Hugh Hawkins Research Fellowships for the Study of Hopkins History

Legal and regulatory codes for protection of individual privacy (such as HIPAA and FERPA) as well as Johns Hopkins’ internal policies limit access to certain types of information in archival collections. However, these codes and Johns Hopkins’ policies do include provisions for certain types of authorized access to types of information within the collections. In some cases, applications may be submitted to obtain authorization to access these collections, and archivist mentors can assist with this process. Applications are reviewed and adjudicated in accordance with applicable legal and regulatory codes and Johns Hopkins policy. Please be sure to discuss any possible access issues in the collections you plan to use with your archivist mentor.

Proposed research must explore some aspect of Hopkins history. During the application process, students must identify a faculty mentor, an archivist mentor, and a preliminary list of resources that will be important to their research.  

In January, Hawkins Fellows will attend a workshop where they share their in-progress research with their peers. Projects are not expected to be polished at the workshop, rather, this is an opportunity to exchange ideas with your peers and learn from each other how to continue developing your research. 

At the end of the academic year, fellowship recipients are required to produce a final product such as a research paper or digital project and should be willing to present their findings at a public event. 

Fellowship recipients are expected to conduct regular research at their selected archival repository. They will also be required to meet regularly with their archivist mentor, their faculty mentor, the Hopkins Retrospective Program Manager. There is no required number of research hours expected per week, but fellows are expected to talk through a work plan with all their mentors. 

Awardees will receive a letter of acceptance, that they must sign and return to the Hopkins Retrospective Program Manager before beginning their fellowship term, which confirms that the recipient understands and agrees to the terms of the award. Failure to complete these agreed upon requirements may result in an awardee forfeiting some or all of their award. 

It should be noted that additional research expenses (such as travel to other archives or libraries) that may emerge over the course of the fellowship must be drawn from the total amount of the fellowship award. Up to $250 of in-kind costs incurred at Johns Hopkins archives, such as photocopying or digitization, may be possible without charge. 

Faculty mentors should be willing and able to provide guidance and feedback on the student’s proposed research topic and project. They should be available to consult with the student during the course of the fellowship. In-person sessions, phone calls or virtual meetings on Zoom or a similar platform are sufficient means of touching base during the fellowship.

Archivist mentors should also be willing and able to provide guidance and feedback on the student’s proposed research topic. They can advise the student on what materials relevant to their proposed research topic are available in the archives and suggest refinements to the proposed topic based on available sources. During the fellowship, archivists will serve as a resource for the students utilizing their collections, answering questions about the collections that arise during the course of the research. If necessary, remote archival research is possible. Fellows are to coordinate this with their archivist mentor and will have project management meetings with the Hopkins Retrospective Program Manager.

Fellowship recipients will be selected by the review committee and notified of their acceptance by May 8, 2026. You will be contacted directly by the Hopkins Retrospective Program Manager to coordinate a research schedule and project timeline.

A letter of recommendation in Word or PDF format should be sent directly from your Faculty Mentor to the Hopkins Retrospective Program Manager, Allison Seyler, at hopkinsretro@jhu.edu. Please instruct your mentor to put your last name and the word “Reference” in the subject line. Letters are due no later than April 17, 2026, by 11:59 pm. Letter writers should address the following in their recommendations:

• How long and in what capacity have you known the student?
• What are the student’s academic strengths, qualifications, and ability to conduct independent research?
• Please comment on the student’s ability to ethically handle any privacy concerns that may come up, should they propose a topic that may require access to Protected Health Information or other confidential student/personnel information.
• Are you available to consult with the student on their research progress (preferably in person, but phone/Zoom/email are also okay) during the proposed fellowship period?

The Hugh Hawkins Research Fellowships honor the significant contribution of Hugh Hawkins [pdf] (PhD, 1954) to our understanding of the history of Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Hawkins’ book Pioneer: A History of the Johns Hopkins University, 1874-1889, remains the definitive history of the early years of the university. The fellowships are made possible through Dr. Hawkins’ generous bequest to the university.

Want to know more about what it’s like to be a Hugh Hawkins Fellow? Read more about the experiences of past Hawkins recipients on the Sheridan Libraries Blog, in the News-Letter, and find their projects on this page.

Suzanka Belik, Peabody, ’26, Classical Horn Performance, “An Evolving Planet: The Peabody Institute Under Climate Change.”

Yemok Jeon, SoM, ’28, History of Medicine, “Fragile Heroic Founding Fathers: Korean Physicians, U.S. Training, and Korea’s Postwar Public Health.”

