The Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) of William & Mary Libraries is pleased to announce that it will award travel grants to faculty members, graduate students, and/or independent researchers to support research use of its collections. Writers, creative and performing artists, filmmakers, and journalists are welcome to apply.

The SCRC is offering travel grants of maximum $1,500 for researchers 100 miles or more from Williamsburg, VA, and maximum $750 for researchers within 100 miles of Williamsburg, VA. Researchers should specify for which grant they are applying. Recipients may use the funds for more than one trip to the SCRC.

For information on the manuscripts, rare books, and university archives held in the Special Collections Research Center, please visit the SCRC webpage. Strengths of the collections include, but are not limited to, books on dogs, fore-edge painting books, Virginia family papers and libraries, twentieth-century Southern politics, women’s diaries, travel diaries, veterans’ letters, notable alumni, and university history. Prospective applicants are encouraged to discuss their research project and the collections that might support it with Special Collections staff before submitting an application.

About the grant

Eligibility

A successful candidate for the 2024-2025 Travel Scholarship will:

• Reside beyond a 100-mile radius of Williamsburg, Virginia for the $1,500 grant or within a 100-mile radius of Williamsburg for the $750 grant.
• Not be a current William & Mary employee or student.
• Submit a research plan that draws heavily on the manuscripts, rare books, and/or University Archives collections.
• Submit a brief budget with anticipated expenses.
• Commit to schedule their research visit for the 2024-2025 cycle (July 1, 2024 – August 31, 2025).
• Agree to submit a brief research report (1-2 pages) on their findings and experiences.
• Consider placing any published work resulting from their research into the William & Mary Institutional Repository.
• Participate in the intellectual life of the university by making a public presentation of research findings and experiences, meeting with faculty and students who share similar research interests, and/or other engagement activities with the university community. 

Criteria

Applications will be evaluated based on:

• The merit of the research plan.
• The demonstrated need for in-person access to the holdings of the Special Collections Research Center. 

How to apply

Please submit the following:

1. A brief research plan (500 words maximum) that describes the proposed project, lists the specific materials to be consulted, and explains how these materials will benefit the research project. Please name the document: LastName_FirstName_research_plan.pdf.
2. A brief budget of anticipated expenses. Please name the document: LastName_FirstName_budget.pdf.
3. Current curriculum vitae. Please name the document LastName_FirstName_cv.pdf.

Send all application materials by the end of the day on May 31 to spcoll@wm.edu with the email subject line: 2024-2025 Research Travel Grants. Please contact us at spcoll@wm.edu or 757-221-3090 with any questions. 

Important dates

• January 22, 2024: Application period opens.
• May 31, 2024: All application materials are due.
• June 17, 2024: Successful applicants are notified by email.
• July 1, 2024: Grant cycle begins.
• August 31, 2025: Deadline for submitting research report. 

What expenses does the grant cover?

Grant money may be used for the following:

• Transportation expenses (including air, train or bus tickets; car rental; mileage using a personal vehicle; parking fees);
• Accommodations (daily standard range of $108 for Williamsburg/James City and York Counties, Virginia);
• Meals & Incidental Expenses (daily standard per diem rate of $64 for Williamsburg/James City and York Counties, Virginia).

Expenses are reimbursed as they are incurred but must adhere to the William & Mary Travel Guidelines. Please note that reimbursement for travel applies to routes taken based on least mileage. Recipients will not be reimbursed for lodging in an AirBnB. The submission of a William & Mary substitute W-9 Cardinal form is required. Original receipts must be submitted for reimbursement.

Recipients of the Special Collections Research Travel Grant

We are pleased to announce the recipients of the Special Collections Research Travel Grant: 

2023-2024:

• Dr. Susan Branson (Professor, Syracuse University, New York) // Woolen textile manufacturing in the early American republic 
• Dr. Dan Du (Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, North Carolina) // Tea in American culture 
• Dr. Katherine Johnston (Assistant Professor, Montana State University, Montana) // Race and breastfeeding 
• Dr. Jaroslav Kušnír (Professor, University of Prešov, Slovakia) // Hip hop culture in Virginia 
• Dr. Todd Peppers (Professor, Roanoke College, Virginia) // Biography of Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger 

2022-2023: 

•  Dr. Ross Nedervelt (Adjunct Professor, Florida International University, Florida) // Imperialism and (in)access to the Bahamas and Bermuda 
• Dr. Brent Sirota (Associate Professor, North Carolina State University, North Carolina) // Jonathan Boucher and religious modernity 
• Dr. Harrison Wick (Associate Professor/Special Collections Librarian and University Archivist, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania) // Leadership and logistics during and after the Civil War 

2020-2021: 

• Dr. Marcus Nevius (Associate Professor, University of Missouri, Missouri) // Petit marronage and the Great Dismal Swamp 
• Dr. Jonathan Jones (Assistant Professor, James Madison University, Virginia) // The Civil War opioid crisis 
• Dr. Kevin James (Professor, University of Guelph, Canada) // Leisure activities of WWI military personnel during and after wartime 
• Dr. Heike Bauer (Professor, Birkbeck, University of London, UK) // The “dangerous dog” in American culture 
• Dr. Jessie Vander Heide (Lehigh University, Pennsylvania) // Friendships as regulating and instructed relationships 
• Dr. James Mackay (Doctoral candidate, University of Edinburgh, Scotland) // The Black refuge experience 

2019-2020: 

• Dr. Alena Pirok (Assistant Professor of History, Georgia Southern University, Georgia) //  
• Dr. Tom Martin (Interim Associate Vice President for Research and Assistant Professor of Management, Eastern Kentucky University, Kentucky) // Robert Gates and approaches to leadership 
• Russell Hooper (Independent scholar and collector) // Matthew Fontaine Maury and “The Pathfinder Papers” 

2018-2019: 

• Sydney Miller (Doctoral candidate, The Ohio State University, Ohio) // Histories of reading in early Virginia 
• Dr. David Silkenat (Senior Lecturer, University of Edinburgh, Scotland) // Environmental histories of slavery 
• Dr. Pauls Toutonghi (Associate Professor of Creative Writing, Lewis & Clark College, Oregon) // Relationships between humans and dogs throughout history