Grants & Internships

The Baylor University Institute for Oral History invites individual scholars with training and experience in oral history research who are conducting oral history interviews to apply for support of up to $3,000 for one year (June through May). With this grant, the Institute seeks to partner with one scholar who is using oral history to address new questions and offer fresh perspectives on a subject area in which the research method has not yet been extensively applied. Interdisciplinary, cross-cultural research on local, national, or international subjects is welcome.

2025-2026 applications will open October 15 and close on January 31, 2025

The 2024-2025 recipient of the Charlton Oral History Grant is Brian Peterson. You can read his proposal, “Ernie Heckscher, San Fransisco Entertainer,” by clicking here. 

A teacher in higher education since 2000, Brian Peterson integrates his background as a music educator, choral/band conductor, and organist with interests in popular culture, oral history, and North American music.  He has given papers at the Society for American Music, National Council for History Education, American Musicological Society, Music Educators National Conference (NAfME), Society for Ethnomusicology, Popular Cultura Association, and the Visual Culture/Popular Culture Association.  He participated as a visiting researcher at the University of Michigan in summer 2012 and, in 2016, he was recognized as "Citizen of the Year" in his hometown, Orland, California. A frequent presenter at the New England Historical Association (NEHA) and Northeast Popular Culture Association (NEPCA), he also has shared original research annually at the International Country Music Conference (ICMC) since 2013.  

The goal of the Charlton Oral History Research Grant is to bring the strengths of oral history to new topics of investigation, create partnerships with scholars doing noteworthy fieldwork with oral history, build a substantial research collection at Baylor University through the work of a skilled oral historian, and provide long-term scholarly access to significant applications of oral history methodology that model best practices.

The application process is simple: 

1. Plan your project and create a descriptive narrative, a project description of 4-6 pages indicating the purpose of the research, your previous research of the topic, a description of any prior interviews conducted on the topic, the names of the persons to be interviewed, planned arrangements for conducting the interviews, and proposed scholarly outcomes for the interview materials. 
2. Complete the Charlton Grant Cover Sheet available here. 
3. Request 2 letters of reference on your behalf to Stephen Sloan by the deadline.  
4. Submit your completed cover sheet and your project proposal to BUIOH@baylor.edu by the application deadline.

Criteria

All grantees will agree to follow the principles of the Oral History Association; adhere to the established procedures of the Institute for Oral History; and obtain signed consent and transfer of copyright from interviewees, using the Institute's Deed of Gift form. In addition, grantees will agree to deposit recordings and transcripts created under the award in the Baylor University Libraries and submit a brief report about the work accomplished under the grant no later than one year from the date the grant goes into effect. Grantees will also agree to propose a paper based on the funded research for presentation at the first or second Oral History Association meeting following the grant award period. If the grantee's submission is accepted by OHA within the first or second year following the grant period, the Institute will pay the grantee's basic registration fee to attend the meeting.

Funding

Grantees may use the funds for expenses related to oral history interviews, including the interviewer's time, travel, lodging expenses, and incidental research expenses. Funds may be used to purchase digital audio recording equipment, but not video recording equipment. All equipment and recording media must conform to the current standards of the Institute. If necessary, the Institute will furnish audio recording equipment and media to ensure quality. Applicants need not include transcription costs in their expense plans. In addition to funding the interviews, the Institute will fund all expenses for processing, transcribing, and preserving the recordings, which will be accomplished in-house by Institute staff. Grantees will receive up to $3,000 in funding, payable in three installments over the grant year.

Eligibility

Non-US citizens are eligible but should contact the Institute regarding visas and other required paperwork before applying. Interviews in languages other than English are not eligible for the grant.

Evaluation

Applications will be evaluated on the significance of the research for providing a fresh approach to the subject and its potential for advancing knowledge; the originality, clarity, and precision of the project proposal; the applicant's past record of producing high-quality oral history research; the potential for successful completion of the project within the contract period; the anticipated use of the interviews in a publication, presentation, or other public outcome.

Questions?

Charlton Grant FAQ

To ask questions about the grant or application process, contact the Institute for Oral History via e-mail at BUIOH@baylor.edu.

