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2025 WILLIAM E. FOLEY RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP

The Friends of the Missouri State Archives offer the William E. Foley Research Fellowship to support scholarly research using public records. This fellowship is open to any research project that utilizes the holdings of the Missouri State Archives or its St. Louis branch to advance knowledge of state or national history.

Fellowship Award and Requirements

The fellowship provides a $1,500 award to help cover research expenses at the Archives and/or its St. Louis branch. The award is distributed in two payments:

  • $700 upon returning a signed research and publication guidelines form
  • $800 after completing the proposed research

Recipients must conduct their research within one year of award notification and submit a final report detailing their work. Any resulting publications must acknowledge the Friends of the Missouri State Archives and the William E. Foley Research Fellowship, and copies must be provided to the Archives.

How to Apply

To apply for the 2025 William E. Foley Research Fellowship, submit the following materials:

  • Completed application form
  • Research proposal (max. 1,000 words)
  • Curriculum vitae
  • List of three professional references

These materials should be sent via email to [email protected] or by mail to:

Missouri State Archives
P.O. Box 1747
Jefferson City, MO 65102

Deadline and Notification
All application materials must be received by Wednesday, April 30, 2025. The fellowship recipient will be notified no later than Friday, May 9, 2025.

Selection Criteria

The selection committee evaluates applications based on:

  • The strength and feasibility of the research proposal
  • The relevance of the project to the Missouri State Archives’ holdings, with preference given to proposals citing specific collections
  • The research’s potential impact on the academic community
  • The qualifications of the applicant

Priority is given to projects requiring onsite research at the Missouri State Archives or its St. Louis branch rather than online records.

About the Missouri State Archives

As the official repository for Missouri’s state records of historical value, the Archives holds materials dating back to 1770. Its vast collection includes:

  • Over 338 million pages of paper records
  • 770,000 photographs and prints
  • 9,000 maps
  • Nearly 200,000 microfilm reels
  • Tens of thousands of state publications
  • A significant assemblage of audiotapes, DVDs/CDs, and videos

These records document topics such as the western fur trade, slavery, the Civil War, military history from the War of 1812 to World War II, European immigration, and modern Missouri politics. Major collections include Missouri governors’ papers, general assembly records, Supreme Court of Missouri case files, and extensive microfilmed county and municipal documents.

For more information, please contact [email protected].

 

2025 William E. Foley Research Fellowship Application

 

Recent William E. Foley Research Fellows

2024 Cooper Wingert, Georgetown University, Topic: Wartime Freedom Seekers, Union Provost Marshals, and Military Emancipation during the Civil War
2023 Diane L. Mutti Burke, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Topic: Scattered to the Four Winds of the Earth: The Civilian Refugee Crisis in the American Civil War
2022 Evan Elizabeth Hart, Missouri Western State University, Topic: Abortion on Trial: The State of Missouri v. Goodson and Abortion in 1920s Missouri
2021 Lauren N. Henley, University of Richmond, Topic: Striking it Rich: Black Children and Allotment Policies in Jim Crow America
2020 Jeremy Neely, Missouri State University, Topic: Missouri Reconstructed: Freedom and Loyalty in the Post-Civil War West
2019 Daniel Farrell, University of Cincinnati, Topic: Assessing Loyalty, Punishing Treason: The Arresting and Jailing of Civilians under United States Martial Law during the American Civil War
2018 Luke Ritter, Troy University, Topic: Immigrants and Crime in the 19th Century Midwest
2017 Tangi Villerbu, La Rochelle Université, Topic: Missouri, the French Atlantic and the Early Republic
2016 Megan L Bever, Missouri Southern State University, Topic: Drinking, Self-Control and Loyalty in the Civil War Era