History
Historical scholarship on social work, social welfare, and the institutions they built.
27 opportunities · 16 traditional · 11 nontraditional
Traditional (16)
- Research and fellowship programsFellowshipNational Endowment for the HumanitiesArchival and interpretive scholarship, including the history of social welfare institutions, casework, and the profession itself — the federal home for the SSWR History cluster.Amount not published · Annual cycle · Apr, Sep, Nov
- Research grants on educationFoundation grantSpencer FoundationEducation research at several scales, from small grants through large field-initiated studies, with a standing willingness to fund qualitative and historical work that federal panels find hard to score.$50k–$500k · Several times a year
- Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation FellowshipDissertation awardCharlotte W. Newcombe FoundationFunds the final year of dissertation writing for doctoral candidates whose work engages significant questions of religion, ethics, morals, and values. Social welfare and social work Ph.D. students working on moral dimensions of care, faith-based service delivery, or ethics of practice fit the frame.$34k stipend · Annual cycle · Nov
- Radcliffe Institute FellowshipFellowshipHarvard Radcliffe InstituteA residential year in Cambridge for scholars to complete an individual project, with social sciences as one of the application categories. Fellows join a multidisciplinary cohort and have access to Harvard resources.$78k–$83k stipend · Annual cycle · Sep
- Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian ProgramTraining & capacityInstitute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)Supports building the library and archival workforce and the capacity of libraries, archives and LIS graduate programs. Includes Early Career Research and Applied Research grant categories of $75,000-$750,000.$25k–$1M · Annual cycle · Nov
- Museum Grants for African American History and CultureTraining & capacityInstitute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)Builds the capacity of African American museums and HBCU collecting institutions and develops their professional workforce, including projects that increase access to museum and archival collections.$5k–$500k · Annual cycle · Mar, Nov
- Public Humanities ProjectsFederal grantNational Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), Division of Public ProgramsSupports public-audience humanities programming through exhibitions and historic-site interpretation, at planning (up to $75,000) and implementation (up to $750,000) levels.up to $750k · Annual cycle · Dec
- National Leadership Grants for LibrariesFederal grantInstitute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)Funds projects that develop, test or adapt replicable practices, models and tools to strengthen library and archival services, including a dedicated Applied Research grant category ($75,000-$750,000).$25k–$1M · Annual cycle · Mar, Nov
- Native American Library Services: Enhancement GrantsTraining & capacityInstitute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)Supports Federally recognized Native Communities in enhancing library and archival services, including oral history documentation, digitisation, language and cultural materials, and staff training.$50k–$150k · Annual cycle · Apr, Nov
- Collections Stewardship (Humanities Collections and Reference Resources)Federal grantNational Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), Division of Collections and InfrastructureFunds preservation of and access to humanities collections: archival arrangement and description, cataloguing, digitisation, transcription and indexing of primary sources, and staff training in collections care.up to $500k · Several times a year · May, Dec
- Museums for AmericaFederal grantInstitute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)Project grants for museums in three categories: Lifelong Learning, Community Engagement, and Collections Stewardship and Access. Community Engagement projects can include community-partnered documentation and evaluation work.$5k–$350k · Annual cycle · Nov
- Cushwa Center Research Grants and AwardsFoundation grantCushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism, University of Notre DameSix funding programmes for scholarly research, open to scholars outside Notre Dame. The Gustavo Gutierrez Research Awards support projects in theology, history and the social sciences engaging the preferential option for the poor; the Cyprian Davis Award recognises research on the Black Catholic experience; the Mother Theodore Guerin grants support research on Catholic women including oral history interviews. Relevant to social work historians and researchers on poverty, race and gender in faith-based service systems.Not a cash award · Annual cycle · Dec
- NEXT – 'Dual Use' of Ideas and Concepts from the Humanities and Social SciencesFoundation grantVolkswagenStiftung (Volkswagen Foundation)Germany's largest private research funder is asking how concepts generated inside the social sciences get lifted out of context and repurposed for anti-liberal, anti-scientific or anti-democratic ends — the classic example being 'knowledge is socially constructed' flattened into 'all truth is opinion' and used to delegitimise research. For social work this is unusually close to home: trauma, resilience, safeguarding, empowerment and vulnerability are all discipline-born concepts that circulate in politics and media in mutated form. Grants fund small interdisciplinary teams to trace that transfAmount not published · Periodic calls · Oct
- NEH FellowshipsFederal fellowshipNational Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)Individual stipends of up to $60,000 ($5,000/month for six to twelve months) for scholars to complete humanities books, articles, critical editions or digital scholarship. Paid directly to the applicant, not the institution.up to $60k stipend · Annual cycle · Apr
- Native American Library Services: Enhancement GrantsTraining & capacityInstitute of Museum and Library ServicesCompetitive grants to federally recognized Native Communities for library and archival projects, including oral history documentation, digitization, institutional planning, professional training, and language and cultural material development.$50k–$150k · Annual cycle · Apr
