CFA: Jefferson Garden Research Fellowship

The American Philosophical Society is seeking a special project fellow to assist with research on the Society’s Thomas Jefferson Garden. The Society is in the process of reimagining the layout and use of its garden, located just across the street from Independence Hall.  In order to help with its planning, the Society wishes to conduct a historical review of the garden’s history as well as targeted research into its renowned botanical collections.

Expectations: 

The special projects fellowship will serve as a key researcher assisting the Society’s Curator of the Jefferson Garden and staff working on this project. The fellow will have two primary research tasks. First, they will conduct archival research to understand the garden’s creation and original design in the 1950s and to identify all planning documents surrounding the garden. Second, they will conduct archival research into the Society’s rich collection of eighteenth and nineteenth century botanical studies to identify plants that might populate the garden in the future. Throughout, the fellow will be able to receive guidance from APS staff and advisors. The fellow will be expected to prepare reports on their findings for APS staff as needed.

This is a full-time, in-residence fellowship commitment for four months, which will report on a day-to-day basis to the Curator of History of Science and may participate in planning sessions with outside consultants.

The fellow will also become a part of the Society’s intellectual and scholarly life, including attending seminars and lectures with other resident fellows and visiting scholars.

Skill Set:

The ideal candidate will have experience with deep archival research and a willingness to work on a directed project reporting to a supervisor. 

Knowledge of botany, horticulture, or eighteenth-century science is a plus but not required.

Experience:

The Society seeks an advanced graduate student (ABD) or higher to conduct this research, with an ideal start date in the middle of May and with a term lasting through the summer. There is some flexibility available for the right candidate on the start and end date. 

This is a wonderful opportunity for an early career scholar to experience working in and for a cultural institution and for exposure to public history.

Award Amount:

The stipend for the position is $12,000, or $3,000 per month. The stipend is paid after the awardee arrives at the APS's Library & Museum to begin their fellowship. The duration of award is requested by the candidate, but the final decision is made by the fellowship committee. The purpose of the stipend is to defray the costs of researching in Philadelphia. Awards are taxable income, but the Society is not required to report payments. It is understood that recipients will discuss their reporting obligations with their tax advisors.

About the APS:

The APS's collections make it among the premier institutions for documenting and exhibiting the history of the American Revolution and founding, the history of science from Newton to NASA, and Indigenous languages and cultures. The Society’s collections include more than 14 million pages of manuscripts, 275,000 bound volumes, 250,000 images, thousands of hours of audio tape, and 3,360 three-dimensional artifacts and fine art objects. It is home to four research centers: the Center for Native American and Indigenous Research (CNAIR), which has worked with over 80 Native American and Indigenous communities since 2014; the Center for Digital Scholarship, which interprets and expands access to APS collections through digital projects and open source data; the David Center for the American Revolution, a partnership with the David Library of the American Revolution that formed a new research center for the study of the American Revolution at the APS; and the Center for the History of Science, which supports research in Society's science collections that run the gamut from A to Z—astronomy to zoology—and many fields in between..

Comprehensive, searchable guides and finding aids to our collections are available online at https://www.amphilsoc.org/library/search-collections and http://amphilsoc.pastperfectonline.com/.

The American Philosophical Society is committed to maintaining the highest standards of scholarly excellence while supporting a working and intellectual environment that fosters an inclusive atmosphere for learning, prizes diverse origins and points of view, advances equal opportunities to learn and communicate, and encourages the widest possible access to its collections. The APS has titled these goals the APS IDEA (Inclusivity, Diversity, Equality, and Access) for its enduring institutional commitment to these values.

Deadline: April 19, 2026. 

Applicants may be:

• Ph.D. candidates who have passed their preliminary examinations and are working on their dissertation research.
• Degreed independent scholars (without current academic affiliation).

Apply via Interfolio at https://apply.interfolio.com/183989

All Applicants must submit:

• A cover letter;
• Curriculum vitae;
• Two confidential letters of reference.

Applicants: Use Interfolio's help desk for any issues pertaining to the online application process.