Darrell “Riley” Strait, KSAS, ’28, Writing Sems, WGS, “A Web of Women: Characterizing the Realities of Homewood’s Women Through Poetry.”

Sandy Peeples, History, ’27, PhD candidate, “Race and Empire in Formation of African Studies at Johns Hopkins”

Tony Ye, KSAS, ’27, History, IS, Economics, “Learning Across Borders: The Hopkins-Nanjing Center and Its Role in China’s Reform and Opening Era.”

From left to right: Suzanka Belik, Yemok Jeon, Darrell “Riley” Strait, Sandy Peeples

Leigh Alon, School of Medicine, ’28, “Meet the Friedenwalds: Constructing Jewishness through Medicine in 19th-20th century Baltimore.”

Henry Clayton, KSAS, ‘26, “A History of Campus Policing at Johns Hopkins University from the 1960s to the Present Day.”

Rahul Jakati, KSAS, ‘25, “Human Salvage: Tracing Medical Futility through Brain Death and Hospice Care at Johns Hopkins (1979-1999).”

Jessica Hester, School of Medicine, ’27, “From Paris to Baltimore: The Long Afterlife of a Human Hand, Hip Bone, and Shoulder at Johns Hopkins University.”

Rockwell Shapiro, Peabody & KSAS, ‘27., “Musical Undercommons: Black American Music within the Peabody Institute during the 20th Century.”

From left to right: Henry Clayton, Rockwell Shapiro, Jessica Leigh Hester, Leigh Alon, and Rahul Jakati

Sophia Berkey, KSAS, ’24, Updating the Narrative of the History of Materials Science and Engineering at JHU. 

Mitchell “Max” Bryski, School of Medicine, ’24, Crafting a Legacy: Examining the Influence of Racism and Self-Censorship on the Autobiography of Vivien Thomas. 

Leila Habib, School of Medicine, ’25, Building ‘Completely Comprehensive’ Community Health Systems: An Analysis of the East Baltimore and Columbia Medical Plans. 

Zoe Underwood, KSAS & Peabody, ’24, Classical Music in Maryland Before and After the Founding of the Peabody Institute.

Left to right: Leila Habib, Mitchell “Max” Bryski, Allison Seyler (Hopkins Retrospective Program Manager), Sophia Berkey, Zoe Underwood

Juliano Aniceto, Peabody, ’23, Peabody Institute Performance History Research. 

Lauren Anthony, KSAS ’22, Blood Ties: A study of hematology clinician-scientists and Black Baltimorean research subjects at Johns Hopkins. 

Earl Goldsborough III, School of Medicine, ’24, The Johns Hopkins Hospital (1889-1914) and Vocality: The Use of Admissions Logs to Depict the Logistical Nature of the Hospital and its Patients. 

Walker Magrath, School of Medicine, ’24, A History of an Absence: How Johns Hopkins Became a Prominent Site of Resistance to Gender Affirming Surgery for Nearly 40

Bethany Hung, School of Medicine, ’23. Between Cure and Eradication: Spina Bifida History as told through Medicine and Disability Studies. 

Shireen Guru, KSAS, ’21.Vision 2020: In the Blindspot (Research on the Women’s Forum). 

Isaiah Chapman, Peabody, ’22. Roxbury: To Graphically Notate and Not Hate.

Michael Healey, School of Medicine, ’24. Mirroring Madness: The Psychotic Patient in Kraepelinian Nosology and Meyerian Typology. 

Mofan Lai, Peabody ’20. A Digital History of International Students at Peabody Institute Since 1950. 

Margo Peyton, School of Medicine, ’22. Arnold Rich and the Impact of Johns Hopkins Pathology on Theories of Race and Susceptibility to Tuberculosis. 

Lakshmi Krishnan, Postdoctoral Fellow, General Internal Medicine and History of Medicine. Detectives of Thought: Autopsies and the Diagnostic Genre at The Johns Hopkins Hospital (1889-1945). 

Sarah Thomas, Peabody ’19. A Message of Inclusion, A History of Exclusion: Racial Injustice at the Peabody Institute. 

Tochi Uchuno, KSAS ’21. The Intersection of Mental Health and Eugenics. 

Michael Anfang, KSAS ’19. Jews at Hopkins: A Digital History. 

Tiffany Brocke, School of Medicine ’20. Color and Community: How the Johns Hopkins Hospital Influenced Abortion Access in Baltimore, 1945-1973.  

Anne Hollmuller, KSAS ’18. Activist Campus: Johns Hopkins University in the Age of Protest.