Richard S. Brownlee Fund Grants

The Richard S. Brownlee Fund honors the Society’s executive director, 1960-1985. Awards are made annually to individuals and organizations proposing to write publications about, or otherwise document, the history of Missouri and its citizens. Individuals, local historical societies, museums, and governmental and nongovernmental agencies are eligible to apply for funding. Residency within the state is not a requirement. The deadline for submission of applications is June 20, and the grants are presented at the fall annual meeting. In 2007 the Society awarded twenty grants, averaging $337.

Please note submission deadline date change to June 20, 2008.

Brownlee Fund application form

Brownlee Fund Grant Recipients

2007

Valerie E. Altizer, Arrow Rock, MO — $200 ~ Travel to Washington, DC, to study prehistoric artifacts from Gourd Creek Cave in Phelps County, MO.
Megan Boccardi, Columbia, MO — $470 ~ Research travel for dissertation, “Remembering the Civil War: Women’s Memorialization in Missouri.”
Michael E. Dickey, Arrow Rock, MO — $450 ~ Research for book on the history of the Missouria Indians.
Alison Clark Efford, Columbus, OH — $270 ~ Research travel for dissertation, “New Citizens: German Immigrants, African Americans, and the Reconstruction of Citizenship in Missouri and Ohio, 1865-1877.”
Kristen K. Epps, Lawrence, KS — $300 ~ Research travel for dissertation, “Bound Together: Masters and Slaves on the Kansas-Missouri Border, 1830-1865.”
John C. Fisher, Kennett, MO — $300 ~ Research travel for proposed book with working title of “Swampland to Farmland: The Little River Drainage District and the Development of the Southeast Missouri Lowlands.”
James N. Giglio, Springfield, MO — $750 ~ Research travel for book-length biography of Thomas F. Eagleton.
Carol Grove, Columbia, MO — $300 ~ Illustrations for forthcoming book with working title of “Great Houses of Missouri, 1880-1940.”
Matthew W. Hall, Haverford, PA — $300 ~ Research travel for book-length biography of Jesse Burgess Thomas.
Gregory Kupsky, Columbus, OH — $200 ~ Research travel for dissertation on German American organizations and foreign policy, 1933-1941.
Cydney E. Millstein, Kansas City, MO — $300 ~ Illustrations for forthcoming book with working title of “Great Houses of Missouri, 1880-1940.”
Missouri Symphony Society, Columbia, MO — $300 ~ Historic photo exhibit in Missouri Theatre, Columbia.
Monroe County Historical Society, Paris, MO — $250 ~ Research and illustrations for “Florida History.”
Linda C. Morice and John W. Hunt, Edwardsville, IL — $300 ~ Research travel for proposed book on late nineteenth-century Missouri legislation impacting African American schools and students.
Mary Mac Ogden, Asheville, NC — $250 ~ Research travel for conference paper, “The Mystery of Sadie Waters: Miniatures, Misfortune, and Material Representation.”
Jay Marsh Price, Wichita, KS — $400 ~ Research travel for proposed book with working title of “Temples for a Modern God.”
Linda G. Smith, Higginsville, MO — $500 ~ Research on Mt. Muncie Cemetery, an African American cemetery near Higginsville, MO.
Still National Osteopathic Museum — Kirksville, MO $250 ~ Multimedia exhibit on late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century medical procedures.
Cherié L. Weible, Urbana-Champaign, IL — $200 ~ Research travel on selected Missouri military units during the Civil War for proposed book with working title of “Swords and Plowshares.”
Daniel J. Wescott, Columbia, MO — $450 ~ Research travel on nineteenth-century burial customs and the undertaker system in Missouri.

