The Ephemera Society of America invites applications for the Philip Jones Fellowship for the Study of Ephemera. This competition, now in its thirteenth year, is open to any interested individual or organization for the study of any aspect of ephemera, defined as minor (and sometimes major) everyday documents intended for one-time or short-term use.
It is expected that this study will advance one or more aims of the Society:
The $2,000 stipend can be applied to travel and/or study expenses, but cannot be used to purchase ephemera. How the stipend will be used; the expected form and outcome of the project and its relationship to ephemera; when and how the outcome will be disseminated; and its benefit to furthering the goals of the ESA should be clearly stated in the application.
Ephemera includes a vast amount of paper material such as advertisements, airsickness bags, baseball cards, billheads, bookmarks, bookplates, broadsides, cigar box labels and bands, cigarette cards, clipper ship cards, board and card games, greeting cards, sheet music, maps, calendars, blotters, invitations, luggage labels, menus, paper dolls, postcards, posters, puzzles and puzzle cards, stock certificates, tickets, timetables, trade cards, valentines, watch papers, and wrappers. These are but a handful of examples. Please see the ESA website at www.ephemerasociety.org for more information about ephemera.
The fellowship selection criteria include:
Examples of previously funded proposals include:
Applications are due December 1, 2022. Specific application instructions for this fellowship are below. In order for an application to be considered, these instructions must be followed.
The applicant’s resume, submitted as part of the application, should include the applicant’s experience and proven ability to carry out this project and disseminate its results. The completed application should be sent electronically to:
jonesfellow@ephemerasociety.org
Decisions will be reported to the successful individual or organization by March 3, 2023, and will be announced at the Society’s annual meeting and conference, March 16-19, 2023 in Old Greenwich, Connecticut.
The successful candidate will have one year to complete the project, and will be required to submit two written reports to the Board of the Ephemera Society: an interim progress report due August 15, 2023, and a final report due February 1, 2024. The winner may also be invited to write an article about the project for an issue of the Society’s The Ephemera Journal, and/or prepare a presentation about the project for the following year’s annual conference.
Application packet instructions and an example of how to format your cover sheet are below:
An application consists of the following materials, in the following order:
Name Street Address or P.O. Box City, State and zip code (if outside the U.S., please give full international address) Phone number E-mail address Your profession (student, historian, independent scholar, collector, etc.) How did you hear about this fellowship?
Beginning on the same page as your contact information, include the title of the project, and a double-spaced statement in 12-point font summarizing and describing the project, and how you would use the fellowship stipend. The fellowship selection criteria include: 1. the significance of the project; 2. the project’s relationship to ephemera and the mission of the Ephemera Society of America; 3. how it might be shared with ESA members and the public; 4. evidence of the applicant’s ability to disseminate the results of the project effectively through scholarly articles, presentations, or exhibitions; and 5. how the applicant will use the stipend. Your contact information and the description of your project should total no more than two pages.
Please submit a current résumé highlighting your experience and proven ability to carry out the project with your application. Your résumé should be no more than two pages.
Instructions for formatting applications:
Applications must be received by midnight on December 1, 2022. Send via e-mail to jonesfellow@ephemerasociety.org. Applications not following the formatting requirements will not be considered.