Call for Applications: The Jenrette Foundation’s William L. Thompson Collections Fellowship

The William L. Thompson Collections Fellowship for Emerging Museum Professionals and Graduate Students is a short-term residential fellowship designed for emerging museum professionals* and graduate students with an interest in a career focusing on collections and material culture within historic house museums. This fellowship is a program of the Richard Hampton Jenrette Foundation (formerly Classical American Homes Preservation Trust). Applicants who are emerging museum professionals are expected to be currently working in a collections-related museum position. Graduate student applicants will typically be completing a degree in art history, American studies, material culture, museum studies, public history, or a related field and should have completed at least one year of graduate study. Up to four positions will be funded for the Fall 2024 opportunity. Fellows will participate in a week-long residency at Edgewater, the Foundation’s property in the Hudson River valley hamlet of Barrytown, New York. Our founder, Richard H. Jenrette called Edgewater, “the love of my life, architecturally speaking…” From the time he purchased the property from author Gore Vidal in 1969, Edgewater became a home for Jenrette and his partner, William L. Thompson, and they furnished it with a significant collection of fine and decorative arts, including notable examples of furniture by New York cabinetmaker Duncan Phyfe and objects associated with earlier 19th century owners of the estate. 

While at Edgewater, Fellows will work with the Jenrette Foundation’s Curator & Director of Collections, Grant Quertermous, and other members of the professional staff on a variety of projects, including the documentation and care of collection objects, installation of additional objects and works of art, and gathering of materials and ephemera that will be transferred to our Archives. Fellowship participants will also undertake an individual project related to their own professional or research interests utilizing Edgewater’s significant collection. Additional benefits of the Fellowship will include several workshops, professional mentoring opportunities, and visits to other historic sites in the region. 

The Thompson Fellowship includes a stipend of $2,000 as well as financial support to reimburse costs associated with travel to and from Edgewater and meals during the week. Off-site hotel lodging will be provided. The Thompson Fellowship also provides travel support to attend the Decorative Arts Trust’s Emerging Scholars Colloquium, held during Americana Week in New York City in late January, that is co-sponsored by the Jenrette Foundation. 

This fellowship is named in memory of William L. Thompson, the longtime partner of our founder, Richard H. Jenrette. Thompson was instrumental in the restoration, furnishing, and landscaping of each of the Jenrette Foundation’s properties, and he played an important role in building our significant collection of American decorative arts and fine art. 

Interested applicants should submit a letter of interest and current CV via email to Grant Quertermous: [email protected]. The deadline for application is July 8, 2024. 

*For this Fellowship, an emerging museum professional is defined to be someone who has completed a degree within the last five years and is currently working for a museum in a collections-related position.