ONE Institute
/OVERVIEW: ONE Institute oversees the ONE Archives, a large collection of LGBTQ materials at the University of Southern California. This foundation awards research fellowships, runs an LGBTQ history program for high school students and creates educational materials for K-12 teachers.
IP TAKE: The ONE Institute, previously the ONE Archives Foundation, has quickly evolved to become a significant source for intersectional LGBTQ+ archival work and LGBTQ history. It considers itself the “oldest active LGBTQ+ organization in America,” believing in “Queer and Trans History in Action.”
Grants consist of $1,500 stipends and access to the ONE Institute at the University of Southern California. While this is a modest funder, they conduct highly accessible work in a less funded area of philanthropy. They’re also very responsive and approachable, so reach out with general questions. Note, however, this is not really a funder for organizations, but rather, for scholars and students. The foundation accepts applications from students, scholars and independent researchers from January to March of each year. Applicants are notified of awards in April and invited to work in the archives later in the year. Fellowships are on pause until 2024.
PROFILE: Founded in 1952 by Jim Kepner and educator-activist W. Dorr Legg, ONE Inc., also previously the ONE Archives Foundation, Inc., now the ONE Insitute, is the “oldest active LGBTQ organization in the United States.” In 2010, the foundation deposited its inclusive and vast collection of LGBTQ historical materials with the USC libraries, its holdings considered the largest repository of LGBTQ materials in the world. The foundation “collects, preserves, and protects LGBTQ history, art, and culture in collaboration with ONE Archives at the USC Libraries.” and remains dedicated to this crucial resource through educational and historical initiatives, fellowships, and a variety of public programs.
Grants for Humanities Research
The ONE Institute offers fellowships consisting of $1500 stipends and archival access to about 20 researchers working in various humanities disciplines each year. Graduate students, scholars and independent researchers are eligible for fellowships, which aim to support research that culminates in scholarly publications, books or media and art projects. While most fellows have worked in the humanities, social science projects have also received funding.
Recent grantees include Emily Hobson, who conducts research on activism against AIDS in U.S. prisons, and John Carranza, who studies intimacy and community building in gay men with disabilities.
Additional information about recent fellows is available at the foundation’s education page.
Grants for LGBTQ History and Education Causes
The ONE Archives Foundation does not award grants for LGBTQ causes per se, but runs several programs that promote intersectional inclusion and leadership in the LGBTQ+ history and education spaces.
The foundation offers LGBTQ history lesson plans, which include professional development webinars for K-12 teachers and other materials for classrooms and schools related to LGBTQ history.
It also runs a signature Youth Ambassadors for Queer History program that involves high school students from around Los Angeles in workshops, fieldtrips and independent research on an LGBTQ topic of their choice.
Youspeak Radio is an intergenerational audio story project led by LGBTQ youth.
Important Grant Details:
The ONE Insitute’s fellowships are awarded in the amount of $1,500 to up to 20 researchers each year. Students, scholars and independent researchers are all eligible to apply.
The ONE Institute generally opens its application process in January of each year. Applications are accepted via email and must include a CV, full proposal and at least one letter of reference. Applications are usually due in March, with fellows notified of awards in April. General inquiries may be made via email or telephone 323.419.2416.
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