Philip Lee Phillips Society Fellowship

The Philip Lee Phillips Society, the Geography & Map Division, and the John W. Kluge Center invite qualified scholars to conduct research at the Kluge Center using the Geography & Map Division's collections and resources. The Philip Lee Phillips Map Society of the Library of Congress was established to further develop, enhance and promote the collections of the Geography & Map Division by encouraging financial donations to supplement appropriated funds for the acquisition of rare maps; stimulating interest among map collectors, map producers, geographers, cartographers, and historians in order to make the vast resources of the nation's premier cartographic and geographic collections more widely available; facilitating gifts and bequests of significant geographic and cartographic materials in order to further develop its collections; and advancing the Geography & Map Division's publication, education, and exhibition programs. The Geography & Map Division has custody of the largest and most comprehensive cartographic collection in the world with collections numbering over 6 million maps, 100,000 atlases, 8,000 reference works, over 5000 globes and globe gores, 3,000 raised relief models, and several terabytes of born digital geospatial data. Further information about the Library's collections can be found on the Library's website.

The Philip Lee Phillips Map Society Fellowship has been established to promote scholarly study of the collections of the Geography & Map Division of the Library of the Congress. The fellowship is funded by the Society’s generous donors, who have strong interest in the history of cartography, geography, and maps generally. While in residence, Philip Lee Phillips Fellows will be expected to utilize the collections and Reading Room of the Geography & Map Division and will have the opportunity to consult with Geography & Map Division staff.

Philip Lee Phillips Fellows will also have access to the John W. Kluge Center's specialized staff and to the intellectual community of Washington. Established in 2000 through an endowment of $60 million from John W. Kluge, the Center is located in the splendid Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress. The Center furnishes attractive work and discussion space for Fellowship holders, Kluge Chairs, other distinguished visiting scholars, and post-doctoral and doctoral fellows supported by other grants and foundation gifts.

Fellowship Terms

The Philip Lee Phillips Fellowship grants qualified scholars an onsite residency for the purpose of research in the history of cartography, GIS, digital humanities or a related field. The fellowship requires the investigation and utilization of materials from the collections of the Geography & Map Division.

The recipient of the fellowship will be granted a stipend of $2,875 every two weeks for a consecutive term of up to eight (8) weeks, which is subject to applicable taxes. For an eight-week residency, the amount of the fellowship is $11,500. If for any reason an applicant is offered or elects to serve a residency of less than eight weeks, the rate of $2,875 every two weeks still applies. The fellowship’s start date is flexible, but a Philip Lee Phillips Society Fellowship term must be completed within the calendar year in which the Fellow is notified of their award. Fellows are typically notified of their selection in the spring following the application deadline.

Guidance for Applicants

In order to fully evaluate the feasibility of your application, the Geography & Map Division seeks to know which materials an applicant plans to use during their time in residence and how they will use them within the Fellowship’s allotted timeframe. We encourage applicants to be as specific as possible in the collection material they would like to use. Potential applicants are encouraged to reach out to the Division for any assistance needed to identify research materials.

For projects which seek to undertake digital or computational use of collections, it is vital that applicants specify which collections would be utilized so that the feasibility of the project can be assessed. Applicants seeking to digitize material are encouraged to consult the Geography & Map Reading Room’s policies for Copying and Scanning Material and develop a plan for digitization using permitted resources. The capacity of the Division to digitize material on behalf of an applicant is limited and can not be guaranteed to any applicant. Applicants should be aware that both copyright status and the physical condition of the material may limit what can be digitized. Potential applicants are encouraged to reach out to the Division with any further questions.

Applicants must submit:

• A completed application form, in English
• A curriculum vitae (maximum 2 pages; additional pages will be discarded)
• A 500-word research abstract. This research abstract should fully summarize your research topic and methodology.
• A 500-word statement on how Library of Congress collections will benefit your work. This statement should focus on your planned use of collection material.
• A statement of proposed research (maximum 3 pages). The full statement of proposed research should be as specific as possible in describing the Geography & Map Division’s collection material that an applicant proposes to use.
• A bibliography of works you have consulted for your proposal (maximum 3 pages)
• Two letters of reference with completed reference forms from people who have read the research proposal

Applications will open April 15, 2025 be accepted up to 11:59pm, September 15, 2025. Please click here to visit our application portal to begin your application!