Help us Endow the Program in African American History!

2018 NEH Giving Goal Scale

The Library Company of Philadelphia announces the Fourth Year of the NEH Challenge Grant

In 2013, the Library Company launched a $2 million campaign to endow the program in African American History (PAAH) in support of acquisitions, professional staff, fellowships and public programs. As part of a coveted Five Year Challenge Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), when the Library Company raises $1.5 million, NEH will match those funds with $500,000. This means every dollar you give will be matched by 33% from NEH. We are only $12,000 away from completing the entire campaign!

Hundreds of people have joined the Library Company in raising over $1.8 million. In order to inspire others to give Dr. Randall M. Miller, Library Company Trustee and Professor of History at Saint Joseph’s University has generously offered a one-to-one match for all gifts and pledges (payable by July 31, 2018) up to $20,000. All contributions to this challenge will be targeted to support a short-term fellowship: “The Dr. Richard S. Newman Fellowship in African American History.” To date, we have received more than $8,000 toward completing this challenge gift! Your support is vital and will help future scholars discover the hidden stories in our unsurpassed collections, giving voice to the silenced and a face to the forgotten.

The Program in African American History is dedicated to the study of African American history and culture in the Atlantic World before 1900. Established in 2007, PAAH supports a diverse community of scholars, fellows, and interns, and reaches the broader public through exhibitions, publications, conferences lectures and online resources.

For more information on how you can be part of the Light and Liberty Campaign, please contact Raechel Hammer, Chief Development Officer at 215-546-3181 or rhammer@librarycompany.org.

NAMED ENDOWED FUND OPPORTUNITIES

THE PROGRAM IN AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY
$1,000,000

Established in 2007, the Library Company’s Program in African American History is now a national leader in the study of the African and African American experience before 1900. A permanently endowed Program will fund new scholarly research opportunities, public programs, and rare book acquisitions and highlight the importance of early African American history in contemporary culture.

THE DIRECTOR OF THE PROGRAM
$300,000

A senior scholar, the Director of the Program provides intellectual leadership and strategic vision to advance scholarship and create opportunities for discourse in the field of African American history.

THE CURATOR OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY
$400,000

With a deep knowledge of the Library Company’s renowned collection of African American literature and history before 1900, the Curator others guidance to researchers, oversees acquisitions, and designs innovative public programs.

ACQUISITIONS FUND FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY
$300,000

The Library Company cares for the nation’s most important collection of African American history and literature before 1900. We continue to acquire rare material that bolsters the collection, including key documents in African American women’s history, early civil rights struggles, and African American life in the North after the Civil War.

ANNUAL JUNETEENTH FREEDOM SYMPOSIUM
$175,000

The Library Company’s signature public event recognizes one of the oldest known celebrations commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States when news of the Emancipation Proclamation reached Texas in 1865. Today, this event draws hundreds of people to the Library Company and highlights the continuing relevance of civil rights struggles in the past.

BIENNIAL CONFERENCE
$100,000

Every other year, the Library Company others emerging and established scholars a forum for exploring new research in early African American history.

AFRICAN AMERICAN EXHIBITION FUND
$75,000

The Library Company has been offering powerful exhibits in African American history since 1969. Our most recent exhibit, “The Genius of Freedom” (2014), explored African American struggles for justice in the North following the Civil War and attracted hundreds of visitors. Most exhibitions are accompanied by scholarly talks, public receptions, and digital materials for school teachers who can utilize the Library Company’s resources in K-12 classrooms around the country.

PAAH FELLOWSHIPS
$50,000
Each Fellowship (4 available)
Short-term fellowships in African American history are career-defining opportunities for both emerging and established scholars. These fellowships provide four scholars intensive one-month residencies in the African Americana Collection.

DISSERTATION FELLOWSHIP
A prestigious opportunity for a leading doctoral candidate to explore the Library Company’s African American collections in depth, the dissertation fellowship allows scholars to work in a collegial and dynamic environment.

This opportunity has been named by The Albert M. Greenfield Foundation.

There is no minimum limit for donating a gift to already existing endowments at the Library Company of Philadelphia.