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The White House Historical Association Research Grants Program
The White House Historical Association invites scholars who are conducting research at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Presidential Library System, Library of Congress, or other appropriate repository, to apply for grants that will defray costs of travel and accommodations.
Click To View Recent Grant Recipients
Sponsor
The White House Historical Association is a private, non-profit organization whose mission is to share and promote a greater understanding of the history of the President’s House. The Association, founded in 1961 through the efforts of Mrs. John F. Kennedy and others, is located in Washington, D.C.
Purpose
The Association wishes to encourage new scholarship on the history of the White House. For the research grants program, the Association will consider projects that make use of textual and non-textual records pertinent to the president, first family and subordinates while the president lives in the White House. The focus of the research should be the White House, including life and work there, as well the physical structure. This would include, but not necessarily be limited to:
Image of the White House: the White House as symbol or icon; perceptions of the White House from the public, press or foreign dignitaries.
White House personnel; personnel management; Executive Residence staff; White House staff (West Wing and East Wing operations, including Oval Office, Office of the First Lady and the Social Office); White House permanent operating offices; administration of the White House Office.
Social and diplomatic functions: state dinners, performances, visits from heads of state and other honorees, entertaining.
Study of the structure and its contents: construction, renovation, alteration, furnishing, decoration, use of space, historical collections, buildings and grounds; public tours and historical interpretation.
Family life: issues of security, public scrutiny, privacy; public role of first family members; means of travel.
Communications: use of communications technology to document events, meetings, conversations; the role of White House press corps and staff photographers; public presentation of the president, first lady and first family.
Awards
Grants awarded will not exceed $2,000 and will be made according to need, using submitted budget as a guide. Grants must be used within one year of notification.
Eligibility
Preference is given to those undertaking dissertation research or post-doctoral research with plans for publication, but all proposals, including graduate-level research and independent projects, will be considered.
Deadlines
Applications should be received by March 1 and September 1. Awards will be announced in spring and fall.
Application
Researchers should submit the following:
1) A letter briefly describing the project, including the title and the proposed final product of the research (book, dissertation, article, etc.)
2) A two-page project proposal
3) An assessment form, letter, search report or other verification from the Presidential Library that lists the appropriate holdings for the project. Records must support the White House research project.
4) A current vita
5) Three professional references in support of the proposal
6) A proposed budget, including expenses related to travel, per diem and photocopying. Please use local per diem set by specific Presidential Library or consult GSA rate (visit www.gsa.gov, and search for "domestic per diem"). Applicant should include approximate dates of travel.
Applicant should include approximate dates of travel. Send applications to:
Research Grants Program
White House Historical Association
P.O. Box 27624
Washington, D.C. 20038-7624
Application materials, letters of recommendation, and inquiries may also be faxed (202.789.0440) or e-mailed: edu@whha.org
End-of-Grant Responsibilities
Grant recipient must: 1) Donate a copy of resulting publication or unpublished paper to the Association, 2) Acknowledge support of the White House Historical Association in resulting publication, 3) Provide an update on progress of the research within two years of the end of grant, 4) Submit a 500-word statement describing how the grant forwarded the research project. Recipients are also strong encouraged to submit for consideration the resulting research for publication by the White House Historical Association.
Research Grants Program - Recent Grant Recipients:
Jill Abraham, University of Virginia, “The First Lady, the Women’s Movement, and the Modern Presidency.” Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Jimmy Carter Presidential Library
Daniel E. Bergan and Brandon Rottinghaus, Northwestern University, “Interbranch Lobbying: Congressional Mail to the President.” Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library
Mark Cheathem, Mississippi State University, biography of Andrew Jackson Donelson, President Andrew Jackson's advisor and private secretary. Library of Congress
Mark Cheathem, Southern New Hampshire University, “Slavery in the Jackson White House,” research on slaves working in the White House during Andrew Jackson’s administrations. Library of Congress.
Jean Choate, Coastal Georgia Community College, to support research for a biography of First Lady Eliza Johnson. Andrew Johnson National Historic Site
Kenneth Collier, Stephen F. Austin State University, “Whose Line Is It? The Institutionalization of Presidential Speech.” Nixon Presidential Materials, National Archives and Records Administration
Tracy Davis, Northwestern University, on the Kennedy family, executive relocation, and civil defense planning. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library
Catherine Forslund, Rockford College, for a biography of Edith Roosevelt. Library of Congress and Houghton Library, Harvard University
Kathleen Galop, Independent, Jacqueline Kennedy’s role in establishing historic preservation as public policy. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library
James Goode, Independent, “Four Salutes to the Nation: The Equestrian Statues of General Andrew Jackson,” a study of the historical background of the three identical statues of General Jackson located in Washington, D.C. (Lafayette Park); Nashville, and New Orleans. Louisiana State Museum, Research Center of the Historic New Orleans Collection, Louisiana Division of the New Orleans Public Library, Tennessee Historical Society, Nashville Public Library, and Tennessee State Library and Archives.