The Charlton Oral History Research Grant honors Dr. Thomas L. Charlton, founder of the Institute for Oral History, whose vision for innovative oral history research still inspires our mission. Tom Charlton has devoted his career to opening doors for both beginning and advanced oral historians, always encouraging us to stretch further, dig deeper, and think bigger.

The Institute for Oral History is an interdisciplinary research entity of Baylor University administered through the provost's office. Since 1970, the Institute has gathered and preserved oral history, while providing leadership and service for the profession. Search the Institute's oral history collection and learn more the Institute's service at baylor.edu/oralhistory.

As an Affirmative Action/Equal Employment Opportunity Employer, Baylor encourages minorities, women, veterans, and persons with disabilities to apply.

2023-2024: Bright Alozie

Portland State University

"Immigrant Voices Matter: African Immigrants in Oregon” 

Proposal Narrative.

2022-2023: David Strittmatter

Ohio Northern University
Ada, OH

“Kent State Guardsmen Oral History Project”

Proposal Narrative

Final Report

2021-2022: Yesmar Oyarzun

Rice University
Houston, TX

“Making Dark Skin Visible : The Oral History of ‘Ethnic Skin’ and ‘Skin of Color’ Dermatology”

Proposal Narrative

Final Report

2019-2020: Andreana Prichard

University of Oklahoma
Norman, OK

Orphans and Demons: The Tragedies of Christian Charity in African

Proposal Narrative

2018-2019: Betsy Brody

Collin College
Plano, TX

Becoming Texans, Becoming Americans: The Making of the Vietnamese Community of North Texas

Proposal Narrative

Final Report

2017-2018: Kathleen Ryan

University of Colorado
Boulder, CO

"Mother" Nature and New Environmental Religiosity: An Interactive Oral History of Women, Photography, and the American Landscape

Proposal Narrative

2016-2017: Natalie Ring

University of Texas, Dallas 
Dallas, TX

Angola: An Oral History of Louisiana State Penitentiary in the 1950s-1970s

2015-2016: Joselyn Takacs

PhD Candidate
University of Southern California

Polluted Purifiers: An Oral History of Southeast Louisiana's Oyster Farmers in the Wake of the Deepwater Horizon Environmental Disaster

Proposal Narrative

Final Report

2014-2015: Roger Davis Gatchet

West Chester University
West Chester, PA

Talking the Blues: An Oral History of Blues Musicians in Austin, Texas

Proposal Narrative

Final Report

2013-2014: Michael Phillips & Betsy Friauf

Michael Phillips
Collin Community College
Plano, Texas

Betsy Friauf
UNT Health Science Center
Fort Worth, Texas

"God Carved in Night": Black Intellectuals in Texas

Proposal Narrative

Final Report

2012-2013: Rosemarie M. Esber

Independent Scholar
Alexandria, VA

Arab Americans in the Southern United States

Proposal Narrative

Final Report

2011-2012: Velma E. Love

Florida A&M University,
Tallahassee, FL

Oyotunji Landscape Narratives

Proposal Narrative

Final Report

The Institute for Oral History invites nonprofit organizations in the state of Texas to apply for a grant to facilitate oral history research in their communities. BUIOH seeks to make a difference in one local Texas community through this biennial grant that includes, in addition to monetary funding, assistance from BUIOH through consultation and training, equipment loans, processing and transcribing, and co-archiving the interviews generated by the local organization. 

Applications for the 2023 Community Oral History Grant are now closed. Congratulations to our awardee, Austin State Hospital Volunteer Services Council! Our next grant cycle will begin in 2025 and we anticipate applications will open late 2024. If you or your organization are interested in applying for the grant, you are welcome to email BUIOH@baylor.edu to be placed on a list to be informed when applications open again.

Criteria

• Community may be broadly interpreted to include organizations as well as urban neighborhoods and rural-small town settings.
• Priority will be given to organizations doing oral history for the first time and to projects that address underdocumented people, places, and events.
• We will also consider applications from existing oral history programs with a demonstrated need for our assistance with new, innovative interview projects.
• The local organization will initiate the project, carry out the interviews, and develop and arrange public programming to share the outcomes with its community.

