Applications for the 2025-2026 fellowship are now closed.
Green-Wood’s all-new research fellowship program in history provides support for current graduate students or early-career scholars to conduct independent research in any area of study that makes direct use of Green-Wood’s historical resources.
About the 2025–2026 fellow:
Talisha Ward’s proposed project investigates the burial sites of Black New Yorkers at The Green-Wood Cemetery, with a focus on the Freedom Lots. Drawing on cemetery records, census data, and genealogical sources, her research will explore why individuals and families chose Green-Wood as their final resting place, adding new perspectives to the history of Brooklyn’s neighborhoods and public spaces.
Talisha Ward is a graduate student in Pratt Institute’s Urban Placemaking and Management program, where she also pursues an advanced certificate in Historic Preservation. She is currently a Bronze Specialist at Woodlawn Cemetery and Conservancy and previously interned with the Central Park Conservancy’s Monument Conservation Program.
About
The Green-Wood History Fellowship provides one selected awardee with unparalleled access to the Cemetery’s expansive landscape and extensive archives in support of their academic research. Over a 9-month period, the fellow will work closely alongside the Cemetery’s professional staff and ultimately have the opportunity to craft public history programs to share their research findings with a wider audience. Potential fields of study include the history of cemeteries or New York City, burial and funerary customs, environmental history, public health, demographics, landscape design, and more.
The fellowship is open to current graduate students or early-career scholars (no more than 5 years out from their PhD). For details and to apply, click here.
Resources
Opportunities to explore and examine history at Green-Wood abound. Green-Wood’s institutional archives comprise an immense collection of meticulously preserved records, connected to over half a million individuals (580,000 in total) interred at Green-Wood. Dating back to 1838, the archival collections include burial files, documentation of the Cemetery’s founding, business records of the Cemetery, transfer records, architectural drawings, photographs, and more. In addition, Green-Wood has a collection of over 10,000 historical artifacts (including art, photographs, ephemera, and more) gathered in the last two decades, as well as hundreds of thousands of historical monuments across the grounds.
Learn more about Green-Wood’s archival collections here, and be sure to read this enlightening essay about what there is to discover.