Travel Grant Information
The John W. Hartman Center provides research travel grants for researchers whose work would benefit from access to the sales, advertising, and marketing history collections held at Duke University's David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. For more details about the application process and timeline, Please see the Rubenstein Library's main travel grant page.
What research projects and topics are appropriate?
Hartman Center Travel Grants support projects that present creative approaches in historical research and documentation projects resulting in dissertations, publications, exhibitions, educational initiatives, documentary films, or other multimedia products and artistic works.
Research projects must use materials from the Hartman Center's rare book, manuscript and records collections. Anyone who wishes to use materials from the Hartman Center may apply, regardless of academic status or institutional affiliation.
Not all advertising collections at the Rubenstein are eligible under the terms of the grant, so please inquire with Joshua Rowley if the collection area isn't clear. For instance, advertising and visual media collections that are part of the Duke University Archives, the Jazz Archives, or the American Dance Festival Archives are not eligible.
Find more detailed information about our collections here. If any questions arise, please contact the Reference Archivist for the Hartman Center, Joshua Rowley, for clarification. All of our materials are included in Duke University Libraries' online catalog.
Available Grants
Alvin A. Achenbaum Travel Grants
The Achenbaum Travel Grants provide up to $1000 to support those individuals whose research focus includes the use of any Hartman Center collections and whose research trips may last any length of time.
FOARE Fellowships for Outdoor Advertising Research
The FOARE Fellowships provide $1,500 in funding for up to three researchers per year. Recipients must plan research trips lasting a minimum of four research days, primarily focusing on the use of collections found in the Kevin P. Reilly, Sr. Outdoor Advertising Archives.
The Kevin P. Reilly, Sr. Outdoor Advertising Archives document many diverse topics including billboard architecture; the creative, technological, financial and legislative aspects of the outdoor advertising industry; highway beautification efforts; market research; public service campaigns and retail selling. Collections include materials from outdoor companies, trade organizations, the personal collections of various executives and creative people who worked in the industry and related books and periodicals. Recipients will be asked to submit a brief report of their grant-supported activities at the conclusion of the grant cycle. Get more information on the Kevin P. Reilly, Sr. Outdoor Advertising Archives collections.
John Furr Fellowships for JWT Research
The Furr Fellowships provide $1,500 in funding for up to three individuals per year. Recipients must plan research trips lasting a minimum of four research days, primarily using collections found in the J. Walter Thompson Archives.
The J. Walter Thompson (JWT) Archives hold more than 5,000 linear feet dating as far back as the 19th century and as recent as the early 2000s. The collections document the pioneering role of JWT in the advertising industry and illustrates the changes in the broader industry throughout the past 100 years and its own growth and diversification.
