Introducing the Women’s History Institute 2025 Summer Research Fellows

To celebrate Women’s History Month, the Selection Committee of the Women’s History Institute has the pleasure of announcing the names of the 2024 Summer Research Fellows. The Women’s History Institute’s Summer Research Fellowship supports the research of college and graduate students into the lives of women residing in the Hudson Valley, particularly during the time period mostly represented in the HHV collections: the 18th and 19th centuries. This year’s recipients will be researching 19th-century women’s experiences with family, education, medical care, and marginalization.

Roberta Garbarini-Philippe, Margaretta (Happy) Rockefeller Research Fellow
“This research project aims to explore the lives of young women in the 19th-century Hudson Valley, specifically through their correspondence and diaries. I plan on reading Sarah Storrow’s Journal and the letters, notebooks, and books in the Hoffman family collection, which offer glimpses into the lives of middle-class young women in the Hudson Valley between 1800 and 1850. I am especially interested in researching themes of family dynamics, social life, educational opportunities, literary and other intellectual endeavors, and the tension between societal expectations and personal aspirations. I hope to shed more light on the personal and intellectual development of the young women of the region and explore how they navigated the complex social, familial, and educational expectations in a time of transformation and social unrest… I have a deep passion for uncovering and interpreting the voices of women whose stories remain underrepresented in our shared past.”

Ms. Garbarini-Philippe holds a BA in Translation (English and German) from the University of Bologna and an MA in Higher Education Administration and Student Affairs from New York University, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Behavior. She is currently pursuing an MA in Museum Studies at CUNY School of Professional Studies. She has also published articles in the Daily Art Magazine and the Journal of Student Affairs at New York University.

Madison Everlith, Women’s History Institute Summer Research Fellow
“In my research project during the fellowship, I plan to utilize the library’s special collections and documents associated with the enslaved women in Croton-on-Hudson, New York” and will concentrate on historical medical treatments, particularly with reference to the enslaved community at Van Cortlandt Manor.

Ms. Everlith is in her second year of a BA at Pace University, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences New York City, majoring in Women and Gender Studies and minoring in Fashion Marketing. She tells us that “…the instructors have been nothing but helpful and supportive and the courses are fascinating and easy to engage in. I love the degree path I’ve chosen and going to school in the city allows for a lot of opportunities!” She received a United Nations Millennium Fellowship in 2024, and holds memberships in The National Society of Leadership and Success, the Women’s Leadership Initiative and the Black Student Union where she is the Community Outreach Chair.

Both Fellows will spend time at Historic Hudson Valley’s Regional History Center over the course of the summer, examining primary documents (including letters, diaries, and scrapbooks) from Historic Hudson Valley’s Library and Archives and using the library’s extensive collection of secondary sources and reference works. Their investigations will be guided by Historic Hudson Valley’s Research Librarian, Catalina Hannan, and enriched by behind-the-scenes tours of our important historic sites.