At Rutgers–Camden, public history students fascinated with America’s past build upon their historical understanding, preparing them for the vast array of careers and doctoral-level studies in their field. Promising Rutgers–Camden scholars will now have added support in their pursuits, thanks to a $25,000 gift from the Swan Historical Foundation (SHF) to fund an annual scholarship.
The scholarship – awarded up to $5,000 a year over five years – will be given annually to a full-time or part-time Rutgers–Camden graduate student, with a preference for a student studying public history, based on academic merit and financial need as determined by the university. Qualified students must complete the appropriate university requirements each year to demonstrate financial need; the scholarship awards are not renewable.
"These scholarships are an investment in the education and research of the next generation of historians, who will go on from Rutgers–Camden to do advanced research, to teach, and to lead our region's public history organizations,” says Charlene Mires, director of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Center for the Humanities (MARCH) at Rutgers–Camden, who will be responsible for administering the distributions from the fund. “We are delighted to embark on this new partnership with the Swan Historical Foundation.”
Recipients will be encouraged to conduct research using the Swan Historical Foundation collection of 18th and early 19th century artifacts and documents. The collection includes more than 600 American Revolutionary War items at the National Museum of the American Revolution – founded and developed by the Swan Historical Foundation – in the Visitor’s Center at Washington Crossing State Park in Titusville, N.J. According to the foundation, the collection includes “an original Ferguson Rifle, numerous muskets and rifles, swords, powder horns, and eight dog-face pistols, all with information about the item.”
“At the core of the SHF charter is education,” says Robert H. Bradsell, chair of the Swan Historical Foundation. “We can think of no finer way to embrace that goal than to reward and encourage scholars in history. We’re excited by this new scholarship, and by the relationship that it helps to forge with Rutgers.”
The Swan Historical Foundation, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to encouraging and inspiring continuing knowledge and appreciation of the American Revolution for the benefit of present and future generations. The foundation is named for an early United States Congressman, Dr. Samuel Swan, of Somerville, N.J., who wrote the bill authorizing a pension for the widows and orphans of the first American soldiers. That legislation eventually led to the creation of the Veterans Administration.
The graduate history program at Rutgers–Camden leads to a master of arts (M.A.) degree and features course offerings in three tracks: American history, public history, and legal history. A global history track will be soon be added. Course offerings and rotations are scheduled in order to accommodate students whose work, family, or financial obligations limit the hours when they can attend or the number of courses they can take each term. All classes meet once weekly, in the early evening. Graduate students may take courses in other Rutgers-Camden M.A. programs and the School of Law in order to fulfill degree requirements. For more information about ongoing events, current students and alumni, please visit history.camden.rutgers.edu/graduate-program.