- DFG Individual Research Grants (Sachbeihilfe)Foundation grantDeutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation, DFG)The central bottom-up instrument of German research funding and the one most social work academics in Germany will use. Any qualified researcher at a German institution can propose a project with a clearly defined topic and duration, in any discipline, with no submission deadline at all — proposals go in when they are ready, via the elan portal. A distinctive sub-track matters for the field: 'long-term projects' in the humanities and social sciences carry continuous funding for seven to twelve years, which is what makes cohort studies, longitudinal welfare research and large corpora feasible.Amount not published · Rolling / open
Nontraditional (11)
- Native Cultures Fund GrantsParticipatory grantmakingNative Cultures Fund (Humboldt Area Foundation / Wild Rivers Community Foundation)Small grants for California Indian cultural transmission projects, decided by a rotating committee of California Indian culture bearers rather than foundation staff. Individuals, Tribal Nations, nonprofits, and community partnerships may apply.$1k–$10k · Several times a year · Apr, Oct
- The Center Fellowship (formerly Right of Return)FellowshipCenter for Art & AdvocacyAn annual fellowship for formerly incarcerated artists, founded by formerly incarcerated artists, funding projects that document and challenge the criminal legal system. Money comes with a retreat, mentorship and a peer network.$20k · Annual cycle
- DC Oral History Collaborative Grants (Beyond the Archives; Continuing Oral History Projects)Participatory grantmakingHumanitiesDCCommunity-directed grants for oral history work in Washington, DC: Beyond the Archives ($12,000) funds public-facing projects built on existing oral history collections; Continuing Oral History Projects ($8,000-$13,000) funds adding interviews to an existing collection.$8k–$25k · Several times a year · Feb, Mar, May
- Asian Community Fund Narrative Change GrantsParticipatory grantmakingAsian Community Fund at the Boston Foundation (AAPI Arts and Culture Collaborative)Grants for artist-led projects that elevate AANHPI narratives in Massachusetts. Individual artists may apply directly, and the fund's pilot round was selected by a panel of community reviewers.$5k–$15k · Annual cycle · Feb
- Arts and Community GrantsFoundation grantBlack Belt Community FoundationSmall annual grants from a Black-led community foundation covering 12 rural counties in Alabama's Black Belt. Genuinely local money that rarely circulates outside the region.$500–$5k · Annual cycle · Jan
- Nuestra Herencia GrantsFoundation grantLatinos in Heritage ConservationA Latinx-led regranting programme for grassroots Latinx heritage and historic preservation, including oral histories, historic context surveys and documentation tied to a place.$5k–$100k · Annual cycle · Nov, Feb
- Disability Futures FellowsPrize or challengeFord Foundation (with the Mellon Foundation, administered by United States Artists)An unrestricted award to disabled artists, journalists and documentary filmmakers, designed with disabled practitioners. Fellows are nominated rather than self-applying.$50k · By invitation
- CODESRIA Grants and FellowshipsTraining & capacityCouncil for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA)CODESRIA, headquartered in Dakar and operating fully in French and English, is the pan-African social science research council and the single most important non-Northern funder of African social research careers. Its grants and fellowships strand now runs through the College of Senior Academic Mentors, which pairs doctoral students registered at African universities with senior diaspora academics for proposal and chapter feedback, reading materials, methodological guidance and conference networking; Support to Doctoral Schools, which funds humanities and social science doctoral schools to run Amount not published · Annual cycle
- Good Ancestor Program - Spiral Braid Language InitiativeParticipatory grantmakingSeventh Generation Fund for Indigenous PeoplesAn Indigenous-controlled fund's request for proposals supporting language revitalization, community-based healing rooted in traditional practice, traditional foodways, and cultural knowledge sharing across the greater Southwest.Amount not published · Periodic calls · Jul, Aug
- Empower! Black Futures Community FundParticipatory grantmakingSanta Fe Community FoundationAn identity-based giving circle for Black life, arts and culture in New Mexico. A named volunteer advisory committee of people who identify with New Mexico's Black communities leads the grantmaking decisions.Amount not published · Annual cycle
- Documentary Heritage Program (DHP) GrantsTraining & capacityNew York State Archives (NYSED)State grants for projects that document under-represented communities and preserve and provide public access to historical records held by New York not-for-profit archives, libraries and historical societies.Amount not published · Annual cycle
Other clusters
- Adolescent and Youth Development
- Aging Services and Gerontology
- American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian and Global Indigenous Populations (Indigenous Cluster)
- Asian and Asian-Pacific Islander Focused-Research
- Black and African Diaspora Focused-Research
- Child Welfare
- Communities and Neighborhoods
- Crime and Criminal Justice
- Disability
- Gender
- Gender-Based Violence
- Health
- Inequality, Poverty, and Social Welfare Policy
- International Social Work and Global Issues
- Immigrants and Refugees
- LatinX Focused-Research
- Mental Health
- Military Service Members, Veterans and Their Families
- Organizations and Management
- Race and Ethnicity
- Research Design and Measurement
- Research on Social Work Education
- School Social Work
- Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
- Social Work Practice
- Substance Misuse and Addictive Behaviors
- Sustainable Development, Environmental and Climate Justice
- Work and Work-Life Policies and Programs