As part of a two-year $1,000,000 grant from Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the HistoryMakers Digital Archive is funding three fellowships—one in academic research, another in digital humanities, and a third in creative study.

University Librarian John Unsworth is leading the effort to extend the archive’s reach, and to explore strategies for connecting its records to those of other archives with relevant collections. The HistoryMakers’ founder Julieanna Richardson has set a goal of 5,000 Interviews with African Americans from all walks of life who have contributed to American life and culture.

All applicants for The HistoryMakers Fellowships must be either U.S. citizens or unconditional permanent U.S. residents. Applicants need not have special expertise in African American history.

Duration of fellowships is from April 2019 through September 2019. Funds are not restricted in their use, but all funds MUST be exhausted by the end of the fellowship period [December 31, 2019], unless they have been allocated to conference travel/registration fees. APPLICATION DEADLINE IS MARCH 1, 2019

ACADEMIC RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP ($7,500)

Apply online, faculty or graduate students pursuing advanced research of value to humanities scholars, general audiences, or both. Recipients will produce articles, websites, blogs, digital materials, lesson plans and syllabi, conference presentations/papers, and/or other scholarly resources in the humanities. Award funds are meant to enable recipients to set aside time for writing; and provide funding for research, travel, and project support. The fellowship awards are expected to culminate in the realization and presentation of the proposed work. The awardees’ finished projects will be featured on The HistoryMakers website, and will compete for inclusion in The HistoryMakers 20th Anniversary Celebration at the Library of Congress (November 6–7, 2020).

Eligibility

Applicants must be currently enrolled graduate students who have passed their general examinations, or current faculty at one of The HistoryMakers subscribing institutions

Judging Criteria

• The degree with which The HistoryMakers Digital Archive or content is incorporated, and connected with other primary sources.
• Alignment with The HistoryMakers mission to educate the world about African American life, history, and culture.
• The intellectual significance of the proposed project, including its value to humanities scholars, general audiences, or both.
• The quality or promise of quality of the applicant’s work as an interpreter of the humanities.
• The quality of the conception, definition, organization, and description of the project and the applicant’s clarity of expression.
• The feasibility and appropriateness of the proposed plan of work, including, when relevant, the soundness of the dissemination and access plans.
• Presentation/exhibition of the proposed work at a scholarly conference.

Application Procedure

Please submit a letter of intent listing all participants, a brief cv/resume for all participants (3 pages or less), as well as a proposal narrative and budget (1500-2500 words), detailing the following:

1. What is the title of your project?
2. Please provide a description of your proposed project.
3. What is your overall goal and how does it relate to The HistoryMakers content?
4. To what degree is The HistoryMakers Digital Archive or content incorporated into your proposed work?
5. Please describe the intellectual significance of the proposed project, including its value to humanities scholars, general audiences, or both.
6. Please describe how your project aligns with The HistoryMakers mission to educate the world about African American life, history, and culture?
7. Please provide itemized budget information, detailing how much money you are allocating to each specified task.

DIGITAL HUMANITIES FELLOWSHIP ($5,000)

Apply online, digital humanities scholars pursuing interpretive research projects requiring digital expression, analysis, and/or digital publication. Projects must advance a scholarly argument through digital means and tools, and should incorporate visual, audio, and/or other multimedia materials or flexible reading pathways to address issues in African American history, the digital humanities, or general humanities. Project proposals should articulate an active distribution plan for sharing results. Stand-alone databases and other projects that lack an interpretive argument are not eligible. Award funds are meant to provide research, travel, and project support. The fellowship awards are expected to culminate in the realization and presentation of the proposed work. The awardees’ finished projects will be featured on The HistoryMakers website, and will compete for inclusion in The HistoryMakers 20th Anniversary Celebration at the Library of Congress (November 6–7, 2020).

Eligibility

Applicants must be currently enrolled students or faculty members of an accredited four year university. Institutional access to The HistoryMakers Digital Archive is not required. It will be made available for awardees.

Judging Criteria

• The degree with which The HistoryMakers Digital Archive content is incorporated, and connected with other primary sources.
• Alignment with The HistoryMakers mission to educate the world about African American life, history, and culture.
• Scholarly excellence, in terms of the project’s intellectual ambitions and technological underpinnings.
• The project’s feasibility.
• The project’s intellectual, technological, and institutional sustainability.
• The project’s portability, accessibility, and scalability. Will it be widely used by the scholarly field it concerns?
• The project’s articulation with local infrastructure at the applicant’s home institution or at The HistoryMakers.
• Proposed plans for sharing the work with scholarly communities and/or wider public.

Application Procedure

Please submit a letter of intent listing all participants, a brief cv/resume for all participants (3 pages or less), as well as a proposal narrative and budget (1500-2500 words), detailing the following:

1. What is the title of your project?
2. Please provide a description of your proposed project.
3. What is your overall goal and how does it relate to The HistoryMakers content?
4. To what degree is The HistoryMakers Digital Archive or content incorporated into your proposed work?
5. Please describe your plan in regards to your project’s sustainability, scalability, dissemination, and preservation, and include a statement addressing intellectual property issues.
6. How is your project aligned with The HistoryMakers mission to educate the world about African American life, history, and culture?
7. Please provide itemized budget information, detailing how much money you are allocating to each specified task.
8. Please provide samples of any other digital humanities projects you have worked on.

CREATIVE STUDY FELLOWSHIP ($5,000)

Apply online, established or emerging artists (faculty and students) at all stages of their careers, including creative composers, choreographers, performance artists, visual artists, writers or other kinds of artists or humanists working in prose (fiction and creative nonfiction), performance (theatrical productions, documentaries, monologues), visual/conceptual arts (painting, printmaking, sculpture, graphic art, experience-based art), and poetry. The fellowship awards are expected to culminate in the realization and presentation of the proposed work. Finished products generated by awardees will be featured on The HistoryMakers website, and will compete for inclusion in The HistoryMakers 20th Anniversary Celebration at the Library of Congress (November 6–7, 2020).

Eligibility

Applicants must be currently enrolled students or faculty members at one of The HistoryMakers subscribing institutions.

Judging Criteria

• The degree with which The HistoryMakers Digital Archive or content is incorporated, and connected with other primary sources.
• The creativity and uniqueness demonstrated in the proposed work’s conception and design.
• The feasibility of the project and the likelihood that the applicant will execute the work within the proposed time frame (and) or funding.
• Alignment with The HistoryMakers mission to educate the world about African American life, history, and culture.
• The quality and skill of the proposed work and its presentation/implementation.
• The proposed work’s potential for interdisciplinary study or collaboration
• The applicant’s artistic portfolio/published or exhibited works.

Application Procedure

1. What is the title of your project?
2. Please provide a description of your proposed project.
3. What is your overall goal and how does it relate to The HistoryMakers content?
4. Please describe the degree that The HistoryMakers Digital Archive will be incorporated in your proposed work?
5. Please describe how your project is creative and/or unique use in its conception or design.
6. Please describe how your project is aligned with The HistoryMakers mission to educate the world about African American life, history, and culture?
7. Please provide itemized budget information, detailing how much money you are allocating to each specified task.
8. Please provide work samples/portfolio (i.e., writing sample, images of your work, video links to performances, etc.).