The Boston Athenæum offers short-term fellowships to support the use of Athenæum collections for research, publication, curriculum and program development, or other creative projects. Each fellowship pays a stipend for a residency of twenty days (four weeks) and includes a year’s membership to the Boston Athenæum. Scholars, graduate students, independent scholars, teaching faculty, and professionals in the humanities as well as teachers and librarians in secondary public, private, and parochial schools are eligible.

Applications for most fellowships are due annually by April 15. Additionally, the Athenæum participates in the New England Regional Fellowship Consortium, a collaboration of 31 major cultural agencies that will offer at least two dozen $5,000 awards for eight weeks of research between June 1, 2024 and May 31, 2025. Applications are submitted online via the Massachusetts Historical Society, and are due February 1, 2024.