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As a lifelong museum visitor, one of the things I really appreciate about Winterthur is that during a visit, it’s very easy to move from inside to outside, to enter and reenter, to have time outdoors and time inside with all the extraordinary art from the past. At some museums, you have to commit to being inside their vast buildings without a chance to refresh your senses in nature. Winterthur has a great fluidity to it in that way.
My perfect day here would begin with the exhibitions because I enjoy being in the galleries during the quiet time of day–even though as a curator, I am pleased to see them crowded. I especially love Outside In: Nature-inspired Design at Winterthur. This exhibition is a collaboration with the Delaware Museum of Nature and Science. It is stimulating to see how these different collections can be integrated and appreciated with fresh eyes by two institutions that are across the street from each other.
The first sight that gets me is the little western meadowlark. I’ve never seen one alive, so I can’t help but imagine how incredibly bright and yellow its feathers were then. It’s a yellow that Henry Francis du Pont clearly loved. That color will stay in my imagination when I go back into the garden to listen for birds and think about the creature habitats on the grounds around the museum. Artistic imaginations are so inspired by our environment, and I am proud that Winterthur is working to protect the corner of Delaware that we are in.
After saturating myself with all the thoughts and lush visions encountered in the museum galleries, I would next take the tram or the shuttle back to the parking lot, pick up my picnic lunch from my car, then take a good stroll through the garden and landscape.
One of my favorite spots is Oak Hill. I love it not just for the views, but because it reminds me of a colleague who really treasured his time there, Bruno Pouliot. Bruno was one of our conservators, and I like to remember him using his lunch hour, in his wheelchair, to wheel strongly up that hill to just enjoy the vistas.
My afternoon adventure would first include a quick peek at my favorite objects in the Campbells Collection of Soup Tureens on my way back to the museum. These are such over-the-top dining vessels. I always have to say hello to the silver tureen with the boar handles (object 1996.0004.237 A). It’s not everyone’s taste, but I love the line and movement on the surface and the way the whole tureen undulates and reflects light. It’s such a dynamic design, it’s hard to believe it was hammered from silver.
I know the historic house pretty well but even I discover something new each time I am inside. So my next stop would be a house tour to explore that visual time capsule of America’s creative past. Finally, if I still had energy at end of the day, I would take a near-dusk stroll. The other day I saw the full moon rise over the train station. It was picture perfect.
Since 1902, Narcissus have helped define the Winterthur Garden. Since March, they’ve been popping up like crazy.
Behold the daffodil.
They appear so commonly in gardens that we almost take them for granted; yet, there are 13 divisions, from large cup, small cup, and split cup to Triandrus, Cyclamineus, and Poeticus, to other species, wild variants, and wild hybrids, each with its unique and sometimes maddeningly subtle variations. They fascinated Winterthur founder Henry Francis du Pont throughout his long life, and for good reason.
“This one has a yellow cup with separate white petals making a very star-shaped appearance. There are some where the petals are a little bit wider but they’re still separate. There are still others where the petals overlap. And several cultivars subtly change color when in flower, so you have to watch them over time,” says Director of Horticulture Linda Eirhart. “I could see where that attention to detail, looking at that and enjoying seeing the differences, might have fascinated him because it really is fun to look at these and try to figure out, are they the same? Are they different?”
Daffodils so enthralled du Pont that he planted them in large drifts across his estate. Those big drifts still thrive in Browns Wood Meadow along what had been his golf course, at the edge of Azalea Woods, above the Quarry Garden, and on the March Bank, Sycamore Hill, Oak Hill, and along the entrance drive to the Visitor Center. In all, more than 500,000 bulbs blossom across Winterthur from late winter through April.
“The great pleasure in a bulb garden is in its permanency,” du Pont wrote in an article from 1915 about naturalizing Narcissi. In the article he notes that he laid out his first daffodil garden in 1902 on the lawn above what is now the museum. “Of the many gardens one can have, there is none which, once planned and planted, gives more satisfactory results with as little upkeep as that in which narcissi predominate,” he said. He so loved his daffodils that he revised the article in 1937 for The American Daffodil Year Book and again in 1961, when it appeared in the The Daffodil and Tulip Year Book1961.
Many of the daffodils that blossom at Winterthur are historic cultivars from the late 1800s and early 1900s. For the past few years, Eirhart has been working to identify and document them, examining the petals, shapes, sizes, color, and even that subtle color change over the life of the blossom.
The distinctions can be so minute, du Pont did not mention certain cultivars in his articles because identifying them was so difficult. “Everybody has different likes in their flowers,” Eirhart says. “I’ve grown to love these older historic cultivars and the subtle differences between them.” Eirhart notes that they’ve become one of her favorite flowers and they herald a special time of year in the garden.
“When the daffodils are in flower, the cherries, the early azaleas, the magnolias, and the quince will also all be in bloom, so I automatically associate daffodils with all the wonderful trees and shrubs that are in flower too. It’s a beautiful time at Winterthur.”
Winterthur is one of the few places in the country where you can see so many daffodils. Find out for yourself while the daffodils are in bloom through April or enjoy daffodil-themed events!
Azaleas and Bluebells are dazzling in Azalea Woods, Upper Peony Garden and sprinkled throughout the Garden.
Check these out:
Dove Tree: Check the corner created by the back of the glass Soup Tureen corridor & the Library to see the fluttering white bracts of the rare Dove Tree, or Handkerchief Tree (Davidia involucrata var. vilmoriana) in bloom.
Primroses: The Quarry Garden is filled with a tapestry of red, pink, and white primroses (Primula species).
