Is there a historical topic you’ve always wanted to cover in your classroom? Are you facing gaps in your content knowledge or curriculum that you want to address? Do you want support in developing curricular materials to address the specific needs of your students?
The Swensrud Teacher Fellowship program offers K-12 educators the opportunity to research and create educational materials using documents and artifacts from the collections of the MHS. The fellowships carry a stipend of $6,000 for four weeks of research and the creation of two or more primary source sets for classroom use. We are seeking applications that identify an area of need in the applicant’s curriculum and propose ideas for a research project that will address that need.
We will be awarding two Swensrud Fellowships for the summer/fall 2025 season. Priority will be given to an applicant in their first five years of teaching for one Swensrud Fellowship.
Swensrud Fellowship Description
During the summer and fall, Swensrud fellows will complete a total of 20 days of research both on and off-site on the topic of their choice using MHS collections, and will produce 2+ primary source sets for the classroom. These deliverables are due on January 20th, 2026, and materials from these projects will be incorporated into MHS online educator resources, with credit to teacher fellows who created them.
Swensrud fellows will meet regularly for virtual mentorship sessions with our Education department for support in finding resources, focusing research questions, and developing classroom materials. Fellows will also work with research librarians at the MHS to help them find sources to support their research. Swensrud fellows set their own pace for their research: some prefer to condense their research time to several weeks, while others spread out their research over the course of the summer and fall. Applicants may also be eligible for fully virtual fellowships if the majority of the materials they are interested in studying are already digitized.
Swensrud fellows will receive a $6,000 stipend for their work at the MHS. The first half of their stipend will be distributed after attending our virtual orientation in June, and the second half after receipt of their deliverables in January 2026.
Who should apply?
Applications are welcome from any K-12 teacher or library media specialist who wishes to use the collections at the MHS to prepare primary-source resource sets in the fields of American history, world history, civics, English language arts, or other relevant subject areas. Applicants are welcome from all U.S. states and territories, and must be currently teaching or working in an education setting during the 2024-2025 year. Priority will be given to an educator in their first five years of teaching for one Swensrud fellowship. Prior experience in archival research is not required.
What is the deliverable for this fellowship?
After completing the 20 days of research, Swensrud fellows will be asked to produce 2 or more primary source sets and associated materials for other educators to use. Fellows will also complete a short reflection on their fellowship experience.
Source Sets:
Between the 2+ sets, fellows should include at least 10 primary sources. Each source set should include the following:
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A short overview of the topic and its significance (3-4 paragraphs)
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List of applicable standards from MA History and Social Studies or ELA/Literacy framework
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1-2 essential questions
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Primary Source list of at least 3 items from MHS collections with:
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A one-paragraph description of each item's significance/educational value
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An image or photograph of each item
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A transcript of any written excerpts for use in the classroom
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2-3 sample classroom activities based on the document set
Where applicable, fellows may choose to produce a short video in lieu of written text for one or more components of the source set, e.g. a video introduction to the topic or a recorded explanation and demonstration of classroom activities.
Examples of previously developed source sets can be viewed here.
Fellowship Reflection:
Fellows may either write a 1000-word blog post on their experience during the fellowship, or participate in a 45-minute virtual interview with MHS Education Staff. Both deliverables must be completed and submitted by January 20th, 2026.
Source set materials and activities developed by teacher fellows may be incorporated into the MHS History Source curricular resource portal for other educators to use, and quotes from the reflection will be shared on our MHS Beehive Blog. Teacher fellows also retain use of their project materials and may post and share their lesson materials elsewhere with credit to the Massachusetts Historical Society Swensrud Fellowship.
How do I apply?
Submit your application via our online application form by midnight on March 19th 2025. You can apply to both the Swensrud and Kass Fellowship in the same application if you wish.
We will be holding a fellowship info session in January (dates TBA). You can watch the recording of last year's info session here (Passcode: =&v0%pFJ).
Applicants should prepare to provide the following materials:
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A current resume
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A letter of intent (no longer than two pages, single spaced) that identifies an area of need in your curriculum and ideas for developing primary source lesson materials that address that need. Your letter must answer the following questions:
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What most excites you about this area of research? What are some questions you have about the topic that you hope your research will answer?
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Talk about the specific needs of your students. How will this research support the needs of your classroom teaching and your own students?
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Describe your teaching philosophy around using primary sources in the classroom. What are some successes and challenges you’ve experienced?
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A list of 3-5 MHS collections, exhibits, or specific items from the MHS archives that you are interested in exploring as part of your research. We recommend exploring our website, our collection guides, the History Source curricular resource portal, and our online collections.
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A letter of support from your school principal or department head
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A sample lesson plan or classroom activity that you have developed. It may be on any topic and does not have to be the same as the subject of your application or even a history lesson.
For questions about accessibility and availability of collections related to your topic, prospective applicants are encouraged to contact Library Reader Services via email or virtual chat. For questions about your proposal and research questions, please email MHS Education Staff.
The fellowship process is competitive. Awards will be made on the strength of 1) proposed topic of research; 2) how this research will address an area of need in the applicant’s teaching 3) the plan for using MHS collections; 4) usability of the proposed research in other classrooms; 5) recommendations; 6) the sample classroom materials.
Please direct questions to education@masshist.org.
