TRAVEL AND RESEARCH AWARDS PROGRAM

New Deadline

The collections of the National Park Service's Longfellow National Historic Site (Vassall-Craigie-Longfellow House) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, include a significant archive of materials (letters, diaries, photographs, art, books and material objects) on a variety of subjects from the 17th to early 20th century. Many relate to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's family, relatives (such as the Dana family), and literary circle (the poet's personal papers are in Harvard's Houghton Library). These surprisingly diverse materials have the potential to greatly enrich our understanding of local, regional, national, and even international literary, cultural and political history. For an overview of the collections see our archives.

To encourage the use of these archives and collections, the Friends of the Longfellow House have established two annual Fellowships with stipends of $1200: the Diana Korzenik Fellowship in honor of the founder of the Friends of the Longfellow House and the Stanley Paterson Fellowship in memory of a deceased board member. Both stipends are intended to help defray the living or travel expenses of researchers who wish to come to the Cambridge/Boston area to use the Longfellow House archives/collections (as well as related Boston-area collections). Award recipients are expected to be in residence conducting their research in the Cambridge/Boston area for at least a two-week period from May 2009 through March 2010. They are requested to send the Friends a copy of the results in a published or unpublished form or, if possible, to present the results in a talk to the Friends and the public.

The application deadline this year is April 8th, 2009. Applicants should submit a single completed Korzenik/Paterson application form, a brief (1-3 page) project description, and a curriculum vitae. The form is available here. Those selected to receive an award will be notified by April 30, 2009. Preference will be given to applicants whose research plan makes maximum use of the Longfellow House Archives and Collections.

Requests for further information about the fellowship competition should be sent by email to Robert Cameron Mitchell, chair, Fellowship Committee at rmitchell@clarku.edu. Our website has information about previous fellowship holders. We encourage applicants to contact the Longfellow House archivist, Anita Israel, (anita_israel@nps.gov) to discuss the fit between their project and the materials available in the Longfellow House collections. Completed applications should be sent by email to rmitchell@clarku.edu, by fax to 617.661.9697 or by surface mail with a postmark no later than 8 April 2009 to Robert Mitchell, 26 Farrar St., Cambridge, MA 02138.