Friends of the Longfellow House – Washington’s Headquarters, Inc.

Art Research Fellowship Program

Request for Proposals

Summary 

The Friends of the Longfellow House – Washington’s Headquarters, Inc. (the Friends) is pleased to announce the 2025 Longfellow House Art Research Fellowship. This Fellowship supports scholars conducting research about the art collection at Longfellow House – Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site (Longfellow House) using the site’s museum and archival collections.

The 2025 Fellowship offers a $3,000 stipend to assist with research-related expenses. The fellowship recipient will be expected to conduct research on-site, submit a report and/or article summarizing their findings, and share their work with the public through an agreed-upon format, such as a public talk or a short article for publication on the Friends' and National Park Service's websites.

Purpose

The Art Research Fellowship emphasizes the Friends’ commitment to enhancing research, scholarship, and knowledge sharing at the Longfellow House, specifically the expansion of research and publication associated with the site’s important collection of art. This fellowship supports projects that focus on expanding the knowledge base of the art, artists, collectors, and their associated stories, and aims to achieve the following goals: 

Increase public visibility and knowledge of the Longfellow House fine art collection;

• Expand the Longfellow House’s capacity for research based on the site’s fine art collection;

• Foster increased engagement with other art collecting institutions to promote the exchange of knowledge;

• Illustrate how and why this fine art collection matters to the collective understanding of art appreciation in 19th century America; and

• Highlight particularly intriguing works as objects and as carriers of compelling stories.

The Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site fine art collection, numbering approximately 2,000 works, offers a remarkable window into American artistic and cultural life. Featuring paintings, drawings, prints, and sculptures spanning from the 17th to early 20th centuries, the collection reflects the tastes and interests of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, his wife Fanny, their children, Fanny’s brother (and arts patron) Thomas Gold Appleton, as well as other family members and friends. Personal and intimate in nature, it includes gifts from artists the family knew, portraits of loved ones, and acquisitions made during their extensive travels. This unique assemblage resides in situ, displayed within the historic Longfellow House — a time capsule where nearly all the artworks and furnishings remain original to the family’s occupancy.

The collection highlights the Longfellows' broad cultural reach, encompassing connections to American, European, and Japanese art. Notable American artists represented include Gilbert Stuart, Albert Bierstadt, Winslow Homer, Eastman Johnson, John Kensett, and G.P.A. Healy, alongside European luminaries like Lorenzo Bartolini, Jean Baptiste Camille Corot, and Jean Baptiste Isabey. Distinct themes emerge, such as the White Marmorean Flock (a group of American female sculptors active in Italy), the American Barbizon School, and the 1868-69 Grand Tour, showcasing the family’s engagement with national and international movements and their role as cultural patrons. Their collecting extended beyond connoisseurship, serving to narrate stories and foster connections between New England and the world.

Beyond its intrinsic artistic value, the collection is deeply intertwined with many of Boston’s cultural institutions, including the Athenaeum, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Public Library, Harvard Art Museums, Historic New England, and is a time capsule of American collecting practices. Supported by extensive archival materials both on-site and at local repositories, the art collection not only illuminates the Longfellows’ lives but also offers scholars a rich resource for exploring the broader interconnected nature of art, patronage, and heritage in the 19th century and beyond. 

Please visit the Longfellow House website for information about the museum collections and research access, and to review finding aids to the archival collections. Portions of the collection are also available to browse online through the Digital Archive Portal.

In 2025, priority consideration will be given to research proposals that explore connections between the Longfellow family’s art collection and the broader historical art and cultural networks of the 19th century. Topics that address the historical significance of art collecting during this period, including its relationship to the Grand Tour tradition, the cultural aspirations of American elites, and the development of formal art institutions, are particularly encouraged. While proposals on any aspect of the fine art collection are welcome, the following topics are of special interest to the site:

• Thomas Gold Appleton’s art collection and collecting, with attention to its reflection of transatlantic art tastes and networks.

• Mary King Longfellow’s artwork, including her contributions as a woman artist in the 19th century and connections to broader artistic movements.

• Ernest Wadsworth Longfellow’s artwork, with a focus on his place within 19th-century art trends and relationships with contemporary artists.

