Fellowship Application is hosted by the ATBL. To be considered, be sure to apply there instead of the process outlined below for all other Clements Fellowships.

Apply for a Fellowship

All applicants must submit materials by January 15, 2023, for research to be completed between June 1, 2023 and May 31, 2024.

To be considered for both Long-term fellowships as well as Short-Term, Week-Long, or Digital fellowships, candidates must submit separate applications using the forms and directions below.

Please note: With the exception of the Townshend, Price, Miller, and Forty-three Foundation Fellowships, all Clements Library fellowships are open to doctoral candidates, faculty, independent researchers, and scholars in public history institutions.

With the exception of the Forty-three Foundation Fellowship, we regret that applications for Clements Library fellowships cannot be considered unless the applicant resides at least 50 miles from Ann Arbor and is unaffiliated with the University of Michigan.