The Fellowship Program of The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the AMERICAN JEWISH ARCHIVES

General Information

✒ The Marcus Center’s Fellowship Program provides recipients with month-long fellowships for research and writing using the vast collection at the American Jewish Archives. Applicants to the Fellowship program must be conducting serious research in some area relating to the history of North American Jewry. Typically a fellowship will be awarded to post-doctoral candidates, Ph.D. candidates who are completing dissertations, and university professors or independent scholars. Fellowship stipends are provided to cover transportation and living expenses while in residence in Cincinnati.

✒ Applications are submitted directly to the AJA where they are reviewed by members of the AJA’s Academic and Advisory Board. Candidates are selected based on a number of factors including: 1) available funds; 2) amount of material available on their topic; and 3) the level of scholarship and strength of application.

✒ The minimum amount required to establish a permanent endowment is $25,000.

✒ In general (based on the past 4 years), an endowment of $25,000 will support one AJA Fellow every other year. A $50,000 endowment will provide for one AJA Fellow each year.

✒ The College-Institute does provide for growth of endowments when the economic climate is favorable i.e. investment of a portion of the income into the principal. In addition, individuals or organizations may give future gifts to increase principal amounts. In 1979, the Bernard & Audre Rapoport Fellowship was established with the principal amount of $100,000. Today the Rapoport Fellowship’s principal market value is over $149,000 after more than thirty fellowships have been awarded from its income. The principal of an endowment remains in perpetuity and fellowships are funded only from the income.

✒ The American Jewish Archives (AJA) is a division of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, a non-profit educational organization; therefore, all gifts are tax deductible.