The National Endowment for the Humanities Post-Doctoral Fellowships support research in residence at the Library Company on any subject relevant to its collections, which are capable of supporting research in a variety of fields and disciplines relating to the history of America and the Atlantic world form the 17th through the 19th centuries.  

 

The Library Company’s Program in Early American Economy and Society (PEAES) Post-Doctoral Fellowship supports research into the origins and development of early American economy, broadly conceived, to roughly 1850.  It provides scholars the opportunity to investigate the history of commerce, finance, technology, manufacturing, agriculture, internal improvements, economic policy making and other topics in the numerous collections of research institutions in the Philadelphia region.  

 

Applicants for either fellowship must hold a Ph.D by September 1 of the year they wish to take up the fellowships.  Senior scholars are particularly urged to apply.  (Note: NEH Fellowships are restricted to United States Citizens or to foreign nationals who have been living in the United States for at least three years. PEAES fellowships are open to citizens of any country.)  The fellowships are tenable from September 2013 through May 2013, but the awards may both be divided between two applicants, each of whom would spend a semester in residence. The stipend is $4,200 per month for up to four one-semester fellowships. The stipend for PEAES post-doctoral fellows is $20,000 per semester.  Candidates are strongly encouraged to inquire about the appropriateness of the proposed topic before applying.  The Library Company’s Cassatt House fellows’ residence offers rooms at reasonable rates, along with a kitchen, common room, and offices with internet access, available to resident and non-resident fellows at all hours. 

 

THE DEADLINE FOR RECEIPT OF APPLICATIONS IS NOVEMBER 1, 2012 with a decision to be made by December 15.  To apply, fill out an online coversheet and send a single PDF document containing a brief resume, a two- to four-page description of proposed research, and a writing sample of no more than 25 pages to fellowships@librarycompany.org.  In addition, two letters of reference should be sent to the same email address in *PDF format. For more information about the NEH award, email James Green at jgreen@librarycompany.org. For more information about the PEAES award, email Cathy Matson at cmatson@librarycompany.org.

 

In addition the Library Company offers many short-term fellowships and long-term dissertation fellowships with an application deadline of March 1, 2013. See the website for details.

 

THE LIBRARY COMPANY, founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1731, was the largest public library in America until the latter part of the 19th century, and contains printed materials relating to every aspect of American culture and society in that period. It holds over half a million rare books and graphics, including the nation's second largest collection of pre-1801 American imprints and one of the largest collections of 18th-century British books in America. The collections reflect the whole range of early American print culture, including books, pamphlets, and magazines from all parts of the country, as well as books imported from Britain and the Continent. It is especially strong in pre-1880 printed materials relating to the history of women and African Americans, popular literature, business and banking, popular medicine, philanthropy and reform, education, natural sciences, technology, art, architecture, German Americana, and American Judaica. There are also strong collections of local newspapers and printed ephemera; and the print and photograph collection is rich in images of the Philadelphia region and graphics by local artists. A catalog of rare books and graphics is available here at www.librarycompany.org

 

* If you do not have access to the Adobe Acrobat software for PDF creation please try the free application CutePDFWriter http://www.cutepdf.com/products/cutepdf/writer.asp