Dillon Fellowship, Spring-Summer 2025
Pequot Library in Southport, Connecticut, is pleased to invite applications for its Dillon Fellowship for Spring and Summer 2025. This two to four-week fellowship carries a stipend of up to $3,000 to support a scholar interested in working with Pequot Library’s Special Collections. Applications are welcome from graduate students, post-doctoral researchers, faculty, and independent scholars and researchers.
About the collection
Rare books and manuscripts have been an important part of Pequot Library’s collections since the library’s opening in 1894, and these collections have continued to grow over the past 130 years, thanks in large part to a number of significant donations. Strengths include:
- Early American sermons from throughout New England, including election sermons, fast sermons, and thanksgiving sermons, as well as a number of manuscript sermons.
- An Anti-Slavery Pamphlet collection, including 18th and 19th century anti-slavery and abolitionist publications, as well as Civil War-era and Reconstruction pamphlets.
- Children’s Historical Collection, containing early American primers as well as extensive collections by Connecticut authors including Samuel Goodrich and Lydia Sigourney, as well as local imprints.
- A partial First Folio (containing King Lear and Othello) and complete Second, Third, and Fourth Folios of William Shakespeare
- Revolutionary War-era pamphlets and publications, as well as manuscript letters and receipts documenting local activity during the war.
Fellowship requirements
The award may be spent at the discretion of the Fellow. Fellows are expected to be onsite at least three days per week during the fellowship, and must make their own arrangements for travel and accommodation. Fellows will be asked to speak about their ongoing research at an informal work-in-progress presentation or program during their visit to the library. Fellows will be asked to provide a 250 to 500 word blog post about their research experience within one month of the completion of their visit. Each fellow’s name, affiliation, research project title, and blog posting may be used in future reports and publicity about the fellowship program. Fellowship recipients will be asked to cite the Pequot Library Dillon Fellowship in presentations and publications originating from their research visits.
The Fellowship is made possible through the generous support of The Dillon Fund.
How to apply
The application should contain the following:
- A cover letter including title of project, dates, and contact information
- CV of no more than three pages
- A 2 – 3 page proposal describing the project to be pursued, its significance for scholarship, the proposed end result (publication, dissertation, etc) materials you plan to consult (1,500 word maximum).
- Applications will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis.