New archival research fellowship program funded

June 13, 2001

The Massachusetts Historical Society, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northeastern University, Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute, and WGBH Educational Foundation were awarded $143,000 over three years by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), the funding arm of the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, to manage a new, non-residential archival research fellowship program.

Up to five projects of $10,000 each in June 2002 and June 2003 will be awarded (pending final funding from the NHPRC) to enable fellows to conduct research and write about a topic of importance to the archival profession. Proposals concerning electronic records will be considered a higher priority than others. In June 2003 and June 2004, fellows will present their findings in Boston at a symposium which will be open to all who are interested in attending and will engage a broad spectrum of individuals from related disciplines in lively discussion

The project was conceived to advance both basic and applied research and to encourage broad participation in the research process, enabling archivists, curators, and information specialists who work full-time under a 12-month contract the flexibility to conduct research. As complex issues may benefit from teamwork, collaborative research projects will also be considered for funding. Candidates for the fellowships will be drawn from practitioners in the archival, manuscript, historical, library, records management, information science, and other information communities as well as from professions in related disciplines.

Project funding is to be administered by the Massachusetts Historical Society. Application materials are available via SAA Web site (see below) or by contacting:

Brenda Lawson
Massachusetts Historical Society
1154 Boylston Street
Boston, MA, 02215

phone: 617/646-0502
e-mail: blawson@masshist.org

The project Executive Board consists of Brenda Lawson (Massachusetts Historical Society), Megan Sniffin-Marinoff (MIT), Joan Krizack (Northeastern University), Kathryn Jacob (Schlesinger Library/Radcliffe Institute), and Mary Ide (WGBH).