2006

Kristen Layne Anderson, Iowa City, IA — $700 to assist with research on dissertation topic, German Americans and African Americans in mid-nineteenth-century St. Louis.
Adam Arenson, New York City, NY — $500 to assist with research on dissertation, “The Barometer at St. Louis: A Cultural History of Civil War and Reconstruction, 1848-1877.”
Jenny Barker-Devine, Ames, IA — $300 to assist with research on dissertation, “‘Our Cherished Ideals’: Rural Women’s Activism in the Midwest, 1950-1990.”
Joe G. Dillard, Columbia, MO — $250 to conduct oral history interviews related to Blue Mound, Missouri.
Heidi L. Dodson, Charlottesville, VA — $400 to assist with documenting early twentieth-century African American history in the Missouri Bootheel.
John M. Foster, West Lafayette, IN — $460 to assist with research on dissertation, “Defenders of the Home Front: Northern State Militias and the Civil War.”
Lani Marie Kirsch, Overland Park, KS — $645 to assist with research on dissertation on German Saxon Lutheran immigrants to Missouri in 1839.
Missouri Association of Local Public Health Agencies, Jefferson City, MO — $750 to assist with publication of a history of local public health agencies in Missouri.
James McGrath Morris, Annandale, VA — $550 to assist with research for biography of Joseph Pulitzer.
Museum Associates, Columbia, MO — $1,200 to assist with publication of exhibition catalog, The Art of the Book: Illustration and Design, 1650 to Present.
Pettis County Historical Society, Sedalia, MO — $415 to purchase display panels for exhibit on World War I in Pettis County.
Matthew T. Popovich, Chicago, IL — $300 to assist with research for dissertation about city annexation campaigns, including St. Louis division into city and county in 1876.
Randolph County Historical Society, Moberly, MO — $750 to index Ralph Gerhard notes on Moberly newspapers.
Ellen M. Ryan, Cape Girardeau, MO — $1,000 to continue documentation of murals and sculptures created for and installed in Missouri post offices, 1936-1942.
Geraldlyn R. Sanders, Independence, MO — $468 to assist with research for biography on Sarah Rector.
Thomas Sullivan, Conception, MO — $450 to assist with a study of the Benedictine monks and nuns living at Conception, Missouri, in 1880.

2005

Timothy E. Baumann, St. Louis — $500 to help with archival research, material culture analysis, and report production on a study of the Prairie Park plantation in Saline County.
Diane Mutti Burke, Kansas City — $1,400 to prepare the Paulina Donald Stratton diary for publication by the University of Missouri Press.
Cass County Historical Society, Harrisonville — $940 to develop a traveling exhibit on Cass County history.
Central United Church of Christ, Jefferson City — $150 to purchase conservation supplies for the church’s archives.
Brooke V. Heagerty, Chicago, IL — $500 to assist with research into the lives of Robert Newsom and his slaves.
Phillip Douglas Howerton, Columbia — $450 to assist with research for dissertation, “Reality Delayed: Myths of Frontier, Arcadia, and Backwoods in the Local Color Writings of the Missouri Ozarks.”
Pete Kingery, Kearney — $300 to help with printing a book of oral interview transcriptions about the history of Kearney.
Old Munichburg Association, Jefferson City — $400 to assist with oral interviews of older residents of Old Munichburg area of Jefferson City.
Timothy N. Pinnick, North Aurora, IL — $420 to assist with research on African American coal miners in Missouri.
Joel P. Rhodes, Cape Girardeau — $700 to assist with research on a biography of Louis Houck.
Ellen M. Ryan, Cape Girardeau — $500 to assist with documentation of murals and sculptures created for and installed in Missouri post offices, 1936-1942.
Carlynn Trout, Columbia — $1,100 to produce biographies appropriate for fourth-grade students for The State Historical Society Famous Missourians Web site.

