About · Fellowships
Funded research time at the Filson.
The Filson supports historians, biographers, journalists, graduate students, and community researchers with a layered set of fellowship programs — from a week-long immersive cohort to year-long named fellowships and community-history apprenticeships.
The Filson Institute
A week-long immersive cohort.
The Filson Institute is the Society’s flagship fellowship: a single week each summer in Old Louisville, where a cohort of visiting researchers, faculty, and graduate students works deeply in the Filson’s collections under a unifying theme. The week culminates in a public roundtable.
The 2026 Institute meets in late June around the theme E Pluribus Unum, La Belle Rivière, and the Pursuit of Happiness, the Filson’s contribution to America250. The public roundtable is free and open to all.
2026 cohort application
Deadline: March 2, 2026
Email cover sheet, two-page project description, CV, and two letters of recommendation to Jennie Cole, Director of Collections Access. Applications must speak to the Institute’s annual theme and the relevance of Filson collections to the project.
Named research fellowships
Funded research time, by name.
Endowed · rolling deadline
The David Armstrong History Fellowship
A named fellowship supporting independent and academic historians whose research draws on the Filson’s manuscript and book collections. Fellows receive a stipend, research-room priority, and direct support from reference staff. <strong>Applications are accepted on a rolling basis</strong> — fellows are notified when their applications are accepted.
For: independent historians, biographers, faculty, and advanced graduate students.
Annual
The History Inspires Fellowship
A working fellowship that pairs visiting researchers with Filson collections staff to advance a project that meaningfully uses the holdings. Recent cohorts have produced exhibitions, conference papers, and forthcoming books.
For: working historians, journalists, and educators.
Community-led research
The Community History Fellows Program.
An apprenticeship-style program for community researchers, neighborhood historians, and educators — people whose work is rooted in a specific Louisville community or Kentucky place rather than an academic department. Fellows work alongside Filson staff to design a research project, learn collection-finding skills, and produce a public-facing output (an essay, exhibit module, walking tour, or oral-history reel).
Cohorts have included neighborhood historians from across Louisville. Applications open each spring.
Apply or learn more
Two contacts cover everything.
- Filson Institute applications + general fellowship questions: Jennie Cole, Director of Collections Access.
- Questions about Filson collections + holdings: research@filsonhistorical.com.