Research Fellowships

The Tennessee Historical Society awards the Wills Research Fellowship on an annual basis. The purpose of the fellowship is to promote the interpretation of Tennessee history and the scholarly use of the Society’s collections, housed at the Tennessee State Library and Archives. The fellowship is provided through the Society’s Jesse E. Wills Memorial Fund. The collections of the Society are especially strong in the frontier, Jacksonian, antebellum, and Civil War eras.

The award of the fellowship is made on the basis of the applicant’s scholarly qualifications, the merits of the proposal, and the topic’s demonstrated use of the Tennessee Historical Society collections. Research that will likely result in an article for publication in the Tennessee Historical Quarterly, which is produced by the THS, will receive highest consideration.

A single $500 stipend for a one-week fellowship period will be awarded for the researcher who lives outside the Nashville area or a stipend of $150 a week (for up to three weeks) will be awarded for the researcher who will be commuting in Nashville. University history faculty, doctoral candidates, and published public and lay historians are eligible.

Applicants are asked to submit a cover letter, resume, two letters of recommendation (which may be mailed separately), and a description of the research project not longer than two double-spaced typed pages. The project description must demonstrate the relevance to the project of using the Society’s collections, and preferably include the identification of specific materials to be used.