Fellowship Research Grant

The Fellowship Research Grant is a program of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation Archive, also identified in the program materials as the Jazz & Heritage Archive. The Archive is an educational service that identifies, collects, preserves, and protects materials of cultural and historical significance to New Orleans and Louisiana, along with records of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, its assets, and its programs. These materials are maintained for scholarly research and interpretation and to support the mission of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation. Through the Fellowship Research Grant, the Archive provides financial support for research concerning Louisiana's diverse music, cultural, and artistic heritage. The Fellowship Research Grant has three stated purposes. It seeks to encourage scholarly use of the collections held by the Jazz & Heritage Archive, support new documentation projects that create primary resource material of lasting value for future research use in the Archive, and encourage scholarship regionally. The Archive emphasizes that its resources should play a central role in the proposed research agenda. Applicants are also encouraged to explore other research facilities in Louisiana, and successful applications are expected to demonstrate a need to work with archival collections in Louisiana. Because some Jazz & Heritage collections are not represented in the online catalog, applicants are encouraged to contact the Archive to discuss additional materials that may be relevant to their proposed work. Successful applicants receive $5,000 from the Jazz & Heritage Archive. The source does not state an award range, total program funding amount, number of awards for the current cycle, cost-share requirement, matching requirement, indirect-cost limitation, or specified performance period. The program is focused on research and documentation related to Louisiana's music, cultural, and artistic heritage. Past funded projects demonstrate subjects including New Orleans second line traditions, Cajun recording and place identity, Congo Square, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Mardi Gras Indians, musicians, death rituals, Carnival, dance and politics, WWOZ, women in New Orleans cultural traditions, and New Orleans drumming. Eligible applicants may be academic, independent, or community scholars with a considerable record of achievement. Applicants from the United States and abroad are welcome. The program further describes successful applicants as having a history of productive scholarship through public presentations, publications, or exhibitions. The source does not restrict eligibility to a particular type of university, nonprofit organization, governmental entity, or other institution; rather, eligibility is stated in terms of individual scholars. Although applicants may reside in the United States or abroad, the proposed research must be connected to Louisiana archival resources as described by the program. Applications are submitted online through the program's online application portal, and paper applications are not accepted. Only one submission per applicant is permitted. Incomplete applications and applications submitted after the deadline will not be reviewed. The source states that applications open October 15 and gives the current application deadline as Sunday, November 15, 2026, at 11:59 pm Central Time. A separate introductory line states an application period extending from Thursday, October through Tuesday, December 15 at 11:59 pm Central Time, but this conflicts with the more specific How to Apply section. The November 15, 2026 deadline is therefore retained as the explicitly identified deadline to apply. No letter of intent, concept paper, pre-proposal, or other pre-application gating requirement is stated. Applicants are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Jazz & Heritage Archive's resources and search its collections through the online catalog. Successful applications demonstrate a need to work with archival collections in Louisiana, providing the clearest source-supported indication of what makes an application competitive. No separate scoring rubric, formal evaluation criteria, award notification date, or fellowship performance period is provided. Questions concerning Archive materials may be directed to the Jazz & Heritage Archive at 901 Toulouse St., New Orleans, LA 70112, by telephone at (504) 558-6138 or by email at archive@jazzandheritage.org. The source also lists the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation at 1205 N. Rampart Street, New Orleans, LA 70116, with a general telephone number of (504) 558-6100.

Make the Jazz & Heritage Archive's resources central to the proposed research agenda; demonstrate a need to work with archival collections in Louisiana; familiarize yourself with the Archive's resources and online catalog; contact the Archive about additional relevant collections not represented in the online catalog