Fellowships Overview
Predoctoral Fellowships
The Omohundro Institute of Early American History & Culture offers predoctoral fellowships for early American graduate students.
Lapidus-OI Fellowships offer up to eight $1,000 fellowships annually to support advanced graduate student archival research related to early American and transatlantic print culture. The funds are intended to help defray the cost of travel expenses associated with research. Advanced graduate students working at institutions in the United States and abroad are encouraged and eligible to apply.
Fellowships in Historical Editing are awarded to talented history and American Studies graduate students at William & Mary who have served as OI apprentices. These annual fellowships recognize exemplary work by apprentices. Current or former OI editorial apprentices in any phase of their graduate school experience in the Department of History or the American Studies Program at William & Mary are eligible to apply.
Short Term Fellowships
Lapidus Fellowship for the Study of Rare Early American Legal Texts are offered in conjunction with the William & Mary Law School and offer a one-month visiting fellowship for scholars—from advanced graduate students to senior scholars—with strong interests in early American legal history. Fellows must make use of some of the resources included in the collection of rare books donated to the Wolf Law Library at W&M by Sid Lapidus as part of the exhibition “British and Colonial Antecedents of American Liberties” (October 1, 2019 through March 15, 2020). The stipend for the fellowship is $2,500.
OI-Folger Institute Short-Term Visiting Fellowships are dedicated to funding studies of early America, broadly understood. Folger-OI fellowships support researchers—from advanced graduate students to senior scholar—with strong interests in Atlantic history, colonial history, literary studies, performance history, and material culture. Folger-OI fellows receive $3,500 for four continuous weeks of work at the Folger Institute in Washington, DC. Recipients are expected to join the OI Associates program upon notification of their selection, if not already a member. The cost of membership dues will be added to the fellowship award when it is disbursed. Please note that ABD applicants who are applying exclusively for this fellowship should state this intent in their application. Applications for this fellowship are handled through the Folger website .
OI-Fort Ticonderoga Short-Term Visiting Fellowships support scholars—from advanced graduate students to senior scholars—with strong interests in early America, broadly understood, whose work may benefit from access to the collections at Fort Ticonderoga. Fort Ticonderoga holds one of North America’s largest collections of military material culture, covering the colonization of North America and the ensuing colonial conflicts, as well as the Seven Years’ War, the American Revolution, and the War of 1812. Fellows make use of Fort Ticonderoga’s collections and facilities, including office space and, when possible, lodgings on the grounds of the fort. Fellows may choose to take the award in one four-week or two two-week residencies. The stipend for the fellowship is $2,500.