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State Historical Society of Iowa

Research Grant for Authors

Apply for a grant to support historical research on a topic related to Iowa history. Each year, up to 10 research stipends will be awarded to support research related to the history of Iowa or Iowa and the Midwest. Preference is given to proposals that pursue neglected topics or new approaches to more familiar topics.

Grant recipients will produce an annotated manuscript to be considered for publication in the Annals of Iowa, a scholarly journal published quarterly by the State Historical Society of Iowa.

Who: Eligible applications include academic and public historians, graduate students, and independent researchers and writers
What: $1,500
Application Deadline: April 15, 2024, for funding period of July 1, 2024 to September 1, 2025

How to Apply

  1. Read the guidelines.
  2. Apply by April 15, 2024.

Applications are welcomed from U.S. and international applicants. International applicants must possess either a valid Social Security Number or an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN).

Explore the Work of Past and Current Grant Recipients

Research Grants for Authors recipients have contributed more than 100 articles to the Annals of Iowa and are frequent contributors to programs throughout the State Historical Society of Iowa. Read articles by grant recipients or find upcoming or past programs that draw on research ranging from Indigenous Iowa to the 1980s Farm Crisis.

Grant Awards History

Displaying 1 - 20 of 113
Searches project title, applicant name, city, county, and fiscal year
Project Title Applicant Sort descending City County Fiscal year Grant Amount
Getting Rid of the Gumbo: Good Roads Trains, “Scientific Localism” and the Culture of Iowa Road Improvement, 1904–1927 Amanda L. Katz Pittsburgh, PA 2019 $1,000.00
The Land Between Two Rivers: Cartographic Caricatures of the Present-Day State of Iowa, 1845-2020 Amanda Murphyao 2021 $1,000.00
Ferdinand Winslow’s Civil War: Transnational Ties and Complementary Identity Anders B. Rasmussen Denmark 2015 $1,000.00
Bertha Shambaugh: Domestic Life as Artistic Practice Andrea M. Truitt Iowa City Johnson 2019 $1,000.00
Deep Red Roots: Religion, Ethnicity and the Origins of Sioux County, Iowa’s Conservative Subculture Andrew Klumpp Dallas, TX 2018 $1,000.00
Community Identity, Rock & Roll, & Baby Boomer Nostalgia in Clear Lake, Iowa Anna Thompson Hajdik Madison, WI 2017 $1,000.00
Women’s Equality and the Feminization of Iowa’s One-Room Schools Ashley N. Loper Cedar Falls Black Hawk 2017 $1,000.00
Empowerment, Social Uplift, and Community: Pauline Humphrey and the Crescent School of Beauty Culture Ashley R. Garrin Ames Story 2014 $1,000.00
Northwest Iowa during the Civil War: Sioux Uprising and Creation of the Northern Border Brigade Ben Chase Ames Story 2017 $1,000.00
Religious Conflict in Southeastern Iowa, 1839–1846 Brady G. Winslow Fort Worth, TX 2017 $1,000.00
Politics in Paint: The Creation, Destruction, and Restoration of the Cedar Rapids Courthouse Mural Breanne Robertson College Park, MD 2014 $1,000.00
Strangers in a Familiar Land: Pioneers and the Meskwaki Settlement in Early Iowa, 1832–1896 Chelsea Tegels Arlington, VA 2017 $1,000.00
The Queer Pastoral in Iowa: Sexuality and Landscape at the Stone City Art Colony Christopher Hommerding Madison, WI 2014 $1,000.00
Killing Butler’s Bloodhounds: Iowa Soldiers and an Act of Political Violence in Reconstruction South Carolina Cormac Broeg Iowa City Johnson 2017 $1,000.00
Sustaining Progressive Populism: The Iowa Democratic Party in the Wake of the Farm Crisis, 1986–1992 Cory M. Haala Crystal, MN 2019 $1,000.00
Decolonizing Seeds to Revitalize Lifeways: Regeneration Through Tallgrass Prairie and Bison, Heirloom Seeds, and Food Sovereignty Daniel R. Maher 2023 $1,500.00
Constructing Nordic Cultural Heritage in Decorah, Iowa: From “Luther College Museum” to “Vesterheim: The National Norwegian-American Museum and Heritage Center Daniel R. Maher Fayetteville, AR 2018 $1,000.00
Farming by Rail: Perry G. Holden, Iowa’s Demonstration Trains, and the Rise of Mobile Agricultural Experiment Stations David D. Vail Manhattan, KS 2014 $1,000.00
Heartland Stories: Rural Iowa Ethnic Churches, 1945–1975 David E. Zwart Allendale, MI 2017 $1,000.00
Food for My Enemies: The First Friendship Train in Iowa David Mills 2021 $1,000.00