Cokie Roberts Fellowship for Women’s History
In November 2019, the National Archives Foundation launched a new research fund to honor Cokie Roberts, who shed light on the stories of countless women in U.S. history that were previously unknown to the public. She showed how these lives had an impact on our country’s narrative and added to the rich heritage of our nation. Just as her prose and spirited discussions brought moments in history to new audiences, the Cokie Roberts Fellowship for Women’s History seeks to encourage the next generation of historians, journalists and authors to continue this legacy.
Cokie Roberts Fellowship for Women’s History Application Information
Application Window: November 1, 2023 through May 15, 2024
Scope: The Cokie Roberts Research Fund for Women’s History will support one to three annual fellowships for emerging and established historians, journalists, authors, or graduate students who perform and publish new research to elevate women’s history using the records held by the National Archives. This fellowship is intended to support the cost of travel and time to conduct research and publish works related to original research conducted at the National Archives.
Eligibility: Applicants must be emerging or established historians, journalists, authors, or graduate students with proven writing skills, a demonstrated passion for women’s history, and the ability to perform in-person research at a National Archives facility. Applicants can be based anywhere in the U.S.
Award: Up to $12,500
Deadlines: The 2024 application cycle is now closed. Check back soon for 2025 information!
Have questions? Check out our FAQs.
2024 Cokie Roberts Women’s History Fellows
Rachel Kline, PhD
Independent Public Historian & Supervisory Historian
USDA Forest Service
Fellowship Topic:
“We Feminine Foresters”: Women, Conservation, and the USDA Forest Service: 1905-2020
Molly Lester
Associate Director
Urban Heritage Project, University of Pennsylvania
Fellowship Topic:
The New Deal’s “She-She-She Camps” for Unemployed Women
2024 Cokie Roberts Commended Scholars in Women’s History
Gail Ablow
Writer / Director / Producer
Lady Dynamo Productions LLC
Proposal Topic:
The Untold Story of Anna Rosenberg, a Mid-20th Century Powerbroker
Lisa Tetrault, PhD
Associate Professor
Carnegie Mellon University
Proposal Topic:
Words Matter: A Textual History of the Nineteenth Amendment
2024 Cokie Roberts Fellowship for Women’s History Official Finalists
Judi Freeman
Independent Scholar; former Seevak Chair in History
Boston Latin School
Proposal Topic:
Courageous Conviction: Dorothy Thompson and Her Crusade to Redefine Journalism
Serene B. Williams
AP History Teacher
Sacred Heart Preparatory High School
Proposal Topic:
Creating an AP U.S. Women’s History Course
2023 Cokie Roberts Women’s History Fellows
Ashley D. Farmer, PhD
Associate Professor
University of Texas at Austin
Fellowship Topic: Black Women Activists and the FBI
Rebecca Brenner Graham, PhD
Author & History Teacher
The Madeira School
Fellowship Topic: Frances Perkins’s Immigration Policy
Arlisha R. Norwood, PhD Assistant Professor University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Fellowship Topic: Black Women and the Freedmen’s Bureau Court
2023 Cokie Roberts Commended Scholars in Women’s History
M. Alison Kibler, PhD
Professor
Franklin and Marshall College
Proposal Topic:
Feminist Television Activism in the 1970s
Ashley Robertson Preston, PhD
Assistant Professor
Howard University
Proposal Topic:
Mary McLeod Bethune and the National Youth Administration
2022 Cokie Roberts Women’s History Fellows
Jessica Kahkoska
Writer, Researcher and Producer for Theater and Television
Fellowship Topic:
Women at the Nuremberg Trials
Randa Tawil, PhD
Assistant Professor
Texas Christian University
Fellowship Topic:
Migration History and Reproductive Justice
2022 Cokie Roberts Fellowship for Women’s History Official Finalists
Rebecca Brenner Graham, PhD
History Teacher
The Madeira School
Proposal Topic:
Frances Perkins and the German-Jewish refugee crisis
M. Alison Kibler, PhD
Professor
Franklin and Marshall College
Proposal Topic:
Feminist Television Activism in the 1970s
Ashley Robertson Preston, PhD
Assistant Professor
Howard University
Proposal Topic:
Mary McLeod Bethune and the National Youth Administration
2021 Cokie Roberts Women’s History Fellows
Lois Leveen, PhD
Public Humanities Scholar and Author
Fellowship Topic: African American Women’s Activism During the Civil War and Reconstruction
Kara Dixon Vuic, PhD
Professor
Texas Christian University
Fellowship Topic:
Women and Selective Service
This fellowship is made possible by the Cokie Roberts Fund for Women’s History. To contribute to the fund or to learn more about how you can support new research to elevate women’s history, click here.