The Baylor Institute for Oral History will support the local organization during the grant period in the following ways:

• provide the oral history interviewing project with a total grant of $2,500 (distributed in two payments: $1,250 after the training workshop and $1,250 after the majority of the interviews have been completed);
• conduct a training workshop in oral history research for project volunteers;
• loan two digital audio recorders to the project for conducting oral history interviews;
• review the first round of interviews to provide feedback to interviewers;
• consult with project organizers and volunteers throughout the project;
• process, duplicate, and transcribe the oral history recordings;
• furnish each interviewee a draft transcript for his or her review;
• furnish each interviewee a bound copy of his or her transcript;
• co-deposit the recordings and transcripts at Baylor University and a local public archive chosen by the organization receiving the grant;
• make the oral history transcripts accessible online.

If awarded the Baylor Community Oral History Grant, the applying organization agrees to accomplish the following project steps within the grant time period:

• arrange a day, time, and place for a BUIOH-led training/planning workshop;
• assemble for the training workshop several persons who are committed to doing interviews for the project;
• locate a local public archive that will preserve and make accessible the recordings/transcripts;
• manage digital recording equipment loaned by BUIOH;
• locate and contact interviewees; arrange interview days, times, places;
• conduct interviews;
• obtain required signatures on interview release forms;
• create a word list of proper names and unique spellings for each interview;
• submit recordings and required forms (release form, biographical form, data sheet, word list, notes) to BUIOH;
• plan, arrange, publicize, and carry through a public program to share the outcomes with the community;
• return all equipment and supplies to BUIOH at the end of the grant period.

To complete the grant agreement, the organization will:

• receive the draft transcripts from BUIOH for the interviewees' review and distribute them to the interviewees;
• assist the interviewees in checking their draft transcripts for accurate spellings and meaning in a timely manner;
• return the reviewed draft transcripts to BUIOH for corrections;
• receive the final, bound transcripts from BUIOH and present copies to the interviewees and to the designated local archive;
• submit a final report and evaluation of the project.

FAQs

More information about the Community Oral History Grant can be found in our FAQ document (PDF)

Current and Previous Grant Recipients

2019

The Umlauf Sculpture Garden & Museum in Austin, Texas, will collect community histories, noteworthy anecdotes, and precious memories from those who knew American sculptor Charles Umlauf (1910-1994) during his lifetime and those working to preserve his legacy. Umlauf boasts the highest number of sculptures on public view in Texas, including one on Baylor University’s campus, ​Kneeling Christ​ (1973, bronze). With each passing day, valuable information regarding Texas’ premiere sculptor is lost. Our project will survey key figures in Umlauf’s past who can shed light on Umlauf’s personality, work ethic, artistic practice, and personal life for the benefit of the museum’s future visitors and leadership. Umlauf’s children, grandchildren, students, models, muses, colleagues, as well as volunteers and staff of the museum will prove enlightening resources for this undertaking.

The museum aims to collect these interviews and extract key anecdotes for audio guides, which will highlight various sculptures throughout our garden. We intend to film interviews as well, for use in later documentary films by the museum or others. We will create a culture of sharing around the project, and ensure interviewing techniques and conversations are thoughtful and perceptive. Charles Umlauf left not only the gift of his art when he passed, but the gift of his story. We aim to honor that bequest by making more comprehensive information on Umlauf accessible to the public, furthering their understanding of the sculptor and deepening their appreciation of his artworks. The completed interviews will be shared and cherished among the thriving Umlauf community and the public, giving us all more clarity on “the man with oversized hands" behind the spectacular bronzes that belong to all of Austin.

2017

Levita Baptist Church (now Levita Bible Fellowship), has been in continuous existence in Levita, TX since 1881. A once thriving community on the Texas frontier, the population of Levita began to decline after a 1932 town fire and the closing of the local railroad station in 1941. Despite the population loss to the nearby city of Gatesville, Levita Baptist Church still retained 83 members as late as 1981 indicating its prominence in the local community. Today, the town features only minimally in histories of Gatesville and the surrounding Coryell County, with no known history devoted to the community itself. Many consider Levita a ghost town with only a small population of aging residents. The continued population loss of the community has since reduced the congregation to eleven senior citizens. These aging members of the congregation, however, preserve an extensive oral history of the congregation and the town. Some of them preserve family memories from their parents and grandparents. 

This oral history project will interview current and past members of Levita Baptist Church in order to record the oral history of one of Coryell County’s oldest continually operating churches. The oral history of this congregation contributes not only to the history of religious life in Coryell County, but also to the study of Baptist identity in rural communities. 

2015

The Czech Heritage Museum and Genealogy Center in Temple, Texas, will document the lived experience of Texas Czechs in an oral history project titled "Fifteen-Year Countdown: Preserving the Endangered Dialect and Oral Histories of Texas Czech Immigrants." The Czech Heritage Museum serves as a repository of memory within one of the state’s largest concentrations of descendants from Moravia, a former territory of Austria-Hungary, now the Czech Republic. Their ancestors came to Texas in the 1800s and created strong family, community, and church ties. Czechs founded both Catholic and Brethren churches that remain active today. The project's title reflects the predicted disappearance of the Texas Czech dialect within fifteen years. The oral history project will capture in English the stories of some of the last generation to speak the endangered dialect. In separate recordings, the museum will preserve the spoken dialect in cooperation with the Texas Czech Legacy Project, a linguistic study of changes in the dialect over time. The museum will use photos, audio, and video gathered during the project to produce a montage exhibit of Texas Czech life. Susan Chandler, the museum’s administrator, intends for this first oral history collection "to provide the seeds for a long-term and hopefully ongoing project of preserving the living history of this fascinating community and, in the future, of other ethnic groups living in this area."

2014

Volunteers and staff of the Joseph and Susanna Dickinson Hannig Museum in Austin are conducting interviews with local community leaders who came of age in the Texas state capitol for the project "Conversations to Create Unity: Oral Histories of Austin, Texas." The project's goal is to "cultivate conversations" that will foster a "continuing dialogue" between people of diverse racial and cultural heritage. They are gathering stories of growing up in Austin from area Hispanic, African American, and Anglo leaders whose families represent multiple generations in Central Texas. One expected outcome of the project is to learn how the past informs community relations today. The Museum, which will preserve and archive the interviews, will host a reception for the entire community and present an exhibit and panel to share themes that emerge from the project.

2013

The goal of "Footprints of Times Past," a research project initiated by the Limestone County Historical Commission, is to preserve the histories of eleven rural communities that once served the agriculturally-based economy of the area but are now deserted or nearly deserted. Former communities targeted for research include Big Hill, Forsa, Lavender, Odds, Oletha, Point Enterprise, Sandy, Woodlands, Doyle, Comanche Crossing, and Webb Chapel. Four of the communities were settled by freed slaves. In the grant proposal narrative, the applicants wrote, "Through the interviews, the oral histories will breathe life into these communities, again revealing the role that each played in the history of Limestone County. At one time, each placed a deep footprint in the history of the county. Today, the natural forces of time are wearing the footprints away. The streets are empty, the structures where children once played and recited Bible verses are empty shells or have totally disappeared with the passing of time, and the voices to tell the stories are becoming softer and softer. It is imperative that we document the stories and the histories of these communities before they are lost forever."

2012

From among several worthy proposals, the Bremond Historical Society was named recipient of the 2012 Community Oral History Grant. The purpose of the society's Bremond Polish Oral History Project is to gather the history of the life of the historic Polish community in this Central Texas town, covering Polish contributions to business, religion, education, music, sports, and farm life. Community volunteers received training and conducted interviews, and the Bremond Historical Society archived the interviews. A public reception recognized the interviewees at the conclusion of the project.

