Research Fellowship in Texas History
The Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) offers each year the Research Fellowship in Texas History for the best research proposal utilizing collections of the State Archives in Austin or the Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center in Liberty, Texas. Research topics should be significant to Texas history, with preference given to fresh areas of study and/or under-sourced archival collections. Interested researchers may search the library catalog and explore descriptive guides and finding aids online at the links below. Finding aids represent a portion of the collections available for research at TSLAC. Applicants may contact ref@tsl.texas.gov for more information about collections.
- TSLAC Austin: www.tsl.texas.gov/arc/index.html#Guides
- Sam Houston Center, Liberty: www.tsl.texas.gov/shc#collections
- TSLAC library catalog: www.tsl.texas.gov/catalog
Fellowship Award
Funded by the Texas Library and Archives Foundation, the fellowship awards recipients a $2000 stipend for research support. The 2025 stipend is subject to the following award and payment requirements:
- Research must take place between April 1 and December 31, 2025.
- Fellows are required to make a presentation of the results of their research at a TSLAC event within 12 months of the award.
- Awarded funds are payable upon presentation of applicable receipts.
- Applications must be received by January 15, 2025.
APPLICATION PACKET
TSLAC Research Fellowship in Texas History application form (PDF)
Please complete the application form and submit together via email with the project description and curriculum vitae. Application for 2025 cycle coming soon.
Project Description:
Applicants will submit a detailed project description of proposed study, research, or project in a maximum of 1,500 words. The application should address the following elements:
- A statement that outlines the major question, problem or themes being explored.
- Methodology, estimated timeline, and relevant collections to be consulted.
- How this proposal intersects with applicant’s work and area of expertise.
- Discussion of how this study, project, creation, or research will contribute to a greater understanding of Texas history.
- Description of how this study, project, and new knowledge or expression will be disseminated, such as: plans for publication, lectures, exhibitions, teaching, etc.
- Estimated resources and funds that are needed to complete the final project.
Contact:
Send an email with attached application form, project description, and curriculum vitae to statearchives@tsl.texas.gov.
Deadline:
Applications for the 2025 cycle are due by January 15, 2025.
PAST RECIPIENTS
Read more about past recipients here: https://www.tsl.texas.gov/outofthestacks/category/research-fellowship/
2024
Noah Crawford, “The American Civil War Refugee Crisis on the Battlefield, the Home Front, and the Border”
Patrick Sheridan, “South-to-Southwest: The Texas & Pacific and the Early Sunbelt”
2023
William A. McLeod, “Unequal by Design: School Finance and State Development in Texas,
1821-2016”
Halee Robinson, “The Texas Penal System, Community, and the Meanings of Freedom and Citizenship”
Cecilia N. Sánchez Hill, “Brown Erasure: Mexican Americans and Teaching History in Texas”
2022
Andrew Busch, “High Tech Texas: Public Institutions, Regional Economic Development, and the Myth of Free Markets”
Caitlyn Jones, “Texas Women and International Women’s Year”
Christopher Phillips, “Dissent and Disorder in the Southern Confederacy”
2021
Leroy Myers Jr., “Other Indians and Freedmen”: The Legacy of Black Migration to Oklahoma, 1840-1907”
Marc A. Molina, “20th Century Environmental Change in the Tamaulipan Mezquital: Railroads, Agriculture, and Colonialism”
Bobby Cervantes, “Las Colonias: The Housing of Poverty in the Modern Americas”
2020
Sheena Lee Cox, “Texas and Southwest Borderlands”
Micaela Valadez, “Drowning in the Alamo City: Fighting for Environmental Justice and Civil Rights in San Antonio, Texas 1950-Present”
2019
Maggie Elmore, “Claiming the Cross: How Latinos and the Catholic Church Reshaped America”
Deborah Liles, “The Beefmasters: Confederate Contractors, Texas Cattlemen, and Civil War Trade”
2018
William S. Bush, "Future Dangerousness, Childhood, and the Death Penalty in Texas History"
Edward Valentin Jr., "Black Regiments on America's Imperial Frontier: Race, Citizenship, and Military Occupation"