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To our donors, thank you for your commitment to the Omohundro Institute’s mission and programs. The Institute depends on the generosity of its supporters to continue its dedication to the advancement of study, research, and publications bearing on the history and culture of early America. Annual gifts from members of the Associates and gifts directed to support specific projects enable the Institute to stimulate interest in the earliest period of American history, disseminate historical knowledge through the publication of books and the William and Mary Quarterly, assist writers and scholars in their work, maintain the highest standards of historical accuracy and integrity, and further an understanding of the early Republic.

From July 1, 2006–June 30, 2007, 1,113 individuals joined the Associates, including 131 new members and 982 renewing members, and made gifts totaling $123,871. This represents an 8 percent increase in the number of Associates and a nearly 14 percent increase in gifts received compared to the previous fiscal year. The Institute is deeply grateful to all of you who generously affirmed your interest and support by becoming Associates this year.

Associates’ contributions account for nearly 10 percent of the Institute’s budget and build upon the support provided by the Institute’s two permanent sponsors, The College of William and Mary and Colonial Williamsburg. Your annual gifts enable us to reach out in new directions and to respond meaningfully to opportunities for advancing research and writing about early America.

Ghana Conference

The recent conference in Ghana on August 8–12, 2007—“The bloody Writing is for ever torn”: Domestic and International Consequences of the First Governmental Efforts to Abolish the Atlantic Slave Trade—has been a major focus of the Institute’s fund-raising efforts. Almost two years before convening the conference, the Institute received gifts providing the funds for the meeting from the conference’s co-sponsors: The Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale University; The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History; The W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University; The Reed Foundation; and The Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation at the University of Hull.

In the fall of 2005, the Institute began seeking $150,000 to support the attendance and participation of sub-Saharan African faculty and graduate students at the meeting. We are pleased to report that this effort exceeded its goal with a total of $169,000 received from individuals, foundations, and organizations. Those to whom the Omohundro Institute can publicly express its gratitude are: The British Council, The College of William and Mary, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Rouse-Bottom Foundation, The United States Embassy-Accra, Ghana, Sidney Lapidus, Paul Sperry, Hays Watkins, and several anonymous individuals. Because of the generous support of these donors, fifty-eight African faculty and graduate students attended the conference in Accra and Elmina, the first pan-African academic meeting of historians held in Africa since 1961.

The conversations and encounters among all 300 conference participants from around the world were provocative and exciting. The Institute is most grateful to all the donors-for the program and the travel scholarship initiative-that made this conference a reality.

Fellowship in Historical Editing

The Colonial Dames of America renewed its $5,000 annual gift to fund the Institute's Fellowship in Historical Editing for 2007. Gifts from the Colonial Dames have supported the fellowship program since 1996. A gift of $3,000 from The College of William and Mary's Christopher Wren Association funded a second Fellowship in Historical Editing in 2007. The Fellowships in Historical Editing offer talented young history graduate students the opportunity to build upon the skills acquired as Institute editorial apprentices during the academic year. The fellowships support continued editorial work throughout the summer following the apprenticeship and make a significant contribution to the Institute's ability to maintain the high standards for which all of its publications are known.

The Law Papers of St. George Tucker

In June 2006, The Law Papers of St. George Tucker received a two-year grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities providing $100,000 in outright funds and $50,000 in matching funds for the first two years of the project, which began in July 2006. As of June 30, 2007, the Omohundro Institute and the Tucker Papers had surpassed the matching goal with gifts totaling $75,000, including a $15,000 grant from The William Nelson Cromwell Foundation, a $15,000 grant from The Richard Gwathmey and Caroline T. Gwathmey Memorial Trust, a $25,000 grant from The Warren W. Hobbie Charitable Trust, and a $20,000 grant from The Roller-Bottimore Foundation.

Shawn A. Holl
Director of Development