2004

American Association of University Women, Columbia Branch—to assist with the writing of biographies of ten Missouri women for use in fourth-grade curriculum in Columbia Public Schools.
Timothy G. Anderson, Westbury, New York—to assist with travel to conduct research on John G. Neihardt.
Jeff Bremer, Lawrence, Kansas—to assist with research on dissertation, “Frontier Capitalism: The Antebellum Market Revolution in the Lower Missouri River Valley, 1803-1861.”
Concerned Citizens for the Black Community of Boonville—to assist with the creation of a bronze bust of James Milton Turner for Boonslick Outdoor Arts Project in Boonville.
Joan Gilbert, Hallsville—to assist with expenses of printing a second volume of Missouri Horses.
Debra F. Greene, Jefferson City—to assist with research and expenses of transcribing Ann Washington Pittman’s handwritten notes, recipes, and stories.
Johnson County Historical Society, Warrensburg—to assist with creation of local history booklet for distribution to Johnson County fourth graders.
Old Munichburg Association, Jefferson City—to assist with oral history interviews of older residents of the south side of Jefferson City.
Christopher Phillips, Glendale, Ohio—to complete final preparations for forthcoming book, The Border on Trial: The Political Journals of William Barclay Napton.
Jarod H. Roll, Mount Vernon—to assist with writing of dissertation, “Road to the Promised Land: From Vigilante Protest to Social Movement in the Southeast Missouri Delta, 1890-1945.”
Matthew Sherman, St. Louis—to assist with research on “Interesting Ideologies: Conservatism, Anticommunism, Isolationism, and Senator Forrest Donnell of Missouri, 1945-1951.”
Christopher Schnell, Cape Girardeau—to assist with research on “Missouri’s Governors and the New Deal: Guy B. Park and Lloyd C. Stark.”
Jane Smith and Lowell Handler, Rhinecliff, New York—to assist with The Vanishing, a photo exhibition and book project about the socioeconomic decline of Madison, Missouri.
Still National Osteopathic Museum and A. T. Still University of Health Sciences, Kirksville—to assist with computerization and digital inventory of the museum’s three collections.
Tri-County Genealogical Society, Nevada—to assist with the publication of seven Vernon County marriage record indexes, covering the period 1855-1897.
University of Missouri Curators—to assist with the archival research, material analysis, and report production on the Sibley’s Fort site.

2003

The Amen Society of Bates County, Raytown—to assist with placement of a monument to commemorate the actions of the First Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry at the Battle of Island Mound, 1862, in Butler, Missouri.
American Association of University Women, Columbia Branch—to assist with “Notable Women of Missouri,” a pilot project to enhance the teaching of Missouri history and to highlight the contributions of women in the fourth-grade curriculum.
Mary Sue Anton, Seabrook, Texas—to assist with the research of book, Tales Beyond the Levee: New Madrid, Missouri and Its Connections to Famous People.
Petra DeWitt, Houston, Missouri—to assist with travel for research on dissertation, which investigates the causes of persecution of German Americans and the meaning of loyalty in Missouri during World War I.
Linda Fisher, Annandale, Virginia—to assist with the preparation of a book with the working title American Frontier City Life: The Diary of Joseph J. Mersman.
Friends of Arrow Rock—to assist with printing a new history of Arrow Rock and a self-guided tour brochure of the town.
Gary Kremer, Jefferson City—to assist with travel to the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., to examine the papers of William J. Thompkins.
Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Task Force, Jefferson City—to assist with funding for Lewis and Clark monument.
Barbara Schmitz, Bonnots Mill—to assist with research on and to copy photos by Charles F. Weeks and the Weeks Photography Studio in Linn.
Second State Capitol Commission, Jefferson City—to assist in the publication of an illustrated book about the history and art of the Missouri State Capitol.

2002

Andrew County Museum and Historical Society, Savannah—to help defray costs associated with producing an exhibit featuring Nellie Tayloe Ross
Cass County Historical Society, Harrisonville—to purchase recording equipment for oral histories to be submitted to the Library of Congress Veterans’ History Project
Friends of Arrow Rock—to produce an updated history of Arrow Rock
Jerena East Giffen, Jefferson City—to assist in travel and research expenses for an article on Mary Whitney Phelps, wife of Governor John Phelps
Aaron Ketchell, Lawrence, Kansas—to help defray research expenses for dissertation, “Holy Hills: Religion and Leisure in the Southern Ozarks”
Rebekah Mergenthal, Chicago, Illinois—to help support research and writing of dissertation, “The People of the Lower Missouri River Valley and the Expansion of the United States, 1803-1855”
Tom Miller, Columbia—to assist with travel expenses to St. Louis and Springfield to conduct interviews for the Missouri Ex-POWs Oral History Project
Missouri State Archives, Jefferson City—to help support transportation costs of Lewis and Clark historic map traveling exhibit
Greg Olson, Columbia—to help defray travel expenses to complete research on an article-length biography of Mahaska, an Iowa Indian chief
A. E. Schroeder, Columbia—to produce a catalog to an exhibit commemorating the one-hundredth anniversary of George Husmann’s death

