Louisa Bowen Memorial Scholarship
Scholarship Sponsored by Midwest Archives Conference
Louisa Bowen Memorial Scholarship for Graduate Students in Archival Administration
Purpose
This scholarship supports a resident or full-time student from the MAC region who is pursuing graduate-level study in archival administration and promotes scholarship in the field.
Award
One recipient will receive a $1,500 scholarship (issued directly to the recipient’s educational institution) plus a one-year membership in the Midwest Archives Conference (MAC).
Who may apply
Applicants must meet all of the following:
- Be a resident or full-time student living in one of these states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, or Wisconsin.
- Be enrolled in or already accepted to a graduate, multi-course archival administration program. If the program does not appear in the Society of American Archivists (SAA) Directory of Archival Education, the applicant must include course descriptions from the current department catalog to demonstrate the program’s multi-course nature.
- Have a minimum GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale for the most recent academic year.
How to apply
Deadline: April 17, 2026. Submit all materials as email attachments.
Required documents:
- Completed Application Form (PDF)
- Current résumé including:
- Education
- Archives-related employment, volunteer work, or internships
- Campus and community involvement
- Any other scholarships received specifically for archival studies
- Honors or awards
- List of memberships in professional organizations
- Transcript from the most recent academic program
- Personal statement (up to 500 words) describing your interest in archival administration and your plans for contributing to the archival profession
- One letter of recommendation
Post-award requirement
The scholarship recipient is expected to submit an article for the MAC Newsletter describing how the scholarship supported their academic work and its significance to their graduate archival training.
Submission contact
Send the completed application and supporting materials to:
Morgen MacIntosh Hodgetts, Chair (2024–2026)
Email: mmacinto@depaul.edu
About Louisa Bowen
Louisa Hopkins Bowen began her archival career in 1975 as an archivist at Wayne State University. In 1976 she became archivist for the National Board of the YWCA in New York City. From 1978 to 1980 she worked as cataloger and archivist at the University of Memphis. After moving to the St. Louis area, she served five years as curator of manuscripts at the Morris Library, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and later became archivist at Lovejoy Library, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Bowen held degrees from Skidmore College, Wayne State University, and New York University. She died on October 24, 1996.
Bowen was active in both professional and local organizations: she belonged to the Midwest Archives Conference and the Society of American Archivists and served as president of the Association of St. Louis Area Archivists. To honor her long-standing contributions to MAC—including work as Legislative Update editor for the MAC Newsletter, service on Council, and leadership of program committees—MAC renamed its general scholarship the Louisa Bowen Memorial Scholarship for Graduate Students in Archival Administration in May 1997.