David Greenberg, Rutgers University, study of President Calvin Coolidge’s use of mass media for an upcoming Coolidge biography. Library of Congress and Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library and Museum at the Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
David Greenberg, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Nixon’s Shadow: The History of an Image, an analysis of President Nixon’s image-making efforts and relationship with the press. Nixon Presidential Materials Project, National Archives and Records Administration
Charlie Hailey, University of Florida, “Nature’s Sweet Restorer: How Fresh Air Shaped the White House Roof,” research on how environmental reform influenced new additions to the White House. National Archives and Records Administration and Library of Congress.
C. M. Harris, Independent, social history of the White House of Jefferson and Madison utilizing the Samuel and Catharine Mitchill Papers. Museum of the City of New York and Library of Congress
Utham Jamadhagni, University of Madras, The White House: Impressions and Expressions from India. Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy Presidential Libraries
Michael Landis, The George Washington University, “’Though the Heavens Fall’: Slavery, Northern Democrats, and the Destruction of the Union.” An examination focused on Northern Democratic office-holders in the 1850s, paying special attention to the administrations of Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan and the crucial decisions both parties made within the White House on the eve of rebellion. Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Mark Nevin, University of Virginia, “The Nixon Presidency and the Politics of Public Opinion Polling,” an examination of the rise of public opinion polling in American politics in the late 1960s and the early 1970s, with reference to the specialized polling operation that was created within the Nixon White House. Nixon Presidential Materials Project (NPMP) at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland
Rick Perlstein, Independent, to support research on Richard Nixon's use of the White House as a political base of operations for the 1972 elections. Nixon Presidential Materials Project, National Archives and Records Administration
Brandon Rottinghaus, Northwestern University, early public opinion and polling practices in the Eisenhower White House Mail Room. Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library
Mary Elise Sarotte, University of Notre Dame, President Carter and the White House, a chapter for a larger work on the history of détente. Jimmy Carter Presidential Library
Robert E. K. Schlesinger, Journalist and Author, “Welliver’s Children,” a study of White House speechwriters. Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
Merry Ellen Scofield, Independent, a three part study covering the history of various White House receptions during the years of the Early Republic, including the re-examination of the events hosted during Thomas Jefferson’s presidency. Library of Congress and Massachusetts Historical Society
Rachel Shapiro, University of Virginia, “Washington Brotherhood: Friendship and Politics in the Civil War Era,” on the political climate in Washington during the 1840s and 1850s, especially politicking at White House social events and cabinet meetings. Library of Congress.
Matthew Sherman, Saint Louis University, “Presidential Assassinations: The Failure to Protect Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley.” A study that will seek to understand the policy failures of presidential protection in the aftermath of three presidential assassinations. Library of Congress and National Archives and Records Administration
Beth Taylor, Montpelier Foundation, “Paul Jennings: Enamored with Freedom,” a study on the enslaved Paul Jennings and the presidential household during the Madison administration. National Archives and Records Administration, Library of Congress, and Washington Historical Society.
James Tobin, Miami University, “Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Experience of Disability,” a study of FDR’s physical disability and its effect on his presidency. The research will deal with physical accommodation; security and privacy arrangements in the White House; and FDR’s extensive contracts with the White House press corp. Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library
Jennifer L. Weber, The University of Kansas, “Lincoln’s Secretaries [John Hay and John Nicolay].” Library of Congress
Christine Weiss, University of Heidelberg, the public roles of the first lady during presidential election campaigns. Ronald Reagan Library and National Archives and Records Administration.
David R. White, Francis Marion University, “The Origins and Growth of Presidential Advance,” a study on White House advance planning, focusing on Presidents Andrew Johnson through Herbert Hoover. Library of Congress, Yale University Library, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library
Malcah Yaeger-Dror, University of Arizona, Comparison of the Use of Communications Technology in the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon Administrations. Lyndon B. Johnson and John F. Kennedy Presidential Libraries
Nancy Beck Young, McKendree College, Forgotten Feminist: Lou Henry Hoover as First Lady, for a biography. Herbert Hoover Presidential Library
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