Libraries Now Accepting Applications for the 1804 Special Library Endowment and Junior Faculty Endowment

The applications for the 1804 Special Library Endowment Fund and the Arts and Humanities Junior Faculty Endowment Fund are currently open. With these funds, applicants can request the Libraries to purchase materials to further their teaching and research needs.

The 1804 Endowment is open to all students, faculty and staff, and the Junior Faculty Endowment is meant for tenure-track faculty looking to further their research. The deadline for applications is March 9, 2020.

“The purpose of these endowments is to acquire materials that we would not be able to purchase using regular acquisitions funds,” said Janet Hulm, assistant dean for collections and digitization strategies.

Hulm says that these funds allow for collaboration between the Libraries staff and faculty.  She explained that most people looking to apply for the endowment funds reach out to their subject librarian for assistance in developing the proposal.

“I think it’s a really interesting way to engage with faculty and find out what sort of interests they have, either in teaching or in research, and having a means of actually supporting that,” Hulm said.

Last year, the Libraries awarded five individuals with the 1804 Endowment Fund and one individual with the Junior Faculty Endowment. 

1804 Special Library Endowment Fund 2019 Awardees

Cameron Dunbar, a history Ph.D. student, requested that the Libraries purchase “The Nixon Years,” a specialized collection of British Foreign and Commonwealth Office primary source files that are housed in The National Archives in the United Kingdom.

He says the resources will help him with his dissertation about the United Kingdom’s role in European integration and also help “Americanists,” those scholars studying American history.

“I think it’s great that the Libraries both has that money and puts it toward strictly academic pursuits that help its graduate students [and faculty],” he said.

Alexander Lovelace, a history doctoral candidate, also requested that the Libraries purchase materials to benefit his dissertation on the media in the military during World War II. He asked for 35 reels of microfilm that contain correspondence, reports, orders and other documents from the U.S. forces in the Pacific under General Douglas MacArthur.

“I think it’s important … that we have a good collection for Southeast Asia, and it’s a collection I could see being used in years to come,” said Lovelace. “If you’re working on [something about] Asia or Southeast Asia, I think Douglas MacArthur is just about the most important American for that area in the 20th century.”

Robert Venosa, history Ph.D. student, was awarded the “Chatham House Online Archive,” a searchable resource that lets users explore close to 90 years of expert analysis and commentary on international policy, to finish his dissertation as well as benefit the entire history department.

“This helped me save myself from having to fly to England again,” he said with a laugh. “I know … it’s been a lot of history people using [the endowment fund] … people really should be more aware of it.”

Dr. Jennifer Fredette, an associate professor in the political science department, asked for materials for her course on law and colonialism. She says she was most interested in the primary sources from “Indian Boarding Schools,” because they invite students to consider the role of settler colonialism in the fashioning of the United States. Fredette also wanted more materials that highlight Native Americans and their struggles. 

“Primary sources, especially those that present under-studied stories and perspectives, give people a chance to revisit their long-held beliefs and understandings in a new light,” she said. “That's a liberal arts education at its best.”

The final awardee of the 1804 Endowment Fund is Dr. Joseph McLaughlin, an associate professor in the English department. McLaughlin requested books of poetry and devotional prose by the Victorian author Christina Rossetti, which will be added to the Libraries’ collection of her work. He plans to use these books, and others from the Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections, with his Honors Tutorial College students for a project on rare books.

“All of the major authors collections that were started many years ago are on male authors, so I thought it would be good if we could find a way to sort of build up our collections in Rossetti, who really over the past 20 to 30 years, has become probably one of the most widely taught Victorian female poet[s],” he said.

Junior Faculty Endowment Fund 2019 Awardee

Dr. Victoria Lee, an assistant professor of history, was the only individual to receive the Junior Faculty Endowment Fund last year. She requested the Libraries purchase two Japanese newspaper databases, Yomidasu Rekishikan and Kikuzo II Visual. 

Yomidasu Rekishikan is an electronic database of Yomiuri Shimbun, the highest circulating newspaper in the world, and Kikuzo II Visual is an electronic database of Asahi Shimbun, the second highest circulating newspaper in the world. She requested these materials to help her with her “current research on fermentation science and industry in 20th-century Japan … [and her] project on the history of biomonitoring of contaminants in Japan.”

Hulm encourages anyone to apply who may be seeking expensive or limited materials for their research or teaching. If there are any questions regarding the application, contact your subject librarian or Janet Hulm.

“If people are unsure about whether or not they have a good proposal … all they need to do is ask me,” said Hulm. “Even if something falls outside of the scope, we’ve been able to work with it [in the past] and find some way to support that interest. We don’t like saying ‘no.’”

All photos by James Year/Ohio University Libraries