Four Doctoral Candidates Awarded Gilder Lehrman Fellowships

Sept. 8, 2006 -- Lisa Goff, Jack Schermerhorn, Rachel Shapiro, and Eric Stoykovich, doctoral candidates in the Department of History at the University of Virginia, have been awarded research fellowships by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

To support outstanding scholarship, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History awards short-term fellowships for postdoctoral scholars, doctoral candidates, and independent scholars - including journalists. The Gilder Lehrman Fellowships support work in one of five archives in New York City. In 2005, the Gilder Lehrman Institute awarded a total of $143,072 for 69 fellowships. Since 1994, it has funded a total of 416 fellowships.

Goff will conduct research at the New-York Historical Society. Her project title is “Shantytowns in the United States, 1820-1950.” Goff received a B.A. in English Literature from the College of William and Mary, and a M.S.J. from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She is the recipient of a Predoctoral Fellowship from the Smithsonian Institution.

Schermerhorn will conduct research at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the New York Public Library. His project title is “Against All Odds: Slavery and Enslaved Families in the Making of the Antebellum Chesapeake.” Schermerhorn received a B.A. in History and Philosophy summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from St. Mary’s College of Maryland and a M.T.S. from Harvard Divinity School. He is the recipient of a Divinity School Fellowship from Harvard University; a Presidential Fellowship, Southern Fund Research Fellowship, and Summer Travel Grant from the University of Virginia, a Mellon Research Fellowship at the Virginia Historical Society, a John Hope Franklin Research Fellowship at Duke University, a Fletcher Jones Foundation Fellowship at Huntington Library, and a Predoctoral Fellowship at the National Museum of American History.

Shapiro conducted research at the New-York Historical Society. Her project title is “New York City and the Politics of the Civil War Draft: A Story of Local, State, and National Cooperation.” Shapiro received a B.A. in History with high departmental honors from Stanford University. She is the recipient of a Stanford University Research Grant and was a participant in the Honors Program in History at Stanford.

Stoykovich will conduct research at the New York Public Library. His project title is “Enclosing a Live Stock Nation: The Political Economy and Agricultural Improvement of Farm Animals in the Northern United States, 1794-1876.” Stoykovich received a B.A. in History magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Brown University. He was named a Faculty Scholar at Brown and received the President’s Fellowship at the University of Virginia.

Founded in 1994, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History promotes the study and love of American history. Increasingly national and international in scope, the Institute targets audiences ranging from students to scholars to the general public. It creates history-centered schools and academic research centers, organizes seminars and enrichment programs for educators, partners with school districts to implement Teaching American History grants, produces print and electronic publications and traveling exhibitions, and sponsors lectures by eminent historians. The Institute also funds awards including the Lincoln, Frederick Douglass and George Washington Book Prizes. For more information, visit http://www.gilderlehrman.org .

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