Special Research Collections Fellowship Opportunities

Mellon Travel Fellowship Program

For: Visiting Scholars 

The History of Science, Technology, and Medicine Department and the History of Science Collections provide support each year to researchers through the Mellon Travel Fellowship Program. 

See our story about 2019/2020 fellows in Sooner Horizon vol. 7, 2 (Fall 2019). 

Deadline for applications: Three annual deadlines. See the Mellon Program page for more information. 

Masterson Fellowship

For: Visiting Scholars

The Masterson Fellowship, endowed by Conrad and Ellen Masterson of Cee Vee, Texas, provides opportunities for visiting scholars, external to the University of Oklahoma, who want to conduct research in the Western History Collections for one or two months (four or eight weeks) during the summer. The fellowship is open to advanced graduate students, faculty, or independent scholars engaged in an original research project of significant scholarly merit that will benefit directly from the utilization of materials in the Western History Collections. An award, or awards, of one or two months (four or eight weeks) will be made, and priority consideration for at least one fellowship line will be given to research on range management history, the impact of cattle ranching in the American West, or related topics. The stipend for the Masterson Fellowship is $2,500 per month (four or eight weeks), per the fellow’s residency length.

For summer 2026 applicants: Each fellowship applicant will be required to have a virtual consultation with a member of the WHC curatorial team. The purpose of the consultation is to ensure needed research materials will be available for an applicant’s proposed fellowship project. Please send your consultation request to westernhistorycollections@ou.edu. Your request should include the scope of your fellowship project and a list of collections to be utilized during the fellowship. If an applicant does not carry out this requirement, their application will not be considered for funding.

Deadline for applications: January 16, 2026

Jack Haley Fellowship

For: University of Oklahoma Graduate Students

The Jack Haley Fellowship, endowed by Fred and Patricia Schonwald of Oklahoma City, provides fellowships for graduate students in the Department of History at the University of Oklahoma. Fellowships will be awarded for an eight-week period for 2026.

Graduate fellowships support summer appointments in the Western History Collections for students in masters or doctoral programs at OU. Graduate fellows will evenly divide their time between using WHC materials to advance their dissertation or thesis research, and working on assigned WHC projects that will provide practical experience in archival science, librarianship, or information science (archival processing, collection digitization, etc.). The stipend for the graduate student fellowships is $1,500 per month. The fellowships are eight weeks long and involve 20 hours of work per week.

For summer 2026 applicants: Each fellowship applicant will be required to have a virtual or in-person consultation with a member of the WHC curatorial team. The purpose of the consultation is to ensure needed research materials will be available for an applicant’s proposed fellowship project. Please send your consultation request to westernhistorycollections@ou.edu. Your request should include the scope of your fellowship project and a list of collections to be utilized during the fellowship. If an applicant does not carry out this requirement, their application will not be considered for funding.

Deadline for applications: February 13, 2026

Dale Society Fellowship

For: University of Oklahoma Graduate Students

The Dale Society Fellowship, supported by the Association of Western History Collections Endowment, supports a graduate student (or students) in other University of Oklahoma graduate programs outside the Department of History. The fellowship residency period will be eight weeks for 2026.

Graduate fellowships support summer appointments in the Western History Collections for students in masters or doctoral programs at OU. Graduate fellows will evenly divide their time between using WHC materials to advance their dissertation or thesis research, and working on assigned WHC projects that will provide practical experience in archival science, librarianship, or information science (archival processing, collection digitization, etc.). The stipend for the graduate student fellowships is $1,500 per month. The fellowships are eight weeks long and involve 20 hours of work per week.

For summer 2026 applicants: Each fellowship applicant will be required to have a virtual or in-person consultation with a member of the WHC curatorial team. The purpose of the consultation is to ensure needed research materials will be available for an applicant’s proposed fellowship project. Please send your consultation request to westernhistorycollections@ou.edu. Your request should include the scope of your fellowship project and a list of collections to be utilized during the fellowship. If an applicant does not carry out this requirement, their application will not be considered for funding.

Deadline for applications: February 13, 2026