Mount Vernon. Photo by: KJ Mushung

Topics of Study Range from Washington’s Music to 19th Century African American Life at Mount Vernon

Mount Vernon has selected 17 leading history scholars who will receive fully-funded research fellowships at the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington for the 2016-17 academic year. These fellows will study on site at The Washington Library for up to six months beginning this fall.

Now in its fourth year, The Washington Library’s fellowship program has become a highly sought-after honor for academics researching topics related to George Washington, his life, and the founding era. While in residence, the fellows become an important part of the Mount Vernon community. They take part in day-to-day activities at the estate and library. The scholars are frequently called upon to share their findings in formal settings and casual gatherings for staff, other visiting scholars, and special guests.

“There is no better place to study George Washington and the era in which he lived than here at Mount Vernon,” said the library’s founding director, Dr. Doug Bradburn. “We can tell that word has clearly gotten out about our research fellowship program by the caliber of applicants we have attracted.”

All fellows will receive onsite housing, as well as round-trip airfare or mileage reimbursement for one trip to and from Mount Vernon.

The 2016-17 Mount Vernon Research Fellows include the following scholars, listed with their topic of study:

David T. Flaherty – Ph.D. candidate at the University of Virginia
Envisioning the British Atlantic: Strategies for Settlement and Sovereignty on the North American Caribbean Frontiers, 1700-1763. Recipient of the Society of Colonial Wars Fellowship.

Scott C. Miller – Ph.D. candidate at the University of Virginia
A Merchant’s Republic: Independence, Depression, and the Development of American Capitalism, 1760-1807. Recipient of James C. Rees Entrepreneurship Fellowship funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation.

Rosemarie Zagarri Ph.D. – George Mason University
The Empire Comes Home: Thomas Law and the Making of British India and the Early American Republic

Jamie L. Brummitt Ph.D. candidate at Duke University
Protestant Relics: The Politics of Religion & the Art of Mourning in the Early American Republic

Colin G. Calloway Ph.D. – Dartmouth College
The Indian World of George Washington: First Americans, the First President, and the Birth of the Nation. Recipient of the James C. Rees Fellowship on the Leadership of George Washington.

Jonathan Den Hartog Ph.D. – University of Northwestern
Statesmanship and Diplomacy in the New Nation: George Washington and John Jay

Lorri Glover Ph.D. – Saint Louis University
An “All Accomplished” Woman: The Life and Legacies of Eliza Lucas Pinckney

Ricardo Herrera Ph.D. – U.S. Army Command and General Staff College
Feeding Valley Forge: The Grand Forage of 1778

David Hildebrand Ph.D. – Peabody Conservatory
Interpreting Washington through Music: Continued Studies of Sources and Applications

Matthew J. Hollis – Ph.D. candidate at Binghamton University
The Politicization of Supplies in the American Revolution

Donald Johnson Ph.D. – North Dakota State University
Occupied America: Military Rule and the Everyday Experience of Revolution

Aimée Keithan – Ph.D. candidate at the University of York, England
From the Garrets to the Cellars: Mount Vernon’s Role in the Development of American Domestic Service Architecture

William Kerrigan Ph.D. – Muskingum University
Citizen Henfield: Privateering and the Politics of Neutrality during Washington’s Presidency

Rebecca Schumann – Ph.D. candidate at the University of Urbana-Champaign
Overcoming the Silence: Free African American Life at 19th Century Mount Vernon

Philip Smucker
Riding with George: On the Trail of America’s First Sportsman and President

Maurizio Valsania Ph.D. – University of Turin
Founding Bodies: Corporeality and the Early Republic

Betsy Garrett Widmer
“Endearing society”: Children and Family at Mount Vernon, 1759-1799

By: Contributing Author

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