Short-Term Fellowships

Applications for 2025–26 short-term fellowships open on October 1, 2024, with a submission deadline of February 15, 2025, at midnight ET.

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. Application instructions are available here.

These two independent research libraries, adjacent to each other in Center City Philadelphia, have complementary collections capable of supporting research in a variety of fields and disciplines relating to the history of the United States and the Atlantic world from the 17th through the 19th centuries, as well as Mid-Atlantic regional history to the present. See our FAQ page for further information about the institutions’ areas of collection strength.

Short-term fellowships support dissertation, postdoctoral, and independent scholarly research. The stipend is $2,500 for a four-week period between June 1 and May 31, with flexible scheduling available.

Opportunities are described below; please note that all listed fellowships may not be awarded in a given year.

Short-term Fellowships Awarded by the Library Company of Philadelphia
  • The Program in Early American Economy and Society (PEAES) offers short-term fellowships to support research into the origins and development of the early American economy, broadly conceived, to roughly 1850. The fellowships provide researchers the opportunity to investigate such topics as history of commerce, finance, technology, manufacturing, agriculture, internal improvements, and economic policy making.
  • The Program in African American History 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 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 in American bibliography and 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 is dedicated to exploring the history of health or medicine, broadly defined. Preference will be given to scholars who wish to use resources and collections at the Library Company that have been donated by Charles Rosenberg.
  • The Charles E. Rosenberg Fellowship in the History of Health and Medicine supports research in the history of health or medicine, broadly defined. Preference will be given to scholars who wish to use a combination of resources and collections at the Library Company, the Legacy Center (archives and special collections) of Drexel University College of Medicine and/or other medical-historical or related collections in the Philadelphia community. Additional preference will be given to scholars who are interested in the history of gender and health or medicine.
  • The American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (ASECS) Fellowship supports research on projects related to the 18th-century Atlantic world.
  • The William H. Helfand Fellowship for American Visual Culture supports research on pictorial imagery in printed and graphic works from the colonial era to the early 20th century.
  • The Anthony N.B. and Beatrice Garvan Fellowship in American Material Culture supports research in that subject area.
  • The McLean Contributionship Fellowship may be awarded to support research in the history of botany, garden history, or newspaper publishing.
Short-term Fellowships Awarded Jointly by the Library Company of Philadelphia 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 travel expenses up to $1,000 in addition to the $2,500 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. Applicants must demonstrate a need to conduct research in the Indian Rights Association records.

Applications

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 fellowships@librarycompany.org.

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