2001

Adair County Historical Society, Kirksville—to reprint 1,000 copies of And There Arose a Mighty Wind
Bushwhacker Museum/Vernon County Historical Society, Nevada—to publish 200 copies of a history of the rural schools of Vernon County
Kate Drowne, Rolla—to help defray travel costs to present a paper at the Langston Hughes Centennial Conference in Joplin
Angela Firkus, Nevada—to aid in travel expenses for research on a project concerning Oregon/OverlandTrail “returnees”
William E. Foley, Warrensburg—to help support continuing work on a biography of William Clark.
Robert W. Frizzell, Maryville—to help defray travel expenses for research on the history of the German American community in the southeast corner of Lafayette County, Missouri
Mark Geiger, Columbia—to assist in travel expenses to research the means pro-Southern Missourians employed to finance taking Missouri out of the Union in 1861
Patrick Huber, Rolla—to help defray travel costs associated with research for a monograph about the 1930 race riot in Ste. Genevieve
Gary R. Kremer, Jefferson City—to cover the cost of copying material pertaining to Dr. William J. Thompkins for an article-length essay
Máire Agnes Murphy, Charlottesville, Virginia—to help offset the cost of transportation and photocopying for research on St. Louis after World War II
Randolph County Historical Society, Moberly—to transfer a 16-millimeter film titled Moberly Is to VHS tape

2000

Adair County Historical Society, Kirksville—to reprint 1000 copies of Sergeant John Shaver’s The Last Roll Call - Company I – 7th Cavalry Missouri Volunteers
William E. Foley, Warrensburg—to survey and assess holdings pertaining to William Clark for a biography for publication in the Missouri Biography Series
Patrick Huber, Rolla—to help defray travel costs for archival and field research for a monograph on the 1930 race riot in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri
Lawrence H. Larsen, Kansas City—to complete the research on A History of Missouri, Vol. VI, 1953-2000
Christopher Phillips, Cincinnati, Ohio—to help defray travel and living expenses for researching and editing William Barclay Napton’s diary for publication
David E. Richards, Springfield—to assist in conducting a survey of oral history collections for publication in A Guide to Oral History Collections in Missouri
Missouri Symphony Society, Columbia—to help start publication on a history of the Missouri Theatre

1999

Boone County Historical Society, Columbia—to help defray costs of researching and documenting the “lost” and little-known towns and settlements of Boone County
John F. Bradbury, Jr., Rolla—to assist with travel to the Arkansas History Commission to examine the W. L. Skaggs Collection and Arkansas Confederate pension files
Gladys Coggswell, Frankford—to assist with transcription of tapes, photographs, photocopying, and printing of “Missouri African Americans in Their Own Words”
Cooper County Historical Society and Research Center, Pilot Grove—to assist with reprinting of Discover Cooper County by Looking Back
Lawrence H. Larsen, Kansas City—to assist in completing A History of Missouri, Volume VI, 1953-2000
J. Christopher Schnell, Cape Girardeau—to help defray research and travel expenses on “The New Deal in Missouri: 1933-1940”
Stars & Stripes Museum/Library Association, Bloomfield—to update promotional brochure and to purchase books written by “Stripers”
Vernon County Historical Society/Bushwhacker Museum, Nevada—to assist in publishing a volume of compiled short writings on regional and local history

1998

Lawrence O. Christensen, Rolla—to assist with expenses for a weekly radio series on Missouri biography
Friends of Arrow Rock—to assist in renovating the exhibits in the Sappington Medical Museum
Mark L. Gardner, Cascade, Colorado—to help defray travel expenses to do research for a biography of William Bent
Glasgow Community Museum, Glasgow—to make one negative and one print of sixty-two endangered photographs for public viewing at the museum
William K. Goodrick, Columbia—to assist with further study of the Irish Wilderness
Higgerson School Historic Site, New Madrid—to produce and print a brochure on Higgerson School
Lawrence H. Larsen, Kansas City—to support research for A History of Missouri, Volume VI, 1953-2000
William E. Lass, Mankato, Minnesota—to conduct research on the history of Missouri River steamboating

1997

Dennis Boman, Columbia—to assist with research for a biography of Abiel Leonard
Friends of Arrow Rock—to assist with funding the Bingham Exhibit and Education Project
Mark Geiger, Columbia—to help further research on Confederate money
James Giglio, Springfield—to assist with travel costs for research in completing a book on Stan Musial
Alex Primm, Rolla—to assist with expenses of the USS Schley Oral History Project
Mary Ellen Rowe, Warrensburg—to help with travel expenses to complete research for a book on the militia tradition in the antebellum United States
Bonnie Stepenoff, Cape Girardeau—to assist with costs of research trip to study the life and career of Thad Snow
Western Historical Manuscript Collection, St. Louis—to help defray expenses associated with the Lift Every Voice and Sing: The St. Louis African-American Heritage Project

