In September, 2021 the Oral History Association was awarded $825,000 from the NEH American Rescue Plan to create a fellowship and grants program for under/unemployed oral historians, with a focus on oral historians from communities that have historically been marginalized in the field.
Our Selection Committee is in place. Applications for year-long fellowships and mini-grants open November 15, 2021 and the application deadline is January 15, 2021 (11:59PM CT). Full program timeline here.
We are offering two free pre-application workshops (registration required) to support applicants as they develop their proposals: a Social Justice Oral History Training Workshop Nov 30 and an Information Session and Q&A December 8. ASL interpretation will be provided for both workshops.
There are two different funding opportunities as part of this grant:
Year-Long Fellowships (apply here): These fellowships provide support for individuals to take on a year-long, full-time oral history project. The $60,000 fellowships are intended as salary support for a single individual, and support for some additional project expenses is available. Note: We are not looking for fellows who will produce the most in the shortest period of time, but for those who propose projects that will proceed at a pace and scale that allows for the collaborations and relationships that undergird any impactful oral history work. Work may be done in partnership with existing projects or institutions.
Research Mini-Grants (apply here): The aim of these grants is to support research that can lead to greater equity and inclusion in the field of oral history. For example, we encourage proposals for research into
- The history of oral history, both as a professional field and as a part of understanding the world
- The historical and current structure of employment for and career trajectories of oral historians, barriers to access to oral history work, demographics of paid oral historians
- Projects and groups that have worked to challenge oppression in the field (for example reparative work, work to decolonize and indigenize the field)
Teams may apply for these grants of $5000–$15,000. Work need not be full time or continuous.
You can see the eligibility and selection criteria here and preview the applications for each of these opportunities here.
The Oral History Association is honored to be a conduit for this funding, and grateful for the support of the NEH.
Find the complete announcement and description on our website. Please share this announcement widely.