Lawrence Henry Gipson Institute for Eighteenth-Century Studies

Director: Michelle LeMaster, Ph.D
Email: mil206@lehigh.edu | Phone: 610-758-3358

Website: https://gipson.cas.lehigh.edu/

Supported by the Office of  Research and Graduate Studies, 610-758-4280
Maginnes Hall, Suite 490, 9 West Packer Avenue

Gipson Council:  William Bulman, PhD (Department of History); Elizabeth Dolan, PhD (Department of English); Lyndon Dominique, PhD (Department of English); Scott Paul Gordon, PhD (Department of English); Michelle LeMaster, PhD (Department of History); Monica Najar, PhD (Department of History); John Savage, PhD (Department of History); Maria Bárbara Zepeda-Cortés, PhD (Department of History); Richard K. Matthews, PhD (University of Toronto)

The Lawrence Henry Gipson Institute for Eighteenth-Century Studies was established in 1971, to honor one of America’s most distinguished scholars, who served as a long-time member of the faculty at Lehigh.  Gipson’s monumental life work, The British Empire Before the American Revolution (15 volumes) was written between 1936 and 1970. Gipson received the Pulitzer Prize in History in 1962 for Volume 10, subtitled, The Great War For Empire.  When he died in 1971, Professor Gipson left his entire estate to Lehigh and provided the original endowment for the institute.

Research Activities

The income from the endowment of the institute is used to encourage faculty and student research in the eighteenth century by providing grants to defray travel costs, copying, and other expenses to permit scholars to visit necessary libraries and depositories. The Gipson Institute normally awards one fellowship annually to a Ph.D. candidate enrolled at Lehigh University for dissertation research and writing in any field of eighteenth-century studies. The institute also helps provide additional resources to build the university library's research collections in eighteenth-century studies.

Educational Opportunities

The institute invites leading scholars to give lectures and supports relevant programs such as interdisciplinary seminars and visiting scholars interested in the eighteenth century. Occasional symposia honor Professor Gipson by bringing to campus distinguished scholars to lecture and discuss various topics. The essays generated at the symposia have been published and the institute maintains a continuing close relationship with Lehigh University Press for publishing original manuscripts on the eighteenth century.