Scholars Selected for Research Fellowships at The Washington Library

MOUNT VERNON, VA – Mount Vernon has selected 18 leading history scholars who will receive fully-funded research fellowships at the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington (Washington Library) for the 2018-19 academic year. These fellows will study on site at the Washington Library for up to six months beginning this fall.

Now in its sixth year, the Washington Library’s fellowship program has become a highly sought-after honor for academics researching topics related to George Washington, his life, and the founding era. These awards also provide a welcome opportunity for scholars to work on their research projects, which are reviewed by an independent jury of academics. While in residence, the fellows become an important part of the Mount Vernon community. They take part in day-to-day activities at the estate and library. The scholars are frequently called upon to share their findings in formal settings and casual gatherings for staff, other visiting scholars, and special guests.

“There is no better place to study George Washington and the era in which he lived than here at Mount Vernon,” said Mount Vernon President and CEO, Dr. Doug Bradburn. “But even better than the opportunity of the fellows to learn at Mount Vernon—we learn from them, and they learn from each other. Solid scholarship remains as important as ever and we’re delighted to play a role in patronizing new thinking.”

Research fellowships less than three months provide a stipend of $3,000 per month, three-month fellowships provide $10,000, and six-month fellowships provide $20,000. All awards include onsite housing, as well as round-trip airfare or mileage reimbursement for one trip to and from Mount Vernon. For more information, please visit mountvernon.org/researchfellows.

The 2018-19 Mount Vernon Research Fellows include the following scholars, listed with their topic of study:

Rachel Banke, Ph.D.
Bute's Empire: Reform, Reaction, and the Roots of Imperial Crisis

Mark Boonshoft, Ph.D.
Education and the Fight over Who Should Rule at Home in the Early Republic

Kristen Brill, Ph.D.
The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association and the Politics of Neutrality in the Civil War Era (1861-74)

Justin Cherry
The Impact of George Washington’s Mount Vernon in 18th-Century Foodways

Frank Cogliano, Ph.D.
Jefferson and Washington

Sara Collini
Birthing A Nation: Enslaved Women and Midwifery in Early America, 1750-1820

George Goodwin, FRHistS, FRSA
George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and the Propaganda and Intelligence War in the British Isles and Europe During the American Revolution

Sean P. Harvey, Ph.D.
Albert Gallatin, the Early Republic, and the Atlantic World

James F. Hrdlicka, Ph.D.
Federal Empire: Constitution-Making in Revolutionary America

Elizabeth Jamieson
A Carriage for the President? The Powel Coach and its Place in the Story of George Washington’s Mount Vernon

Joyce Zankel Lindorff, D.M.A.
A Harpsichord as Cultural Narrator: Eleanor Parke Custis and Music-Making at Mount Vernon

Daniel Livesay, Ph.D.
Endless Bondage: Slavery in Old Age and the Origins of Paternalism

William D. Rieley, P.L.A.
The Guiding Geometry of George Washington’s Mount Vernon Landscape

Brian Douglas Steele, Ph.D.
“A Man to Whom the Whole World is Offering Incense”: The Founders Remember George Washington

David O. Stewart
America’s Master Politician

Mark A. Tabbert
'A Deserving Brother': George Washington & Freemasonry

Karin Wulf, Ph.D.
Founders on Founding: Genealogy and Political Legacies in Washington’s America

Hubert Zapf, Ph.D.
George Washington, Frederick the Great, and the Emergence of National Literary Cultures: A Transatlantic Comparison

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