David Center for the American Revolution Fellowships

The David Center for the American Revolution at the American Philosophical Society's Library & Museum in Philadelphia invites applications for predoctoral and short-term resident research fellowships. David Center Fellowships continue the 30-year tradition of the David Library awarding over 200 fellowships to scholars who have gone on to write hundreds of dissertations, academic articles, academic papers and books, and to teach at major institutions of higher learning worldwide, about the American Revolution and Founding Era. These funding opportunities provide support to scholars in all fields who show a demonstrated need to use the collections for their projects.

The David Center for the American Revolution integrates the rich manuscript, microfilm, and print collections of the David Library with the Early American history collections of the APS to create a one-stop-shop for the study of the American Revolution. The David Library collections consist of approximately 8,000 volumes, 9,000 reels of microfilm, and the large Sol Feinstone manuscript collection. The Sol Feinstone Collection, a rich collection of letters and documents, was assembled by DLAR Founder Sol Feinstone (1888-1980) over a period of fifty years. It includes material on almost all notable Americans from before the Revolution to the 1850s, as well as prominent Europeans and documents related to military affairs. This adds to the APS Library's Early American History Collections, which are particularly strong for the period from 1750 to 1840. In addition to the Benjamin Franklin Papers and the Thomas Paine Collection, the APS has a wide assortment of documents from the revolutionary era. Among these are official government documents and correspondence, military records that range from the Continental Army to Pennsylvania county records, and personal correspondence from various historical actors. Comprehensive, searchable guides and finding aids to these collections are available online at www.amphilsoc.org/library and http://amphilsoc.pastperfectonline.com/.

Predoctoral Fellowship

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The 12-month fellowship is intended for advanced Ph.D. students working toward the completion of the dissertation. The caliber of the project, the need to use the collections of the David Center for the American Revolution at the APS's Library & Museum and other research institutions in the Philadelphia area, and evidence that the project will be completed in a timely manner, are the three most important criteria for selection. Applicants may be U.S. citizens or foreign nationals.

The successful applicant will receive an appointment as a Research Associate at the McNeil Center for Early American Studies, which will provide library and computer privileges at the University of Pennsylvania to those who agree to participate regularly in the McNeil Center’s seminars and other programming (www.mceas.org).The successful applicant will have the opportunity also to participate in programs and other affairs at the American Philosophical Society.

Stipend: $25,000 for twelve months will be awarded to all successful applicants.

 All Applicants must submit:

  • Curriculum vitae;
  • A Project Proposal which includes an overview of the dissertation and information on collections at APS and in the region the applicant intends to use (no more than 5 pages, double-spaced);
  • A sample chapter from their dissertation not to exceed 25 double-spaced pages,
  • An introductory cover letter that discusses their past and current work proposed to be completed on the fellowship;
  • Three letters of reference in support of the project and applicant.

Deadline: February 3, 2023 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time.

Postdoctoral Fellowship

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The 12-month fellowship is intended for a recent Ph.D., professor at any level seeking sabbatical support for a research project, or an independent scholar working on a project. The caliber of the project, and evidence that the project will be completed in a timely manner, are the two most important criteria for selection. The selection committee will also take into consideration the need to be at the APS's Library & Museum and other research institutions in the Philadelphia area. Applicants may be U.S. citizens or foreign nationals. 

Applicants’ research must pertain to topics on the American Revolution and Founding Era (1750-1800). The successful applicant will receive an appointment as a Research Associate at the McNeil Center for Early American Studies, which will provide library and computer privileges at the University of Pennsylvania to those who agree to participate regularly in the McNeil Center’s seminars and other programming (www.mceas.org). The successful applicant will have the opportunity also to participate in programs and other affairs at the American Philosophical Society.

Stipend: $50,000 per year for two years will be awarded to all successful applicants

 All Applicants must submit:

  • Curriculum vitae;
  • A sample chapter from their project or proposal if in the early stages not to exceed 25 double-space pages;
  • An introductory cover letter that discusses their past work and proposed work to be completed on the fellowship;
  • Three letters of recommendation that offer support of the proposed project and speak to the credentials of the applicant.

Deadline: February 3, 2023 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time.

David Center for the American Revolution Short-Term Resident Research Fellowships

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These funding opportunities provide one month of support for researchers in residence and are open to scholars in all fields who show a demonstrated need to use the collections for their project.

Successful applicants are awarded a stipend of $3,000. The stipend is paid after the awardee arrives at the APS's Library & Museum to begin their fellowship. The purpose of the stipend is to defray the costs of working in Philadelphia. Awards are taxable income, but the Society is not required to report payments. It is understood that recipients will discuss their reporting obligations with their tax advisors.

Fellowships may be taken starting any day no earlier than June 1, 2022 and must be completed by May 31, 2023. Fellows are required to be in residence for four consecutive weeks. Fellows do not have to decide on the dates of their fellowship right away; they have one year to decide, although most take their fellowships during the summer period.

If you have already applied for an APS's Library & Museum Short-Term Resident Research Fellowships and are working on a topic related to the American Revolution and founding, you will be automatically considered for a David Center Fellowship.