1996

John F. Bradbury, Rolla—to assist with travel expenses to conduct research in Civil War military records at the National Archives
Bushwhacker Museum, Vernon County Historical Society, Nevada—to assist with publishing a booklet about notable people buried in the Deepwood Cemetery
William E. Foley, Gary R. Kremer, Lawrence O. Christensen, and Kenneth H. Winn—to support Dictionary of Missouri Biography
Friends of Arrow Rock—to aid in black history research project
Lewis O. Saum, Seattle, Washington—to help finish research on a biography of Eugene Field
J. Christopher Schnell, Cape Girardeau—to assist with travel and research expenses on “The New Deal and the Politics of Relief in Missouri, 1933-1940”

1995

Judy Yeager Jones, St. Paul, Minnesota—to continue research for a biography of nineteenth-century journalist Laura C. Redden
Virginia Laas, Joplin—to further research on writer and politician Emily Newell Blair
Christopher Phillips, Emporia, Kansas—to facilitate research for a book on Claiborne Fox Jackson
Mark Stauter, Rolla—to research the history of the metal trade in Missouri

1994

R. Douglas Hurt, Ames, Iowa—to assist with research and writing of a biography of Nathan Boone
Thomas S. Baskett, Jr., Tulsa, Oklahoma—to complete research for Building a Navy in Missouri: The Story of the First Federal Ironclad, 1856-1888

1993

Jeff Hearne, Holts Summit—to assist with research on LaForge Farms resettlement project in southeast Missouri
Carl J. Ekberg, Normal-Bloomington, Illinois—to assist with researching and writing a history of the Valle family of Ste. Genevieve
William E. Foley, Lawrence O. Christensen, Gary R. Kremer, and Kenneth H. Winn—to support Dictionary of Missouri Biography
Vernon County Historical Society, Nevada—to assist with publishing Self-Guided Historical Tours of Vernon County
Henry Lewis Suggs, Atlanta, Georgia—to advance research and writing of a book on Chester A. Franklin and the Kansas City Call
Kirkwood Historical Society, Kirkwood—to enhance library at Mudd’s Grove

1992

Western Historical Manuscript Collection, Columbia—to support the 1993 Missouri History Day
William E. Foley, Lawrence O. Christensen, Gary R. Kremer, and Kenneth H. Winn—to support Dictionary of Missouri Biography
Bonnie Stepenoff, Jefferson City—to support research on deforestation in Missouri Bootheel, 1890s-1930s
James N. Giglio, Springfield—to support research on book-length study of Stan Musial
Ann Morris and Henrietta Ambrose, Webster Groves—to help fund publication of a history of North Webster Groves

1991

Western Historical Manuscript Collection, Columbia—to support the 1992 Missouri History Day
William Foley and C. David Rice, Warrensburg—to continue work on history of the second generation of the Chouteau family
American Association of University Women, Missouri Division—to help with costs of Show Me Missouri Women, Vol. 2
Dick Steward, Jefferson City—to complete research on history of dueling in Missouri

1990

Western Historical Manuscript Collection, Columbia—to support the 1991 Missouri History Day
Alan Havig, Columbia—to assist with book on Columbia in the early twentieth century
Lewis O. Saum, Seattle, Washington—to assist with research on Eugene Field

1989

Western Historical Manuscript Collection, Columbia—to support the 1990 Missouri History Day
John Crighton, Columbia—to assist with book on the history of health services in Missouri

1988

Robert G. Bailey, Missouri Humanities Council—to support the 1989 Missouri Humanities/History Day
Audrey Shafer—to support the Missouri Women’s History Project

1987

Lawrence O. Christensen, Rolla, and Gary R. Kremer, Jefferson City—to support research and publication of A History of Missouri, Volume 4, 1875-1919

1986

Lawrence O. Christensen, Rolla, and Gary R. Kremer, Jefferson City—to support research and publication of A History of Missouri, Volume 4, 1875-1919