2011

A 2011 Community Oral History Grant was awarded to the Friends of Gillespie County Country Schools. The project trained and equipped community volunteers to collect stories from former students and teachers of the twelve historic one-room schools and three teacherages still standing in rural Gillespie County, Texas. A few years ago, the Friends organization saved the sale and possible destruction of the school houses, the lone remnants of forty such schools that served the rural population of the county in the first half of the twentieth century. The organization hosts open-house school tours and reunions and maintains a Web site on the schools at www.historicschools.org. The oral histories are deposited in the Gillespie County Historical Society, and excerpts of the transcripts will be available on the Web site to help preserve the stories of life and education in rural Texas. In their final report, the Friends assessed the value of the project: "These stories give an in-depth look at life in rural Texas during the 1920s-1940s, a time unchanged for over 75 years. They tell of a simple and hard life during the dry and wet years, the early farming and ranching times, depression years and war years. The innocence of country life, a time of faith with devotion to local church and community, a time of strong family ties, with devotion to country and of patriotism. These stories will be used with exhibits that we construct for the county fair and other events throughout the years. With the start that has been provided, we will continue to collect the stories as long as we have individuals living that recall their days at the old schools. These stories will also help us as we attempt to garner funds for the continued restoration and repair of these 100 year old structures."

Also receiving a 2011 Community Oral History Grant was the Central Texas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce for a project titled, "Oral History of the Hispanic Community in Waco." The project gathered stories of Hispanic life in Waco from Hispanic leaders in business, education, politics, religion, sports, music, and neighborhood activities. The volunteer interviewers were members of the Hispanic Chamber or were from the community. The project was a first attempt by the Waco Hispanic community to undertake its own oral history project. Plans for sharing the project included video recordings of the interviews aired on Waco Channel 10, the local community access station.

2010

The 2010 Community Oral History Grant was awarded to the Goliad Center for Texas History, part of the Goliad County Library in Goliad, Texas. With the Institute's help, the Goliad Oral History Project marked the beginning of a permanent oral history project to collect, preserve, and make accessible oral interview recordings and transcripts rounding out the history of one of the oldest towns in Texas. The Spanish and Colonial roots of Goliad and its role in the Texas Revolution are well known, but the story that lives in human memory lacks documentation. The project developers identified potential interviewees representing a diverse cross-section of the community, including citizens descended from African, German, Tejano, Mexican, and Anglo families. The memories available from these community members cover topics relevant to the area's history: ranching, agriculture, the revival of the longhorn breed, preservation of the town's major historical sites, and the development of businesses, services, and social organizations. Their stories touch on the major events of the twentieth-century--the Great Depression, the world wars, Korean and Vietnam wars, the 1950s oil boom, and the desegregation of schools. In their grant evaluation, the recipients commented, "It is hard to see how Baylor's participation could be better. You provided us with training, helped with equipment choices, transcribed interviews, and were always available to answer questions." 

Each year since 1971 the Institute for Oral History has sponsored oral history research for Baylor University faculty members. Faculty Research Fellows record oral history interviews with individuals in their specific fields of interest. Fellows use the information gained in interviews to enhance publications on their topics in scholarly articles, papers, and monographs. The recordings and transcripts from their interviews become part of the permanent oral history collection of the university.

Each fall semester, the Institute accepts project proposals from Baylor faculty members for oral histories to be conducted beginning in June of the next fiscal year.  

Applications for our 2025-2026 Faculty Fellowship grants will open October 15, 2024. For any questions, please contact us at BUIOH@baylor.edu.

The application process is simple:

1. Plan your project and create a descriptive narrative, including its purpose, your research plan, your proposed interviewees, a statement about the potential historical significance of the project, and your plans for publishing or disseminating the project results.
2. Complete the Faculty Fellow Cover Sheet available here.
3. Submit your completed cover sheet and your project narrative to BUIOH@baylor.edu by the application deadline.

A fellowship stipend up to $2,500 is payable as salary (one-half is paid with the June salary; the other half, upon completion of the project). In addition to a stipend, Fellows receive training, consultation, equipment use, and transcription services from the Institute.

Baylor faculty may contact the Institute at (254) 710-4642 for more information.

