Short-Term Fellowships

The Library Company of Philadelphia and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania offer many opportunities for support in the form of one-month fellowships for advanced research in residence in either or both institutions.

Located adjacent to each other in Center City Philadelphia, the two independent research libraries have complementary collections capable of supporting research in a variety of fields and disciplines relating to the history of the United States in its Atlantic world context from the 17th through the 19th centuries, as well as Mid-Atlantic regional history to the present.

Short-term fellowships support dissertation, postdoctoral, and independent scholarly research. Note that all fellowships listed below may not be awarded in a given year.

Image: Commemorative postcard for the Elks Convention held in Philadelphia in 1907. Brightbill 59.

Short-term Fellowships Awarded by the Library Company of Philadelphia
  • The Program in Early American Economy and Society (PEAES) awards short-term fellowships that support research into the origins and development of the early American economy, broadly conceived, to roughly 1850. Fellows may investigate such topics as the history of commerce, finance, technology, manufacturing, agriculture, internal improvements, and economic policy making.
  • The Program in African American History (PAAH) awards short-term fellowships to support research in any aspect of African American history prior to 1900.
  • The Davida Tenenbaum Deutsch Program in Women’s History awards a short-term fellowship to support research on any aspect of women’s history documented in the Library Company’s collections.
  • The William H. Helfand Fellowship for American Visual Culture, awarded by the Visual Culture Program, supports research on pictorial imagery in printed and graphic works from the colonial era to the early 20th century.
  • The James N. Green Research Fellowship in the History of the Book in America supports research in early American history before 1900, with preference to scholars who wish to study the history of the book or the history of American bibliography.
  • The William Reese Company Fellowship in American Bibliography supports research relating to print culture in any part of the Western Hemisphere or any investigation of the history of the book in the Americas.
  • The William H. Helfand Fellowship for American Medicine, Science, and Society supports research in that subject area to 1900.
  • The Charles E. Rosenberg Fellowship supports research in the history of health and medicine broadly defined.
  • The Charles E. Rosenberg Fellowship in the History of Health and Medicine supports research in the history of gender and health or medicine.
  • The Anthony N.B. and Beatrice Garvan Fellowship in American Material Culture supports research in that subject area.
  • The McLean Contributionship Fellowship supports research in the history of botany or newspaper publishing.
  • The Innovation Fellowship for Independent Researchers supports research by those not affiliated with academic institutions, such as artists, authors, or public historians.
Short-term Fellowships Awarded by the Library Company and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania
  • The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowships support research in any subject area supported by the collections of the Library Company and The Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
  • The Barra Foundation International Research Fellowship in American History and Culture (which includes an award for reimburseable travel expenses up to $1,000 in addition to the fellowships stipend) is reserved for citizens of other countries living outside the U.S.
  • The Richardson Dilworth Fellowship for Law, Politics, and Reform supports research on legal or political history, or on the history of reform movements.
  • The Esther Ann McFarland Fellowship supports research in either 17th-century Pennsylvania history (with a preference for research on New Sweden or on the influence of early Swedish settlers) or in the history of African Americans in Pennsylvania.
  • The Robert L. McNeil Jr. Fellowships support research in early American history.
Short-Term Fellowships Awarded by The Historical Society of Pennsylvania
  • The Balch Institute Fellowships support research in the HSP/Balch collections on the ethnic and immigrant experience in the United States and/or American cultural, social, political, or economic history post-1875.
  • The Albert M. Greenfield Short-Term Fellowship supports research in 20th-century history.
  • The Indian Rights Association Fellowship funds work in the field of Native American Studies. Priority is given to applicants who demonstrate a need to conduct research in the Indian Rights Association records.
Applications

Applications for the 2027-28 short-term fellowships cycle will be accepted from September 1, 2026, until the submission deadline of January 17, 2027. Decisions will be announced no later than April 2, 2027.

The stipend is $3,000 for a four-week period between June 1 and May 31, with flexible scheduling available.

Applicants may submit a single application to be considered for all short-term fellowships offered by the Library Company of Philadelphia and/or the Historical Society of Pennsylvania for which their project is eligible.

Application instructions are available here.

For more information

For general information about fellowships and application procedures, email [email protected].

See the Fellowships FAQ page for additional information and contact details.