James W. Scott Research Fellowships Programs

The 2024 James W. Scott Research Fellowship offer opportunities to consider and learn about archives and regional history from a range of different perspectives and aim to promote awareness of and innovative use of archival collections at the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies (CPNWS).  

Recordings of past presentations from Fellowship recipients are available online in WWU’s institutional repository, Western CEDAR. Some recent past programs include: 

• Dr. Helen Knowles (2020 Fellow), who visited campus in Spring 2022 from the State University of New York at Oswego, in pursuit of research on Pacific Northwest broadcasting pioneer Rogan Jones and the landmark 1936 U.S. Supreme Court case of KVOS v. Associated Press. Her research presentation, drawing on work conducted with the Rogan Jones Papers archived at CPNWS, was entitled “‘Command the Air and You Command the Market’: The Story of KVOS v. Associated Press (1936).”

• Dr. A. Longoria (2020 Fellow), who is the Chair of Secondary Education at WWU’s Woodring College of Education. Their research resulted in a wonderful Spring event entitled “In Conversation with Robert Ashworth and Betty Desire: Unboxing a Local Queer History, 1975-1995.” This program featured presentations by Dr. Longoria and graduate student Astrid Willis about archival findings, and a facilitated conversation with long-time Bellingham residents about the history of LGBTQ+ activism and Queer community.

• Janna Haider (2023 Fellow), who is a PhD candidate in the Department of History at the University of California, Santa Barbara and the most recent Scott Fellowship recipient. Her research at CPNWS informs a larger doctoral dissertation regarding the Ghadar Party and Indian nationalism in the early 20th century, as a global project based in the Pacific Northwest. Her presentation, “Racing Silences: Lumber, Labor and Atemporalities in 1910s and 1920s Whatcom County,” discusses the history and narratives of race, racism and organized labor in Bellingham and the larger region with specific reference to the 1907 race riots, and the challenge of silences in the archives about South Asian and non-white workers and race.

Curious to apply or find out more? Visit CPNWS’s Scott Fellowship webpage for more information about the Fellowship and application process, contact CPNWS Archivist Ruth Steele at ruth.steele@wwu.edu or (360) 650-7747.

The Scott Fellowships were established and named in honor of the late Dr. James W. Scott, a founder and first Director of the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, and a noted scholar of the Pacific Northwest region.

[Image Description: Still image from recording of Dr. A Longoria-moderated April 26, 2023 panel discussion, entitled “In Conversation with Robert Ashworth and Betty Desire: Unboxing a Local Queer History, 1975-1995.”]