Green-Wood Cemetery Launches All-New History Fellowship

With a legacy spanning over 185 years, 580,000 individuals interred and memorialized across its grounds, and an archive of records documenting it all—The Green-Wood Cemetery represents a vast, untapped resource for historical investigation.

Recognizing this incredible potential, Green-Wood seeks to engage researchers and members of the general public alike with history. This April marks the launch of a new history fellowship that provides support for one current graduate student or early-career scholar to conduct independent research in any area of study that makes use of Green-Wood's historical resources.

The selected researcher will be awarded a $5,000 honorarium and unparalleled access to the Cemetery’s primary source assets—tens of thousands of gravestones and mausoleums and millions of archival documents dating back nearly two centuries. They’ll also work closely with the Cemetery’s professional staff, including its current environmental research fellows and artist in residence. Ultimately, they’ll have the opportunity to craft public history programs and share their findings with a wider audience.

Applications for the 2024-2025 fellowship, which will run from September 2024 through May 2025, are now open. Those welcome to apply include current graduate students (MA or PhD) or earlier career academics, historians, or other professionals no more than five years into their career who are living or studying in New York City. The fellowship is open to any area of specialization, though fields of research may include the history of American cemeteries or funeral customs, public health, demographics, landscape design, and the visual culture of death and memorialization.

“We’re thrilled to be opening up this new opportunity for researchers to access our trove of historical records,” said Harry J. Weil, Vice President of Education and Public Programs at Green-Wood. “We hope through this fellowship, and the public history programs that come out of it, we’ll be able to engage more of our neighbors and visitors with new areas of our complex and fascinating history—and learn a bit more about this incredible place in the process.”

Throughout the nine-month fellowship, the awardee will pore through the Cemetery’s many resources to develop a project informed by their findings. They are expected to draw on the institution’s archives, which include burial files, business records, architectural drawings, and much more; its historical collections of over 10,000 artifacts including art, photographs, ephemera, and more; and its historic landscape and burial monuments. After selecting, investigating, and reporting on their topic, the history fellow will develop and facilitate public programs, tours, workshops, or classes to share their findings.

Applications are due by May 15, 2024, and include a research statement and public program proposal. For full details, visit www.green-wood.com/history-fellowship. Applications will be reviewed by a committee of academics, including Green-Wood Board Member John T. Reddick, Director of Community Engagement Projects, Central Park Conservancy; Marisa Karyl Franz, Ph. D, Clinical Assistant Professor, Program in Museum Studies, New York University; and Dominique Jean-Louis, Ph.D, Chief Historian, Center for Brooklyn History, Brooklyn Public Library. The inaugural research fellow will be announced in June.

The announcement of Green-Wood’s History Fellowship comes on the heels of the success of its Environmental Research Fellowship. Now in its third year, the Environmental Fellowship provides the opportunity for scientific investigation using the Cemetery’s landscape and natural assets. Fellowships such as these will form the basis for Green-Wood’s “Center for Research,” an integral component of its mid-construction Education & Welcome Center, a multi-use space set to open in late 2025.

Any questions about the application process should be directed to: historyfellowship@green-wood.com.

Established in 1838, The Green-Wood Cemetery, a National Historic Landmark, is recognized as one of the world’s most beautiful cemeteries. As the permanent residence of over 570,000 individuals, Green-Wood’s magnificent grounds, grand architecture, and world-class statuary have made it a destination for half a million visitors annually, including national and international tourists, New Yorkers, and Brooklynites. At the same time, Green-Wood is also an outdoor museum, an arboretum, and a repository of history. Throughout the year, it offers innovative programs in arts and culture, nature and the environment, education, workforce development, restoration, and research, as well as bold initiatives in climate resiliency and sustainability. For more information, please visit www.green-wood.com.