News

Newberry Library Awarded Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to Support Fellowship Program

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has awarded the Newberry $382,500—plus an additional $180,000 in matching grants—to support the library’s long-standing fellowship program.

Melissa moreton 06 14 2018 12 copy

Scholar and former Newberry fellow Melissa Moreton examines a bookbinding in the library’s special collections reading room.

Scholar and former Newberry fellow Melissa Moreton examines a bookbinding in the library’s special collections reading room.

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has awarded the Newberry $382,500—plus an additional $180,000 in matching grants—to support the library's long-standing fellowship program.

The grant funding enables the Newberry to continue supporting scholars over the next three years as they pursue new research using the library’s diverse collections in the humanities.

"The Newberry’s fellowship program lets tremendously talented scholars work intensively with our collections and also join together as a community,"said Brad Hunt, the Newberry's Vice President for Research and Academic Programs. "These scholars are transformed by their residencies at the Newberry, and the scholarship they produce reflects the new ideas and new thinking they develop during their fellowships.”

Newberry-NEH fellows often note the benefits of having uninterrupted time both to research and to engage with colleagues and library staff.

"My time at the Newberry proved to be even more intellectually rich and scholastically rewarding than I anticipated,"said Anne Koenig, a historian of medicine and recent Newberry fellow. "Having time to focus on a particular manuscript in the collection and to immerse myself in the Newberry's rich pool of medieval and early modern scholarship felt luxurious, but was in fact a critically needed step in my career and publication trajectory."

The NEH has supported the Newberry’s highly competitive fellowship program since 1975.

"For decades, NEH grants have been instrumental in helping the Newberry fulfill its mission,"said Newberry President and Librarian Daniel Greene. "This latest NEH award comes at a critical moment. As the nation fights a global pandemic, the humanities play a critically important role in addressing the moral, economic, and ethical challenges that lie ahead. We’re grateful to the NEH for advancing the humanities, here at the Newberry and beyond.”