Shield of the Historical Society of the Episcopal ChurchHistorical Society
of the Episcopal Church

Grants & Awards

Grants and Awards

The Grants and Research Committee of the Historical Society of the Episcopal Church invite applications for grants in the 2023 granting cycle. Grants are awarded for pursuing the Historical Society’s objectives, especially promotion of the preservation of the particular heritage of the Episcopal Church and its antecedents, including any part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Grant recipients are expected to make an appropriate submission to the Society’s journal, Anglican and Episcopal History or its features publication, The Historiographer.

APPLICATIONS OPEN


Regular Grants

Applications for regular grants are received from individuals, organizations or ecclesiastical groups. Requests for supporting research, conferences or events, or publication relating to the history of the Episcopal Church, as well as the worldwide Anglican Communion, are welcome. A typical request may include travel funding, research expenses, or funds to support of a larger project. Examples of past grants awarded include publication of books and articles, dissertation research, and support of a documentary film. Regular grants are generally funded for $500-$2,000, depending on number of grants approved and funding available.

APPLICATION SUBMISSION

  • Regular grants submission is open with a deadline is May 1st.
  • Prichard Prize submission opens February 1, 2025.
  • Having difficulties? Contact the Director of Operations at administration@hsec.us.

Regular Grant Application and Materials


Submit with materials attached (.PDF preferred) to Grants and Research Committee Chair, Ben Guyer (benjamin.m.guyer@gmail.com).

  1. A statement, no more than 500 words, on the subject and purpose of the research or project, including explanation of how it contributes to a shared understanding of the history of the Episcopal Church and/or Anglicanism;
  2. A single page bibliography or reference list;
  3. A concise curriculum vitae or resume of the proposer;
  4. A projected budget with amount requested and detail of use. Explain other resources available or pursuing, especially if granted funds are for an amount less than requested;
  5. Indicate how you learned about the Historical Society's grants program;
  6. At least two (2) letters of recommendation or support from those familiar with the proposer and project (for a graduate student, one from main supervising professor expected).

Robert W. Prichard Award Application and Materials
Opens in 2025


Submit with materials attached (.PDF preferred) to [link added when submissions are open].

  1. A statement, no more than 500 words, describing how the Episcopal or Anglican element of the work is a constitutive (not peripheral) part of the dissertation;
  2. A complete digital version of the dissertation, with all scholarly apparatus; 
  3. A concise curriculum vitae;
  4. Indicate how you learned about the Historical Society grants program;
  5. Certification of a successful defense between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2024 through a letter from the committee chair or member.

Robert W. Prichard Prize

Next awarded in 2025. The Robert W. Prichard Prize recognizes the best Ph.D., Th.D., or D.Phil. dissertation which considers the history of the Episcopal Church (including 17th and 18th century British colonies that became the United States) as well as the Anglican church in the worldwide Anglican Communion. The prize is named to honor the Rev. Dr. Robert W. Prichard, a noted historian and author in the discipline who was a longtime member and President of the Historical Society Board.

The next Prichard Prize will be awarded in 2025. Applicants may submit a dissertation for consideration successfully defended between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2024. It may be submitted by the author or on their behalf. The dissertation need not focus solely, or even principally, on the history of the Episcopal Church or Anglicanism. The selection committee welcomes dissertations which place that history in conjunction with other strands of church history, or even place it in dialogue with non-ecclesial themes of American history. The Episcopal or Anglican element of the work should be a constitutive, not peripheral, part of the dissertation. Submissions should be a full electronic version of the dissertation, complete with all scholarly apparatus. The recipient will receive a $2,000 prize and be a guest of the Historical Society to receive the award.


If you are awarded a grant or prize, a Grant Acceptance Form must be returned before funds are released. The form requirements including returning a W-9 or other documentation, attribution in any publication drawn upon the project supported, submission of a report of accomplishments, and permission for the Historical Society to publish recipients' names and titles of research or projects. It is expected recipients will make submission to Anglican and Episcopal History, or its general features publication, The Historiographer, when appropriate. A 1099 will be provided at the end of the tax year as grants may be taxable  — consult with your tax advisor.

Grants awarded announced in July

2022 GRANT RECIPIENTS

  • Christy Baty – MA candidate at University of Nebraska at Kearney, to research the role of embroidered book bindings in women’s religious lives in early modern England.

  • Devin Burns – PhD candidate at Florida State University, to study the Confederate Episcopal Church and its relationship to the making of Lost Cause historiography.
  • Mongezi Guma – Canon, Anglican Church in South Africa, to research Sister Alberta Ngudle, a Religious Sister from Tsolo, who founded in 1919 an African female Religious Community of St. John the Baptist (CSJB).
  • Laura Hernandez-Ehrisman – Faculty member, Department of History, Austin Community College, to research the place of slavery and race relations in the history of St. David’s Episcopal Church, Austin.
  • Stephen Kapinde – Lecturer, Religion and Public Life, Pwani University, to investigate the long standing and ambiguous history of the Anglican Church and ex-slave’s descendants at Frere Town in Kenya.
  • Simon Lewis – independent scholar, to study doctrinal debate in the early-eighteenth century Church of Ireland, focusing on the contributions made by the clergyman Edward Nicholson.
  • Donn Mitchell – independent scholar, for research on Frances Perkins and the religious dimension of the New Deal by placing it within the context of the Episcopal Church’s role in social mission.
  • Daphne Noyes – independent scholar, to continue her research on the life of Adeline Blanchard Tyler (1805-1875), the first deaconess in the Episcopal Church.
  • Donna Ray – Senior Lecturer in History and Religious Studies at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, to research the voices of laywomen, especially their “soft power,” in shaping the Episcopal Church in the American Deep South.
  • Bart Segu – PhD candidate in systematic theology, St. Paul’s University, Kenya, to study the influence of liberation theology upon John Henry Okullu and his pursuit for social justice in Kenya.
  • Diocese of Mississippi –  to digitize five audio cassettes and thirty-three VHS tapes, 1975-2003, which will include sharing the stories online through the diocesan website. 
  • Diocese of Milwaukee –for the collection and dissemination of oral histories of the Milwaukee Diocese of the Episcopal Church.

Historical Society of the Episcopal Church

Dedicated to preserving and disseminating information about the history of the Episcopal Church and its antecedents.
A 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization established for educational, charitable and religious purposes.
(920) 383-1910 | administration@hsec.us | PO Box 1301, Appleton, WI 54912-1301 | © 2021

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