Connecting Vast Early America
The OI is an independent research organization sponsored by William & Mary, home of the nation’s top-ranked graduate program in early American history and culture, and Colonial Williamsburg, the largest outdoor living museum in the United States.
The Latest at OI
BJ Lillis
Welcome BJ Lillis, 2025-2026 OI-NEH Postdoctoral Fellow BJ Lillis is an early American historian specializing in the intersections between Indigenous history, Atlantic slavery, and settler-colonial political economy. They are currently […]
Learn MorePatrick Barker
Welcome Patrick Barker, 2025-2026 OI-NEH Postdoctoral Fellow Patrick Barker is an assistant professor of History at Miami Dade College–Hialeah Campus. He received a Ph.D. in History from Yale University in […]
Learn MoreA Folder of One’s Own: Hannah Lawrence Schieffelin’s Life in Poetry
By Kaitlin Tonti (Hollins University) Kaitlin Tonti was the recipient of an Omohundro Institute—Mount Vernon Digital Collections Fellowship in 2018. This post describes the work she undertook as a fellow. […]
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CONFERENCES
Forums for Scholarship
The OI’s annual conference is a major meeting for scholars of early America. The content of each meeting is handled by a program committee charged with privileging new ideas and interpretations over well-worn topics. Junior as well as senior scholars present their work and care is taken to keep the meeting and accommodations affordable for graduate students.
Smaller conferences, each with a more narrow topical focus than the annual conference, are developed by scholars in the field and offer opportunities for the OI to partner with other organizations.
WILLIAM AND MARY QUARTERLY
A Leading Journal
The William and Mary Quarterly is the leading journal of early American history and culture. Founded in 1892 and published by the Omohundro Institute in Williamsburg, Virginia, it is one of the oldest academic journals in the United States and was one of the first ten archived on JSTOR. Today, the Quarterly ranks among the most-cited journals covering a specific time and place and is one of the most-respected and most-acclaimed historical journals in the world.
SCHOLARSHIP IN PRINT
Books
FELLOWSHIPS
Supporting Scholars
The OI offers fellowships for scholars of early America, broadly understood, via postdoctoral, predoctoral, and travel fellowships to OI conferences. We are grateful to our partners for their help in making these opportunities available.
ASSOCIATES
Support the OI
The Omohundro Institute of Early American History & Culture appreciates the generosity and dedication of our donors. Together, we support early American scholars and scholarship. Since our founding in 1943, annual support from Omohundro Institute Associates has helped the OI support excellence in early American scholarship and explore new initiatives to enhance this mission.
