$450K Project Will Support 60 Fellowships in History 

The SUNY Geneseo campus. (SUNY Geneseo/Keith Walters ’11)

The Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation has awarded SUNY Geneseo distinguished professor of history Michael Leroy Oberg a $224K grant to fund student fellowships. The grant is part of a $450K project, directed by Oberg, that includes Stony Brook University and SUNY Potsdam.

Sixty undergraduate students from the three schools will be matched with municipal historians and local historical societies across New York State. Student fellows will explore the layered meanings of American independence during this semiquincentennial year.

The Gardiner Foundation Semiquincentennial Student Fellowship Project runs through Summer 2027, fostering interest and education about the American Revolution in New York. Student projects will bring about reflection on 250 years of US independence, says Oberg.  

In addition to the Gardiner Foundation grant, Stony Brook has committed $135K in matching funds and SUNY Potsdam has committed $18K. Geneseo’s contributions total $73,390 in fellowships, Oberg’s program coordination, and two Geneseo student assistants. 

In addition to student fellowships, the grant supports summer salaries for faculty mentors, stipends for partnering local historians, and a symposium in Fall 2027. 

Established in 1987, the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation primarily supports the study of New York State History. Robert David Lion Gardiner was, until his death in August 2004, the 16th Lord of the Manor of Gardiner’s Island, NY. The Gardiner family and their descendants have owned Gardiner’s Island since 1639, obtained as part of a royal grant from King Charles I of England. The Foundation is inspired by Robert David Lion Gardiner’s passion for New York history.

Learn more about SUNY Geneseo’s Department of History.