Pennsylvania Society Sponsors Eighth Dissertation Fellow

The Pennsylvania Society has again joined forces with the State Society of the Cincinnati of Pennsylvania to provide scholarship support to the McNeil Center for Early American Studies. Under this partnership, the Society of the Cincinnati matches the amount of the Pennsylvania Society's gift.

The Dissertation Fellow for 1999-2000 is Eric Slauter whose topic is The State as a Work of Art: Politics and the Cultural Origins of the Constitution. A student at Stanford University, Mr. Slauter will write his dissertation under Professor Jay Fliegelman. He is also the first McNeil Center Fellow from Stanford.

According to Samuel H. Preston, Dean at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Arts and Sciences, the McNeil Center acts as a consortium of fifteen institutions and its fellowship program is designed to capitalize upon Philadelphia's magnificent manuscript, book, and museum collections. In thanking the Society for its dedication and support, he writes that "by supporting this unique center, you allow our scholars to continue their vital research into the early history and culture of the mid-Atlantic and the Delaware Valley [and] support the growth of innovative programs in the School, [as well as] ensure our position as an educational leader in the next century."