Recent Faculty Research Fellows

The Institute is pleased to serve Baylor faculty scholars. Recent recipients of our Faculty Research Fellows include:

2024-2025

• Joao Chaves, Dept of Religion -  “Transnational Theopolitics of Domination : The Brazilian/American Case”

• Mandy McMichael, Dept of Religion -  “BWA Women: The Pioneering Ministry of Rev. June Totten”

• Ann Shoemaker, School of Music - “The Lowest of the Low : Curating the History and Pedagogy of Contrabassoonists of American Orchestras”

2023-2024

• Matthew Gerber, Department of Communication,  “An Oral History of Women in Debate at Baylor (1992-2022)” 
• Jamal-Dominique Hopkins, Truett Seminary, “Fuller Theological Seminary and the Emergence of Modern Black Evangelicalism” 
• Lisa Lacy, Department of History, “W-O-R-D and Its Families” 
• Richard Russell, Department of English, “A Critical Biography of Micheal O’Siadhail”  
• Laine Scales, School of Social Work, “Women’s Spirituality and Social Justice Work: Voices from a Catholic Religious Community”
• Matthew Whelan, Honors College, “Rutilio Grande, Óscar Romero, and the Rise of Environmental Martyrdom in Latin America” 

2022-2023

• Monique Ingalls, School of Music, “Gospel Music in Word and Deed: Examining British Gospel Choir Pedagogy through Teaching Strategies and Life Histories” 
• Marlene Neill, Department of Journalism, Public Relations, and New Media , “Life Stories of Exemplars in the PRSA College of Fellows: Examining Moral Development & Crucibles of Experience” 
• Coretta Pittman and Amie Oliver, Department of English, and University Libraries (respectively), “From the Past to the Present: Excavating LGBTQIA+ Histories 
• Laurel E. Zeiss, School of Music, “The Creation of Two Operas for Children by Texas Companies” 

2021-2022

• Jared Alcantara, Truett Seminary, “J.H. Jackson: Dynamic Black Leader, Enigmatic Chicago Preacher,” 
• Elizabeth Flowers, Department of Religion, “Submission, Complementarianism, and the Gendering of Inerrancy,” 
• Mandy McMichael, Department of Religion, “Baptist Women in Ministry: In Their Own Words,” 
• Maria Monteiro, School of Music, “Singing the Gospel: The Work of Music Missionaries in Brazil,” 
• Moisés Park, Modern Languages and Cultures, “Oral History of Baylor in Argentina: Dr. Joan Supplee’s Legacy Bridging Baylor and Argentina,”

2020-2021

• Lorynn Divita, Family and Consumer Sciences, "Fill Your Boots: Interviews with Texas Custom Bootmakers"
• Monique M. Ingalls, School of Music, "An Oral History of British University Gospel Choirs (2010-2020)"
• Elissa Madden, School of Social Work, "Transforming Global Child Welfare: Lessons from International Leaders on the Frontlines"
• Mandy McMichael, Religion, "Baptist Women in Ministry: In Their Own Words"

2019-2020

• Jared Alcantara, Truett Seminary, "'Silver Tongue': The Preaching of Joseph H. Jackson"
• Enrique (Erik) Blair and Scott Koziol, Electrical & Computer Engineering, "The Rise of Quantum Computing: Transforming the Information Age?"
• Stephanie Boddie, School of Social Work, "Unfinished Business: The Pittsburgh Great Migration to Black Lives Matter Stories"
• Lenore Wright, Academy for Teaching and Learning, "Baylor’s Summer Faculty Institute: Origins and Evolution"

2018-2019

• Amber Adamson, Department of Journalism, Public Relations, and New Media, "The Explosion at West, Five Years Later"
• Lauren Barron, Medical Humanities Program, "Eric J. Cassell, MD:  Talking with Patients"
• Elise M. Edwards, Department of Religion, "Convergence: Prophetic Directions for Ecclesiology and the Arts"
• Monique M. Ingalls, School of Music, Academic Division, "The Sound of Everyday Spirituality: Exploring the Musical Experience and Cultural Significance of Community Gospel Choirs in Bristol, UK"
• Kimberly H. McCray, Department of Museum Studies, "George E. Hein: A Museum Mind of Our Time"

2017-2018

• Rochelle R. Brunson, Family and Consumer Sciences, "TLC Rocket Stove: Results-Based Financing for Low Carbon Energy Access"
• Marlene M. Reed, Department of Entrepreneurship Hankamer School of Business, "TLC Rocket Stove: Results-Based Financing for Low Carbon Energy Access"
• Mike W. Stroope, George W. Truett Theological Seminary, "Rhetorical Shifts within the Church-World Exchange: Listening to the Church in the Margins"

