The State Historical Society of Missouri is seeking proposals for two Center for Missouri Studies fellowships to begin January 1, 2024. Each fellowship carries a stipend of $5,000 for a project that results in the completion of a 6,000 to 8,000-word scholarly essay on one of the two topics listed below. The deadline for submitting proposals is Sept. 5, 2023, and the competition is open to both academic and independent scholars.
Topics for 2024 Center for Missouri Studies Fellowships:
- Labor History in Missouri. This fellowship is open to a broad range of explorations considering Missouri laborers, workplaces, industry, occupations, or working-class culture. All time periods and regions of the state will be considered.
- Missouri Women in the Great Depression or World War II. Proposed projects should examine the experiences and/or accomplishments of a woman or group of women in Missouri during one of these transformative periods. How did Missouri women respond as economic hardship or war mobilization tested workers, families, and traditional gender roles? What opportunities or struggles arose as women shaped, and were shaped by, the changing times? How were perspectives on womanhood affected?
The fellowship awards will be announced in December. The chosen projects will be considered for publication in the Missouri Historical Review, the only quarterly journal devoted to scholarship on Missouri’s history. Fellowship recipients will also have an opportunity to make a public presentation of their work.
Launched in 2015, the Center for Missouri Studies Fellowships underwrite valuable scholarship about Missouri's past, including the interdisciplinary study of Missouri history and culture. "The fellowships are designed to promote scholarship in underexplored areas of Missouri history and culture,” said State Historical Society of Missouri executive director Gary R. Kremer. “They encourage us to take notice of the lessons that can be found, when we look at our past in new ways and in new places."
Further information regarding the fellowships and how to apply for them is available online at shsmo.org. Proposals may be submitted online at shsmo.org/awards/center-fellowship