The American Philosophical Society’s Library & Museum is excited to announce that Anna Antoniou, a doctoral candidate in Anthropology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, has received the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Native American Scholars Initiative (NASI) Postdoctoral Fellowship at the American Philosophical Society’s Library & Museum. This fellowship seeks to fund and promote scholarship related to Indigenous cultures and languages and is open to scholars at all stages of their careers, especially Native American scholars in training, tribal college and university faculty members, and other scholars working closely with Native communities on projects.

This fellowship will allow Anna to further her project “Living off the Bay, Past & Present: Revitalizing Chinookan and Lower Chehalis Foodways.”

The American Philosophical Society’s Library & Museum look forward to working with Anna and learning more about her research efforts. As the Society's Librarian Patrick Spero said, “Every year, we look forward to welcoming fellows to the Library & Museum. Due to the pandemic, many of our 2020-2021 fellows had to work remotely, so we’re especially excited to be able to host fellows onsite once again. Fellows and their scholarship form the core of the intellectual community at the library, and we are thrilled to get back to what we do best: advance knowledge through the support of original research.”

The American Philosophical Society (APS), the oldest learned society in the United States, was founded in 1743 by Benjamin Franklin for the purposes of “promoting useful knowledge.” In the 21st century, it serves to advance knowledge and promote scholarship in the humanities and social, mathematical, life, and physical sciences. Members of the Society are elected from among the most eminent scholars and civic and cultural leaders in North America and abroad. More than 100 living APS Members are Nobel laureates.

The APS Library & Museum collections make it among the premier institutions for documenting and exhibiting the history of the American Revolution and founding, the history of science from Newton to NASA, Native American languages and culture, and the development of American anthropology. The Library houses over 14 million manuscripts, 275,000 volumes and bound periodicals, 250,000 images, fine art, and other objects. Museum exhibitions interpret these extensive collections for the regional, national, and international visitors who come to Philadelphia’s historic district. In doing so, the exhibitions aim to nurture the spirit of inquiry, promote critical thinking, and engender enthusiasm for object-based learning by using primary source documents and authentic objects. The Library & Museum also hosts a robust fellowship program, offering both short-term and long-term fellowships to scholars using its collections.

You can connect with the APS by subscribing to their e-newsletter or by following us on social media to receive updates on our fellows (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter). For a full list of this year’s fellowship recipients, click here.