The Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) is accepting applications for the 2024 Eudora Welty Research Fellowship, 2024 Medgar and Myrlie Evers Research Fellowship, and the inaugural Religion in Mississippi History Fellowship. The competitive scholarships may be used for research at MDAH for a minimum of two weeks during the summer of 2024.

Eudora Welty Research Fellowship 

Offered in partnership with the Eudora Welty Foundation, the annual Eudora Welty Research Fellowship awards a $5,000 stipend to one graduate student to conduct research using the Eudora Welty Collection at MDAH for at least two weeks during the summer.

The Eudora Welty Collection is the world’s finest collection of materials related to Welty and one of the most varied literary collections in the United States. The collection is divided over 45 series and includes manuscripts, correspondence, photographs, drawings, essays, family papers and audio and visual material that spans Welty’s entire life.

Medgar and Myrlie Evers Research Fellowship  

The Medgar and Myrlie Evers Research Fellowship is offered in partnership with the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Institute and awards a $5,000 stipend to one graduate student or faculty member within the first five years of their academic career to conduct research using the Medgar Wiley and Myrlie Beasley Evers Papers at MDAH for at least two weeks during the summer.

The Medgar Wiley and Myrlie Beasley Evers Papers at MDAH include Evers and Beasley family papers dating from the early 1900s to around July 1964, when Myrlie Evers and her children moved to Claremont, Calif. The papers are divided into four subgroups: the papers of Medgar Evers as Mississippi field secretary of the NAACP; family papers of Medgar Evers; family papers of Myrlie Evers; and records relating to the case of the State of Mississippi v. Byron De La Beckwith.

Religion in Mississippi History Fellowship  

The new Religion in Mississippi History Fellowship is to “encourage and support the use of the many archival collections concerning religious history in Mississippi held by the department.”  This fellowship is part of MDAH’s Religion Initiative, which is made possible by funding from Lilly Endowment Inc.

This competitive fellowship opportunity offers a $5,000 stipend to a student enrolled in a graduate or doctoral program at an accredited college or university with an interest in conducting primary source research in the wealth of archival materials concerning religious history in Mississippi and related materials at MDAH.

The recipient of each fellowship is expected to conduct research in residence at the archives for a minimum of two weeks in Jackson during the summer of 2024, during the period of May to September.

The deadline for all 2024 fellowship applications is March 1, 2024. Additional information, including the application forms for the individual fellowships can be found at mdah.ms.gov/careers-volunteering/fellowship-opportunities.

For additional information and questions about the Eudora Welty Fellowship, e-mail Lis Cambonga at ecambonga@mdah.ms.gov.

For additional information and questions about the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Fellowship and Religion in Mississippi History Fellowship, email Laura Heller at lheller@mdah.ms.gov.