The Scholars Research Program, funded by the Ulysses S. Grant Association, provides grants to qualified scholars for on-campus research in the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library, located at Mississippi State University. Mainly consisting of photocopies and typescripts of Grant correspondence, the Library’s collection was accumulated by the Ulysses S. Grant Association for the preparation of the 32-volume Papers of Ulysses S. Grant. The collection is the largest concentration of Grant items anywhere, and only a percentage of the collection appears in the published volumes.
Graduate students and post-doctoral scholars are especially encouraged to apply, although applications from all scholars in nineteenth century American history will be considered. All applications will be subject to anonymous peer-review; final decisions will be made by USGA’s three-judge panel. Applications will be reviewed in the order received; applicants will be notified of the judges’ decision no later than two months after receipt of application. Awardees must make research visits with a year after date of award notification.
The grant funds must be used for travel, lodging, meals, photocopying and other expenses directly connected to the recipient’s research-related expenses in the Grant Collection. Recipients must supply expense receipts before receiving reimbursement from the Association. Researchers are limited to one grant award every three years. Priorities will be given to those applicants who have not previously received awards.
Application Guidelines
The following must be included in the research proposal:
- Description of the proposal, not to exceed 500 words
- Personal vita
- How the applicant thinks the Grant papers will contribute to the proposed subject
- Budget proposal
- For graduate students, one letter of reference from an established scholar in the specific area of the proposed topic which endorses the significance of the research
To apply or ask questions, contact us.
The panel includes:
- Dr. Anne E. Marshall, Executive Director
- James A. Bultema, President, Ulysses S. Grant Association
- Dr. Ryan P. Semmes, Director of Research
Previous Recipients
- Dr. Michael Fitzgerald, St. Olaf’s College, Minnesota. Resulting work: Splendid Failure: Postwar Reconstruction in the American South.
- Dr. Charles Calhoun, East Carolina University. Resulting work: The Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant.
- Dr. Glenn LaFantasie, Western Carolina University. Resulting work: The Union Forever: Lincoln, Grant, and the Civil War.
- Dr. Ronald C. White, Scholar in residence, Huntington Library. Resulting work: American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. Grant.
- Dr. William Mulligan, Murray State University.
- Lindsay Smith, University of Alabama.
- Aaron Dilday, Texas A & M.