2016-2017

• Paul G. Blanchet, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, "Developments in Stuttering Research during the Last 40 Years: Reflections and Insights from a Clinician, Scholar, and Person Who Stutters"
• Jean Boyd, School of Music, "The Many Places and Spaces of Western Swing"
• Justice Jan P. Patterson, Law School, "Colonel James B. Adams: Preparing Texas Law Enforcement for the Twenty-first Century"
• Martin Stuebs Jr. and C. William Thomas, Hankamer School of Business, "Building Bridges: The History and Relationship between Baylor's Accounting Educational Program and Its Professional and Academic Constituencies"
• Zachary Wingerd, Department of History, "From Mid-East Crisis to Lone Star Home: Perspectives of Syrian and Iraqi Christians in Texas"

2015-2016

• Bracy Hill, Department of History, "Texas, God, and Game: A Texas Heritage of Hunting, Sport, and Religion"
• Marshall Mangusen, Department of Health, Human Performance, and Recreation, "Success is a Road, Not a Destination: Legends of Quarter Mile U"
• Jeffrey Olafsen, Department of Physics, "Perspectives on the Beginning of IT at Baylor"
• Lakia Scott, School of Education, "In Our Time: Reflections on the Black College Experience through a Multigenerational Lens"

2014-2015

• Jean Boyd, School of Music, "The Many Places and Spaces of Western Swing: A Western Swing Diaspora"
• Jacqueline-Bethel Mougoue', Department of History, "'When Women Wear Slacks': Domesticity, Aesthetics, and Gendered Nation Building in West Cameroon, 1960-1972"
• Kevin Tankersley, Department of Journalism, Public Relations, and New Media, "Larry Groth: Overseeing Waco for Ten Years"

2013-2014

• Lewis Lummer, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, "Legacy of Rev. Carter Bearden, the Deaf Pioneering Pastor of America"
• Angela Reed and Robert Creech, Truett Seminary, "Longevity in Congregational Vocational Ministry among Texas Baptists"

2012-2013

• Guilherme Almeida, Department of Theater Arts, "Musical and Theological Education as Foreign Missions: The Brazilian Experience"
• Marshall Magnusen, Department of Health, Human Performance, and Recreation, "Training Giants: Al Vermeil, the Chicago Bulls, and the Story of Strength and Conditioning in the NBA"
• Mia Moody-Ramirez and Cassy Burleson, Department of Journalism, Public Relations and New Media

From 1999 through 2011, the Baylor University Institute for Oral History provided an annual visiting research fellowship to individuals in any field who could benefit from the holdings of Baylor's oral history collection. The fellowship brought scholars to Waco, Texas, to work with oral history materials housed in The Texas Collection special library. Now that our transcripts are available through the Baylor Library Digital Collections, the Institute can provide researchers access to our oral history resources without their having to travel to Waco.

Below are the outstanding research fellows who received this award. Learn how these scholars used the resources of Baylor's oral history collection in publications and dissertations and read about their current work by clicking on the names highlighted in green.

2010-2011: J. Russell Hawkins, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow, John Wesley Honors College, Indiana Wesleyan University, Marion, Indiana. Project: "Religion, Race, and Resistence: Evangelicals and the Dilemma of Integration"

2008-2009: Blake A. Ellis, Ph.D. candidate in history, Rice University, Houston, Texas. Project: "An Alternative Politics: Texas Baptists and the Rise of the Christian Right, 1970-1984"

2007-2008: Lisa Krissoff Boehm, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Urban Studies, Worcester State College, Worcester, Massachusetts. Project: "Making a Way out of No Way: African American Women, Work, and the Second Great Migration, 1940-1970"

2006-2007: Robert Duke, Ph.D. candidate in history, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan. Project: "Passport from Poverty: The Political Journey of Bilingual Education & Nathan R. Myers, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in Educational Foundations, Ashland University, Ashland, Ohio. Project: "Faith and Policy in Public Education: A Political/Historical Analysis of the Christian Right and American Public Schooling"

2005-2006: John Herbert Hayes, Ph.D. candidate in history, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia. Project: "Bringing Up Johnny Cash: Religion in the Rural South, 1930s-1940s"

2004-2005: Jeri Lynn Reed, Ph.D. candidate in History, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma. Project: "Radical Capitalists in the Progressive Southwest."

