The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is pleased to invite applications for two, one-month Balch Institute Fellowships to enable research on topics related to the ethnic and immigrant experience in the U.S. and/or American cultural, social, or economic history post-1875. Fellows will receive a $2,000 stipend. Fellowships are tenable for any one-month period between June 2010 and May 2011. Application deadline: March 1, 2010.
Balch Fellowships in Ethnic and Immigrant and/or 20th-Century History
The Historical Society of Pennsylvania will award two one-month Balch Institute fellowships to enable research on topics related to the ethnic and immigrant experience in the United States and/or American cultural, social, political, or economic history post-1875. The fellowships support one month of residency in Philadelphia during the 2010-2011 academic year. Past Balch fellows have done research on immigrant children, Italian American fascism, German Americans in the Civil War, Pan-Americanism, African American women's political activism, and much more.
The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, enriched by the holdings of the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies, holds more than 19 million personal, organizational, and business manuscripts, as well 560,000 printed items and 312,000 graphic images concerning national and regional political, social, and family history. The Balch collections have added rich documentation of the ethnic and immigrant experience in the United States.
Next door, 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.
Together the two institutions form one of the most comprehensive sources in the nation for the study of colonial and U.S. history and culture. The Historical Society's strength in manuscripts complements the Library Company's strength in printed materials. The Library Company's 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. The Historical Society's archives richly document the social, cultural, and economic history of a region central to many aspects of the nation's development. The Balch Institute collections bring the HSP strength in documenting ethnic and immigrant history, with significant holdings of ethnic newspapers, records of benevolent societies and other local and national ethnic organizations, and personal papers of prominent leaders in ethnic and immigrant communities. Both collections are strong in local newspapers and printed ephemera; the print and photograph collections of both libraries are rich in images of the Philadelphia region and graphics by local artists.
The Stipend is $2,000. Fellowships are tenable for any one-month period between June 2010 and May 2011. They support advanced, postdoctoral, and dissertation research. Deadline for receipt of applications is March 1, 2010, with a decision to be made by April 15. Before mailing an application, visit http://www.lcpimages.org/forms/coversheet.htm to fill out an electronic cover sheet.
To apply, send seven copies each of a brief résumé, a two- to four-page description of the proposed research, and a letter of reference to: James Green, Library Company, 1314 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. For more information on applying and the joint fellowship program, telephone (215) 546-3181, fax (215) 546-5167, e-mail jgreen@librarycompany.org. For specific information on the Balch fellowships, contact Tamara Gaskell, (215) 732-6200 x208, e-mail tgaskell@hsp.org.
