The Summer 2025 Application deadline is February 3, 2025

No, it is free to apply to the Summer Fellowship Program.

Each Summer Fellow receives a full fellowship that covers all expenses associated with the program, including tuition, room and board, and field trips. Historic Deerfield funds the cost of the Summer Fellowship Program with help from a generous gift from the Shumway Foundation and from individual donors.

Applicants interested in financial aid should submit the financial aid authorization form as part of their application. Financial aid awards are need blind and application for assistance has no impact on your program application. In addition, upon admission to the Summer Fellowship Program, students may request assistance with expenses for travel to and from Deerfield.

Summer Fellows take a three-day break during the program. This year’s break will be Thursday, July 3 through Saturday, July 5; the program will reconvene Sunday, July 6. In general, weekend guiding assignments and special programs over the course of the program will require Fellows’ presence in Deerfield.

Due to the intensive nature of the Summer Fellowship Program and the limited number of students we can accept, all fellows are expected to participate in the entire program.

As part of building practical research and writing skills, fellows write two papers. At the beginning of the program, fellows are assigned a short object-based research and writing project (click here for examples of object studies). Over the course of the program, fellows conduct research on a topic of their choice relating to the history and material culture of the Connecticut River Valley and craft a research paper of 25+ pages based on primary textual sources and artifacts in the collections of Historic Deerfield and the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association. At the program’s closing exercises on July 25, Fellows summarize their research in a 7–9 minute oral presentation, followed by a short question and answer period in a program open to staff and guests. Both assignments introduce fellows to material culture studies and engage them in primary research on an aspect of regional history from the 17th to 20th centuries. Many Summer Fellowship papers have become the basis for senior theses and essays for publication.

We take day trips to other museums and historic sites in June and July.

A completed final paper and presentation of findings at the closing exercises is the ticket onto the van that transports Fellows on an exciting, weeklong field excursion to museums and historic sites across the Northeast. The 2024 trip will leave Deerfield on Monday, July 28 and return to Deerfield on Saturday, August 2.

Greenfield, bordering Deerfield to the north, has a small downtown about five minutes away by car that includes a locally-owned department store, a food co-op with bakery, two grocery superstores and several national chain drugstores. Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield, a ten-minute drive from the museum, is the closest hospital. Restaurants, coffee shops, bakeries, book stores, are available not only in Greenfield, but also in the towns of Amherst (home to Amherst College, Hampshire College and UMass), Hadley (site of several mall complexes) and Northampton (home to Smith College). These towns are a 20-minute drive south on nearby I-91 and route 116.

The Historic Deerfield Summer Fellowship Program began in 1956.

Deerfield, Massachusetts, is located one hour north of Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, CT. The scenic historic village of Deerfield is home to Historic Deerfield, Inc. and the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association; the region’s many historic museums and houses, educational institutions, cultural centers, and state parks make it a year-round tourist destination.

Each week is generally a mix of activities that includes attending hands-on seminars and workshops, training and leading tours, and working on individual research projects. After the first few weeks, some weeks include a day excursion to other museums. No one day is exactly like another, but if you are interested in learning more, click here for a sample week from the 2024 program.

The program stocks the Champney House kitchen with self-serve breakfast foods. The program provides lunch and dinner, both of which are eaten communally at Champney, except in the case of special dinners and other programs where meals are included, for example, during the Dublin Seminar for New England Folklife which takes place in June at Historic Deerfield.

Students with special food preferences or allergies are asked to alert the Director. This information is shared with the staff of the Deerfield Inn and the Assistant Tutor.

A washer and dryer, as well as detergent, are available to fellows at the Champney House.

Yes, Fellows should bring a personal computer/laptop. Fellows have access to a printer at Champney House and at the Flynt Center of Early New England Life. We suggest bringing a flash drive(s) in the event a PC does not interface successfully with different printers. We also suggest bringing a power strip.

Wi-Fi is available at the Historic Deerfield/PVMA Memorial Libraries, the Champney House, and inside Historic Deerfield’s Flynt Center of Early New England Life. The Deerfield Inn also has Wi-Fi.

It is perfectly fine for fellows to bring a car. Although not necessary, many students find it convenient, and there is ample parking available. Some students like to bring a bicycle. Again, this comes under the heading of handy to have but by no means essential. The mile-long village Street on which Historic Deerfield’s buildings are located is a quintessential walking environment.