The David Center for the American Revolution, a collaboration between the David Library of the American Revolution (DLAR) and the APS, is dedicated to supporting scholarship on the American Revolution. The DLAR's Founder, Sol Feinstone, believed that the examination of the Founding Fathers' values and the events of the Revolutionary Period is essential to creating an informed citizenry able to comprehend and adapt those founding principles to the ever evolving circumstances of American society. The Center champions the active engagement of scholars, educators, and the general public of all ages in a continuing and dynamic encounter with this most central episode in the creation of the American nation.
The inaugural round of David Center for the American Revolution Short-Term Resident Research Fellowships has just been announced. These grants continue the 30-year tradition of the David Library supporting new scholarship on the American Revolution and the Founding Era. Click through or scroll down for more information.
Read about the partnership between the David Library of the American Revolution and the APS: "Unparalleled Research Center on the American Revolution Coming to the APS"
The David Center for the American Revolution integrates the collections of the David Library with that of the APS to create a one-stop-shop for the study of the American Revolution.
The David Library collections consist of approximately 8,000 volumes, 9,000 reels of microfilm, and the large Sol Feinstone manuscript collection. The Sol Feinstone Collection, a rich collection of letters and documents, was assembled by DLAR Founder Sol Feinstone (1888-1980) over a period of fifty years. It includes material on almost all notable Americans from before the Revolution to the 1850s, as well as prominent Europeans and documents relating to military affairs. There are substantial groups of letters from: John Adams, Henry Dearborn, Alexander Hamilton, Jedidiah Huntington, Thomas Jefferson, Lafayette, George Washington, and a long run of letters from a Massachusetts military surgeon named Samuel Adams. Many letters, though written by revolutionary figures, relate to events that occurred before or after the War.
This adds to the APS Library's Early American History Collections, which are particularly strong for the period from 1750 to 1840. In addition to the Benjamin Franklin Papers and the Thomas Paine Collection, the APS has a wide assortment of documents from the revolutionary era. Among these are official government documents and correspondence, military records that range from the Continental Army to Pennsylvania county records, and personal correspondence from various historical actors. Notable collections of correspondence include the Nathanael Greene Papers, the Peale-Sellers Family Collection, the Richard Henry Lee Papers, and the William Temple Franklin Papers.
Of particular note is the record of the American missions to Europe during the American Revolution. The William Temple Franklin Papers, the Arthur Lee Collection, the Benjamin Franklin Papers, and the Benjamin Franklin Bache collections provide a nearly complete window into America’s diplomatic maneuverings in Europe during the American Revolution.
The David Center aims to build a community of scholars through a program of long- and short-term fellowships:
David Center for the American Revolution Short-Term Resident Research Fellowships
These fellowships continue the 30-year tradition of the David Library awarding over 200 fellowships to scholars working on projects about the American Revolution and Founding Era. These opportunities provide one month of support for researchers in residence and are open to scholars in all fields who show a demonstrated need to use the collections for their project.
Friends of the APS Predoctoral Fellowship in Early American History (to 1840)
The APS Library offers long-term residential predoctoral fellowships for graduate students working on topics in early American History (to 1840). The 12-month fellowship is intended for advanced Ph.D. students working toward the completion of the dissertation.
Library & Museum Short-Term Resident Research Fellowships
Short-term Fellowships generally support scholars working toward the completion of a dissertation or book. The grant is also open to independent or community-based scholars as well as academic scholars. The grant provides a stipend of $3,000 for 1–3 months of research in residence at the APS.
Brendan McConville (Co-Chair), Professor of History, Boston University and member of the David Library's Board of Trustees
Patrick K. Spero (Co-Chair), Librarian and Director of the American Philosophical Society Library & Museum
Annette Gordon-Reed, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and Charles Warren Professor of American Legal History, Harvard Law School
Katherine Grandjean, Associate Professor of History, Wellesley College
Patrick Griffin, the Madden-Hennebry Professor at the University of Notre Dame
Woody Holton, the McCausland Professor of History at the University of South Carolina
Jack Rakove, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and William Robertson Coe Professor of History and American Studies, Stanford University
Jeffrey Rosen, President and CEO of the National Constitution Center
R. Scott Stephenson, President and CEO of the Museum of the American Revolution
The David Center will hold regular international conferences, a public lecture series, family and adult programming, and major exhibitions inspired by the Sol Feinstone Collection.