2003-2004: Carol Williams, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Fellow in Women's Studies, University of Houston, Houston, Texas. Project: "Native American Women's Political, Cultural, and Social Reform Activism in the American West."

2002-2003: Paul Harvey, Ph.D., Associate Professor of History at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. Projects: "Freedom's Coming: Religion, Race, and Culture in the South, 1860-2000" and "Religion, Race, and American Ideas of Freedom: From the Seventeenth Century to the Present"

2001-2002: Peter La Chapelle, Ph.D. candidate in history, University of Southern California, Los Angeles. Project: "Hillbilly Los Angeles: Country Music, Migration, and the Urban Frontier, 1936-1969"

2000-2001: Kristine E. Boeke, Ph.D. candidate in American history, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana. Project: "Identities in Crisis: How the Civil Rights Movement in Texas Restructured Both the Personal and the Political, 1965-1970"

1999-2000: Melissa Walker, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in American history at Converse College, Spartanburg, South Carolina. Project: "Stories in the Oral Narratives of Southern Farm People, 1900-1950"

This summer the Institute for Oral History (IOH) is offering a teaching fellowship to encourage the use of the IOH’s collections in Baylor graduate and undergraduate curricula.

• The fellowship is open to full-time Baylor faculty members (which can include tenured and tenure-track faculty, regular lecturers, and senior lecturers) and
• Graduate teaching assistants (teachers of record)

Past recipients of teaching fellowships who wish to explore additional possibilities are eligible to reapply. Preference, however, may be given to first-time applicants.

Recipients of the teaching fellowships will receive a stipend of $1,000 (after taxes) and are expected to spend at least one week (20 hours minimum) at the IOH where they will be paired with a librarian who can provide guidance on the library’s facilities, collections, and services. The specific week chosen should be convenient to both the teaching fellow and his or her partner librarian and should occur between May 10 and August 13.

Teaching fellows will be required to submit a 1-2-page document containing a description of how they intend to incorporate collection materials into a course. This document is due no later than two weeks after the fellow’s time in residence. Teaching fellows will also be expected to share their experiences with other faculty and graduate students by presenting on how they used collection materials in their classes in one of the Academy for Teaching and Learning’s Seminars for Excellence in Teaching (SET) or in another appropriate venue.  

To apply, candidates should send a curriculum vitae and a brief statement (not to exceed two pages) describing the course for which they intend to use the institute’s collections and the learning objectives they hope to achieve. Applicants should also indicate when they will be available to complete the fellowship at the IOH. The application materials should be sent by email to Adrienne Cain, Assistant Director and Lecturer for the IOH, by April 9, 2021. Recipients will be notified by April 30, 2021.

Applications will be evaluated based on their potential to enhance teaching and learning and will be reviewed by a committee. Recommendations will be sent to the Dean of University Libraries who will make the final decision. 

For additional information about the Teaching Fellows program, contact Jennifer_Borderud@baylor.edu.

During Summer 2024, the Institute for Oral History offers two internships that are open to current and accepted Baylor graduate and undergraduate students as part of the Baylor Libraries Summer Internship program:

• Gerald and Kathy Dunlap Endowed Internship
• D.M. Edwards Endowed Internship (in cooperation with The Texas Collection & University Archives)

To apply, provide the following items:

1. A statement not exceeding 500 words explaining how an internship fits the applicant's educational program and career goals;
2. Current resume; and
3. *A letter of recommendation from a major professor.

The application deadline is April 11, 2024. Applications should be e-mailed to Janell Wellbaum at Janell_Wellbaum@baylor.edu or mailed to this address:

Summer Internship Program
Baylor University Libraries
One Bear Place #97148
Waco, Texas 76798-7148

*If the internship is to meet curriculum requirements, the letter of recommendation must be from the head of the program in which the applicant is enrolled. The letter should clearly state the program's internship obligations, including the number of hours required to successfully complete the internship.