The New England Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians invites applications for the following fellowships supported by the chapter’s Robert Rettig Fund and John Coolidge Educational Fund.
All application materials for the Robert Rettig Student Annual Meeting Fellowship must be received by February 1, 2025 at 11:59 p.m.
All application materials, including reference letter, for the John Coolidge Research Fellowship must be received by February 1, 2025 at 11:59 p.m.
Applications should be addressed to Sophie Higgerson, Chapter President, and sent to nesah.president@gmail.com.
Robert Rettig Student Annual Meeting Fellowship
John Coolidge Research Fellowship
Robert Rettig Student Annual Meeting Fellowship
The New England Chapter, Society of Architectural Historians invites applications for the Robert Rettig Student Annual Meeting Fellowship.
The Rettig Fellowship provides financial assistance for students or emerging professionals attending the Annual International Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians (SAH). This year’s annual meeting will take place in Atlanta, Georgia, April 30–May 4, 2025.
The Rettig Fellowship honors Robert B. Rettig, the founding president of the New England Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians and an advocate for student travel to the national SAH annual meeting. Robert Rettig studied the history of art and architecture at Harvard (A.B. 1961, A.M. 1963). From 1964 to 1971 he worked for the Cambridge Historical Commission, where he served as co-author and/or editor of the first three volumes of the Commission’s Survey of Architectural History in Cambridge and as author of Guide to Cambridge Architecture: Ten Walking Tours (MIT Press, 1969). From his work in Cambridge, Rettig went on to leadership positions at the Boston Landmarks Commission, the Massachusetts Historical Commission, and the National Register of Historic Places. He is an SAH Fellow and a benefactor of national SAH.
Eligibility is limited to students in architectural history or a related field at a New England college or university, or recent graduates now living in New England and working in a related field. Applicants not currently enrolled as students must have received their degree within the last five years. The Rettig Fellowship includes support of up to $1,000, plus a registration fee waiver. The financial support is to be used for covering expenses related to attending the annual meeting such as transportation, hotel accommodations, and meals (with the exception of alcohol).
Applicants should submit a letter (not to exceed two pages, typed and double-spaced) explaining how their studies or work will be enhanced by attendance at the upcoming SAH annual meeting, a preliminary budget of conference-related expenses, and a list of other sources of funding the applicant will use to cover these expenses. A current curriculum vitae should accompany these materials. All files should be submitted electronically as one .pdf file.
All application materials are to be addressed to Sophie Higgerson, Chapter President, and sent to nesah.president@gmail.com. All materials must be received by February 1, 2025 at 11:59 p.m.
Recent recipients include:
2024: Phoebe Springstubb (MIT), "'They builde with whale bones': Whaling and the Construction of a Useable Past in the North American Arctic"
2023: Sarah Horowitz (Boston University), "A Lone Star is Born: Building Houston's Jones Hall for the Performing Arts"
2022: no recipient*
2021: no recipient*
2020: Willie Granston and C. Ian Stevenson (Boston University/Independent Scholar), “Reconsidering the Architecture of the Vacation, 1865-1945”*
*In rare instances, the Rettig Fellowship has not been awarded, or has been awarded to more than one recipient.
John Coolidge Research Fellowship
The New England Chapter, Society of Architectural Historians invites applications for the John Coolidge Research Fellowship.
Supported by the chapter’s John Coolidge Educational Fund, the John Coolidge Research Fellowship assists graduate students at a New England college or university working on topics in architectural history, the built environment, or a related field through an award of $1,000 to support their research.
The John Coolidge Research Fellowship was established following the death of Dr. John Coolidge (1913-1995), a founding member of the Society of Architectural Historians and an early member of the New England Chapter of the SAH. Coolidge earned his BA from Harvard and his MA and PhD from New York University, writing a dissertation on the work of Jacomo Barozzi da Vignola. Following positions at Vassar College and the University of Pennsylvania, Professor Coolidge taught at Harvard from 1947-1984 and served as director of the Fogg Museum from 1948-1968. Professor Coolidge’s book, Mill and Mansion: A Study of Architecture and Society in Lowell, Massachusetts, 1820-1865 (Columbia University Press), was among the first scholarly studies of American industrial architecture.
Applicants should submit a proposal (not to exceed three pages, typed and double-spaced) explaining the overall project, how the Coolidge Fellowship will support research (such as which archives or sites you intend to visit, collections to consult, etc.), and how this support will contribute to the completion of the larger project. In addition to this proposal document, applicants should submit a budget outlining how the Coolidge Fellowship funds will be used, noting any sources (and amounts) of other current or potential funding for the project, as well as a timeline for completing the research and overall project. The proposal, budget, timeline, and a current curriculum vitae should be submitted electronically as one .pdf file.
In addition to the materials submitted by the applicant, one letter of reference from someone familiar with the project should be submitted under separate cover to nesah.president@gmail.com.
It is expected that the recipient will complete the research within twelve months of receiving the fellowship unless health and travel guidance precludes such travel, in which case the research may be extended over an eighteen-month period. Half of the fellowship amount will be issued to the recipient upon at the time of selection, and the remainder will be issued following a lecture given by the recipient for NESAH at a time and date to be determined by both parties discussing how the Coolidge Fellowship funds were used in context with the larger project.
All application materials are to be addressed to Sophie Higgerson, Chapter President, and sent to nesah.president@gmail.com. All materials, including reference letter, must be received by February 1, 2025 at 11:59 p.m.
Recent recipients and their projects include:
2024: Olivia Wynne Houck (MIT), "Concrete Security: NATO as Territorial Project, 1940-1960"
2023: Carter Jackson (Boston University), "Britain’s Imperial Institutes: Architecture and the Discontents of Empire"
2022: Chelsea Spencer (MIT), “The Contract, the Contractor, and the Capitalization of American Building, 1873–1930”
2021: Sarah Horowitz (Boston University), “Designing Postwar American Performing Arts Centers, 1955-1971”
2020: Eliyahu Keller (MIT), “Drawing Apocalypse: Architectural Imagination in the Nuclear Age”
*In rare instances, the Coolidge Fellowship has not been awarded, or has been awarded to more than one recipient.