Baird Society Resident Scholar Program
Deadline: January 15 2020 for appointments between September 1, 2020 and August 31, 2021. We will begin accepting applications October 15, 2019.
The Baird Society Resident Scholar Program, funded by the many annual donors to the Smithsonian Libraries, was established to support the study of some of the Smithsonian Libraries’ most unique and valuable holdings: our rare books and Special Collections. Stipends of $3,500 per month for up to six months are available for individuals working on a topic relating to these collections. These collections are located in in Washington, DC and New York City, and include:
- 19th- and early 20th-century World’s Fair printed materials
- Manufacturers’ commercial trade catalogs in the National Museum of American History Library (over 460,000 pieces representing 36,000 companies from the 1840’s to the present) used to study American industrialization, mass production, and consumerism
- Natural history rare books in the Cullman Library (pre-1840 works on topics such as botany, zoology, travel & exploration, museums & collecting, geology, and anthropology)
- Air and space history in the National Air and Space Museum Library’s Ramsey Room for the study of ballooning, rocketry, and aviation from the late 18th to early 20th centuries
- James Smithson’s library in the Cullman Library
- European and American decorative arts, architecture, and design in the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Library, which span from the 18th to the 20th century
- History of art and artists, exhibition catalogs, catalogues raisonnés, serials and dissertations concentrated in the area of American art, history, biography, and nearly 100,000 vertical files filled with artists’ ephemera.
Detailed descriptions of collections eligible for Baird funding can be found here.
Scholars wishing to use the history of science and technology rare materials in the Dibner Library as their primary resource should apply for the Dibner Library Resident Scholar Program.
About the Award
Doctoral students and post-doctoral scholars are welcome to apply. To be competitive, the applicant should describe in detail how he/she intends to use the Special Collections of the Smithsonian Libraries. While the Libraries’ extensive general collections may be used to support scholars’ research, the proposed project must center on use of our Special Collections. The Smithsonian Institution Libraries holdings may be browsed in our online catalog, SIRIS.