• Art collected during the Longfellow family’s 1868-69 Grand Tour, contextualized within the historical practice of collecting and its ties to the formation of cultural identity and status.

• Personal relationships between the (extended) Longfellow family and notable artists (e.g. G.P.A. Healy, John Kensett, J.E.C. Peterson), emphasizing the role of such relationships in shaping the collection and reflecting the family's engagement with the cultural networks of their time.

Proposals that explore the unique experience of viewing art in the Longfellow House, as compared to traditional art museums, are also encouraged. Each room in the house has its own history and art “theme,” reflecting its use by the family. This immersive approach offers insight into how art was lived with, rather than simply displayed. Investigating how the artworks reflect the house’s layered histories—including the periods when specific pieces entered the collection—provides opportunities to deepen understanding of the collection’s significance. Proposals on these themes might address the following types of questions, for example:

• Why are there so many plaster and marble copies of ancient busts in the collection, and what do they reveal about the family’s intellectual and cultural values?

• What accounts for the strong representation of French artists in the house’s collection, and how does this align with 19th-century American tastes and the Longfellow family’s personal connections?

• Why is Japanese art present in the house, and how does it reflect the family’s engagement with broader trends in 19th-century art and culture?

• How do these artistic themes resonate with the Longfellow family’s literary and cultural achievements?

• Proposals that link the Longfellow House art collection to other art institutions or explore its relevance to evolving narratives of 19th-century art and culture are especially encouraged. By situating the collection within both its domestic context and broader cultural frameworks, one can better appreciate its unique character and historical significance.

Who Should Apply

Successful candidates will possess:

• Demonstrated interest or experience with art history or fine arts.

• Ability to communicate and write effectively.

• Experience conducting and citing primary-source research.

• Proficiency in written and spoken English.

• Ability to independently arrange accommodation and travel. Supplemental funds for travel and lodging will not be provided.

• Self-reliance and flexibility.

• Applicants must be U.S. citizens or already hold the J-1 or F-1 visa (or equivalent documents) and a U.S. taxpayer identification number.  

Prospective applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the Longfellow House Museum Curator David Daly (David_Daly@nps.gov) to discuss the fit between their proposed projects and the materials available in the collection.

Timeline

• April 1, 2025 - Proposal submission deadline.

• June 1, 2025 - Fellowship award announcement.

• January 1, 2026 - Final project report due.

Requirements

The fellowship recipient will be expected to conduct research on-site, submit a report and/or article summarizing their findings, and share their work with the public through an agreed-upon format, such as a public talk or a short article for publication on the Friends' and National Park Service's websites.

Award

• An award will be given for research and scholarly efforts that support the goals as described above.

• Proposed projects may be collaborative, multi- or inter-disciplinary, or single investigator projects.

• The fellowship stipend is $3,000. Payment will be made in two installments: $1,500 upon award and $1,500 upon submission of requirements described above. 

Application Instructions

• Full proposal deadline is April 1, 2025 at 5:00 pm ET.

• Submit all proposal documents as a single pdf attachment in an email to longfellowhousefellowships@gmail.com. Please use “2025 Longfellow House Art Research Fellowship Application” in the subject line.

• Include a two-page cv or resume, and a project description.

• The project description should explicitly:

• Identify applicant and qualifications to conduct and complete the project.

• Define project goals and objectives.

• Provide project overview in specific language: what it is, why it should be pursued, how it will be done.

• Explain significance of the project and potential contribution to arts and humanities at the Longfellow House – Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site.

• Provide a timeline of work.

• Identify outcomes, including final product(s) of project (e.g., publication, lecture, etc.)

• Be no more than three pages using a standard font type and size (Times New Roman or Arial, 11 or 12 pt) with 1” margins.

• Two additional pages of images may be appended to the required documents as supporting materials. These pages may include, but are not limited to, photographs, maps, graphs or charts, or other figures.

Submissions will be reviewed by a selection panel. Applications will be evaluated based on their fit with the specific goals of the fellowship opportunity described above, the applicants’ research and practical experience, and the feasibility of the project and the likelihood that the applicant will conduct research on-site, submit a report and/or article summarizing their findings, and share their work with the public through an agreed-upon format within the proposed time frame. Successful applicants will be notified via e-mail.