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Funding for student researchers

Moore Student Fellowship

Applications are generally due in March of the research year. Please check back in January/February to apply  for next year's Fellowship. 

What are some topics you could research at FHL or SCPC?

  • Peace, nonviolence, pacifism, and conscientious objection
  • Quaker history and spirituality

  • Women’s history, including political rights and feminism; women in social reform movements

  • African-American history, including abolition and civil rights
  • Native American history

  • Environmental activism

  • Prison reform
  • Humane treatment of the mentally ill
  • Swarthmore College history
  • Swarthmore Borough history

Explore the websites of the Friends Historical Library, Peace Collection, and College Archives, to see what is available. If you have a topic idea but aren’t sure where to start or what collections to use, please email  friends@swarthmore.edu, peacecollection@swarthmore.edu, or archives@swarthmore.edu for ideas or suggestions. We can discuss possibilities with you over email or schedule an in-person or Zoom appointment.

2020 RECIPIENT: Thandiwe McMillan completed her research fellowship virtually due to COVID. She spent the last two weeks reading about the experiences of Black students on Swarthmore campus, activism at Swarthmore in the context of the broader New Left movement, and racism within the Society of Friends (including the ugly details of Quakers' history of enslavement).

2020 RECIPIENT: Susanna McGrew completed her research fellowship virtually due to COVID. She spent most of her time learning about William Penn and Lucretia Mott

2019 RECIPIENT: Keton Kakkar spent their week examining one of our new acquisitions: the Mira Sharpless Townsend Papers. Mira Sharpless Townsend, a major Quaker social activist and reformer in Philadelphia, had strong views regarding women, slavery, temperance and capital punishment. She was the driving force behind the founding of the Rosine Association, established to assist "fallen women." Founded by women, for women, and under complete female management, it vowed not to judge women who worked as prostitutes, but rather to assist them find "more dignified labor." http://archives.tricolib.brynmawr.edu/repositories/7/resources/10074

2019 RECIPIENT: Zara Williams-Nicholas spent her spring break here studying the history of dance at Swarthmore College, specifically exploring how dance has supported student identities and created spaces for healing.

2020 RECIPIENT: Thandiwe McMillan completed her research fellowship virtually due to COVID. She spent the last two weeks reading about the experiences of Black students on Swarthmore campus, activism at Swarthmore in the context of the broader New Left movement, and racism within the Society of Friends (including the ugly details of Quakers' history of enslavement).

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Eligibility: The Moore Student Fellowship opportunity is available to Swarthmore College students enrolled for the 2023-2024 school year. All others (including Swarthmore College faculty and staff, as well as outside applicants) are encouraged to apply for the Moore Research Fellowship through a separate application process (click here).

Requirements: Recipient must complete ten 3-hour shifts (in-person or remote) within a ten-week period between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024. Shifts must be spent utilizing materials available via Swarthmore Special Collections (see the FHL Discover Our Collections page, or the Explore Our Collection page on the Peace Collection site) for online resource ideas). On your last day, you must give a very brief, very informal presentation (discussion) to Special Collections staff about your research (can be via Zoom). No funds are dispersed until the fellow completes all 10 shifts and participates in this presentation/discussion.

"Residency" Fellowships: Recipients are encouraged to consider completing a "residency" fellowship: a dedicated weeks spent in-person in the Special Collections Reading Room. The Special Collections Reading Room is open 9:00a-4:00p, Monday through Friday. Housing arrangements are not provided as part of this fellowship. You are expected to secure your own on- or off-campus housing as needed. If you are living in college housing, note that you can stay over spring or fall break without making any special arrangements. To stay extra time during the summer or winter break you must contact the Office of Student Engagement ose@swarthmore.edu.

Application procedure: Complete this application form and email it to Celia at ccauste1@swarthmore.edu. 

Application deadline: Applications are due March 31, 2023.

Questions? Email Celia at ccauste1@swarthmore.edu

Past recipients:
2019: Tessa Hannigan ‘20, Keton Kakkar ‘21, Wambui (Marian) Mwenja ‘20, and Zara Williams-Nicholas ‘19.
2020:  Bellara Huang '21, Ross Layton ‘20, Susanna McGrew ‘20, Thandiwe McMillan ‘20, and Jolleen Opula ‘21.
2021: Not offered

2022: Anastasia Erley '24, Jordan Jackson '25, Virginia Moscetti '23, Andres Villalba '25, and Pearl Zhang '23.