Applicants may be:

  • Holders of the Ph.D. or its equivalent.
  • Ph.D. candidates who have passed their preliminary examinations and are working on their dissertation research.
  • Degreed independent scholars (without current academic affiliation).
  • U.S. citizens or foreign nationals. Candidates who live 75 or more miles from Philadelphia receive some preference.

 All Applicants must submit:

  • A cover letter,
  • Curriculum vitae,
  • A research proposal (2 pages double-spaced), that outlines the status of your work and what you will research at the American Philosophical Society's Library & Museum. Special attention must be made to specific collections that will be of use during your fellowship.
  • Two confidential letters of reference

Deadline: March 3, 2023 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time.

David Center for the American Revolution Research Fellowships for International Scholars

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These funding opportunities support research by scholars based outside the United States seeking to examine materials at the APS's Library & Museum or other archives in the United States related to topics on the American Revolution and Founding Era. The fellowship is especially intended to support research on the cause, course, consequence, and experiences of the event (1750-1820). These opportunities are open to scholars in all fields who show a demonstrated need to use the collections for their project.

Funding is limited and competitive. Applications will be evaluated based upon the applicant’s demonstrated need to use APS's Library & Museum resources to advance the project. Normally, funds must be used within one year of receipt of the award, but given travel restrictions and safety concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, awardees during this cycle may put off determining their travel dates until safe conditions for travel and research are in place again.

Successful applicants are awarded a stipend of $5,000. The stipend is paid after the awardee arrives in the United States to begin their fellowship. The purpose of the stipend is to defray the costs of working at archives in the United States. Awards are taxable income, but the Society is not required to report payments. It is understood that recipients will discuss their reporting obligations with their tax advisors. The American Philosophical Society does not participate in exchange visa programs. For current information on visa regulations, non-U.S. citizens should consult the U.S. State Department’s visa website at https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas.html or contact a local U.S. consulate. 

Fellowships may be taken starting any day no earlier than August 1, 2022 and must be completed by July 31, 2023. Fellows do not have to decide on the dates of their fellowship right away; they have one year to decide.

Applicants may be:

  • Holders of the Ph.D. or its equivalent.
  • Ph.D. candidates who have passed their preliminary examinations and are working on their dissertation research.
  • Degreed independent scholars (without current academic affiliation).

 All Applicants must submit:

  • A cover letter,
  • Curriculum vitae,
  • A research proposal (2 pages double-spaced), that outlines the status of your work and what you will research at U.S.-based archives. Special attention must be made to specific collections that will be of use during your fellowship.
  • Two confidential letters of reference

Deadline: March 3, 2023 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time.

Current and Past Recipients

2022-2023

The David Center for the American Revolution Predoctoral Fellow

Helena Yoo Roth, The Graduate Center, CUNY, “American Timelines: Imperial Communications, Colonial Time-Consciousness, and the Coming of the American Revolution”

David Center for the American Revolution Short-Term Resident Research Fellows

Iris de Rode, Université Paris 8, "Military Enlightenment on the Ground"

Susan (Brynne) Long, University of Delaware, “The Disagreeable Situation in Between the Civil and the Military”: Prisoner of War Management in the American Revolution”

Andrea Miles, University of Louisville, "Black Rebels: African American Revolutionaries from North Carolina During and After the War of Independence"

Darcy Stevens, University of Maine, "Allegiance and Neutrality in the American Revolutionary Northeast Borderlands"

David Center for the American Revolution International Research Fellows

Joel Herman, Trinity College, Dublin, "Revolutionary Currents: Ideas, Information, and the Imperial Public Sphere in Dublin and New York, c.1760-1784"

Luyao Liu, Fudan University, "Property and Foreign Relations in Early America"

Elodie Peyrol Kleiber, University of Poitiers, "Unfree labor in the French and English Americas: indentured servants, planters and legislators, 17th-18th centuries"

2021-2022

The David Center for the American Revolution Postdoctoral Fellow [2021-2023]

Sean Gallagher, University of California, Davis, “Slaves of the Revolution: Enslaved Public Labor in the War for Independence”

The David Center for the American Revolution Predoctoral Fellow

Nicole Breault, University of Connecticut, Storrs, “The Night Watch of Boston: Law and Governance in Eighteenth-Century British America”

David Center for the American Revolution Short-Term Resident Research Fellows

Kieran O’Keefe, George Washington University, “Suffering for the Crown: The Hudson Valley Loyalists, Violence, and Forced Migration in Revolutionary North America”

Adam McNeil, Rutgers University, “‘I Would No Go With Him’: Black Women, Liberty, and Loyalism in the Revolutionary Era Mid-Atlantic, 1775-1815”

Keely Smith, Princeton University, “Communicating Power and Sovereignty: Creek and Seminole Communication Networks, 1715-1880”

Helena Yoo Roth, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, "American Timelines: Imperial Communications, Colonial Time-Consciousness, and the Coming of the American Revolution"

2020-2021

David Center for the American Revolution Short-Term Resident Research Fellows

Meg Roberts, University of Cambridge, “Domestic Caregiving in the American Revolution”

Robert Wright, Augustana University, “Economic Policy and the American Revolution” 

Benjamin Bankhurst, Shepherd University, “Maryland Loyalism Project”

Christopher Pearl, Lycoming College, “The War Executives: Debating and Creating Executive Power During the American Revolutionary War”