Endowment for a Fellows Program

FAIN: CH-51065-13

Newport Mansions (Newport, RI 02840-6924)
John R. Tschirch (Project Director: May 2012 to June 2013)
Laurie Ossman (Project Director: June 2013 to November 2017)

Endowment to expand the Society's Fellows Program by supporting stipends for four annual one-year fellowships.

The Preservation Society of Newport County in Rhode Island, founded in 1945 to preserve and protect the best of Newport County architectural, artistic, and cultural heritage, seeks a $500,000 NEH Challenge Grant to establish a $2 million endowment to expand its Fellows Program. The program offers graduate and post-graduate scholars the opportunity to conduct research in Newport on topics of local as well as national significance. The goal is to foster an interdisciplinary approach to the arts and architecture, reflecting various perspectives from history, literature, philosophy, and cultural studies, through research projects that link the cultural and social heritage of Newport to a broader understanding of the humanities. Newport, with its remarkable historic infrastructure and resources, makes an ideal location to establish a community of scholars, who will produce work that represents a major contribution to our national conversation about our culture, history, and democracy.