Mayapples: The ‘umbrella’ leaves of mayapples (Podophyllum peltatum) appear throughout the gardens and estate. They are listed only here as they are ubiquitous. Look for plants with a ‘double umbrella’ to find the white flowers hidden beneath.
Dogwoods and Doublefiles: White or pink dogwoods (Cornus florida species & varieties) are in bud or in bloom throughout the Estate including the edge of Brown’s Woods. They are mentioned only here. The bright white of doublefile veburnums (Viburnum plicatum forma tomentosum) continue the show of white as listed below and throughout the Estate.
Spring Beauties: The native spring beauties (Claytonia virginica) form a white carpet in the back meadow between Clenny Run and Clenny Run road, on the lawn sloping down to the Museum, along the walkway to Icewell Terrace, and on parts of Oak Hill. Their small, star-shaped white to pale pink flowers can be found throughout the Estate.
Violets: Blue, blue & white, & yellow violets (Viola species) are blooming throughout the gardens and fields. They are mentioned only here.
Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica) surrounding Enchanted Woods
Check these out:
Trilliums: Vast expanses of great white trillium (Trillium grandiflorum) can be seen in parts of Azalea Woods, and individuals and colonies of them along with yellow trillium (Trillium luteum) and the dark red toadshade and wake-robin (Trillium sessile & Trillium erectum) can be found throughout the gardens.
Magnificent Entry:The Wilson pearlbush (Exochorda giraldii x wilsonii) is creating a lovely white frame for the Latimeria Gate entrance to the Pinetum.
Sundial Garden and Quince Walk: A flurry of flowers with the flowering quince (Chaenomeles cultivars) showing off in blazing red-orange, orange, red and cooler pale orange & white with a supporting cast of white spiraea (Spiraea x arguta & Spiraea prunifolium cultivars) and a carpet of pale blue starflower (Ipheion uniflorum).
An Ocean of Blue: Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica) are blooming throughout the gardens with great waves of them in parts of Azalea Woods, in the area of the koi ponds, in Enchanted Woods, on Oak Hill and the Quarry. Italian windflowers (Anemone apennina) form a blue & white carpet extending throughout Azalea Woods, down the March Bank to the stream, & up the opposite bank into Icewell Terrace. They accent other parts of the garden.
Spring Beauties: The native spring beauties (Claytonia virginica) form a white carpet on the lawn sloping down to the Museum and on parts of Oak Hill. Their small, star-shaped white to pale pink flowers can be found throughout the Estate.
Violets: Blue, blue & white, & yellow violets (Viola species) are blooming throughout the gardens and fields. They are mentioned only here.
Bloom Report #17 April 27, 2022 55 F, Partly Cloudy
Azaleas are getting ready to steal the Garden show! Visit Winterthur May 7th for Azalea and Bluebell Day to get a front row seat to watch the beauty begin to unfold.
Check these out:
Trilliums: Vast expanses of great white trillium (Trillium grandiflorum) can be seen in parts of Azalea Woods, and individuals and colonies of them along with yellow trillium (Trillium luteum) and the dark red toadshade and wake-robin (Trillium sessile & Trillium erectum) can be found throughout the gardens.
Magnificent Entry: The Wilson pearlbush (Exochorda giraldii x wilsonii) is creating a lovely white frame for the Latimeria Gate entrance to the Pinetum.
Dogwoods: White or pink dogwoods (Cornus florida species & varieties) are in bud or in bloom throughout the Estate including the edge of Brown’s Woods. They are mentioned only here.
Spring Beauties: The native spring beauties (Claytonia virginica) form a white carpet on the lawn sloping down to the Museum, along the walkway to Icewell Terrace, and on parts of Oak Hill. Their small, star-shaped white to pale pink flowers can be found throughout the Estate.
Violets: Blue, blue & white, & yellow violets (Viola species) are blooming throughout the gardens and fields. They are mentioned only here.
As the morning sun spills through the east-facing windows of the Hall of Statues, you might catch a glimpse of this object casting a warm amber light. This mold-blown, house-shaped flask, made between 1860 and 1870 by the Whitney Glass Works, holds a spot on my Winterthur favorite objects list because it was made in my hometown of Glassboro, New Jersey. Made to house E. G. Booz’s Old Cabin Whiskey, the flask, to me, does not necessarily look like a cabin but instead a house that is remarkably similar to the small two-story glassworker houses that I can remember seeing in my youth. Those houses have mostly disappeared due to redevelopment. Here’s a fun fact. There is a tradition that these flasks helped popularize the word “booze” despite etymological evidence that the term has been in use since the 14th century, with the spelling we know today emerging in the 17th century.
Winterthur Research Fellowship staff are available to talk with you about potential projects and your application. Please contact Academic Programs staff with any questions.
Applications are due January 15, 2026. Applications will be available online on November 1, 2025.
Selected fellows will be notified by April 1, 2026.
Fellowships can be completed between September 1, 2026 and August 31, 2027.
Fellowships Offered
Long-Term Fellowships • Winterthur Postdoctoral Fellowships for terminal degree holders • Dissertation Fellowships for current doctoral students actively registered as a student at a university Short-Term Fellowships • Faith Andrews Fellowship for the study of Shaker life and material culture • William Seale Fellowship for research related to architecture and landscape • Ephemera Society of America—Winterthur Fellowship • Conservation Research Fellowship for research related to conservation and technical studies • The American Trust for the British Library (ATBL) Research Fellowship • Maker-Creator Fellowship for creative professionals • Affiliated Researchers for self-funded researchers not asking for fellowship aid
Fellowship Requirements
Fellows are asked to participate in Winterthur’s research community by attending and contributing to weekly Research Fellowship Program talks.
Fellows are required to give one presentation at the Research Fellowship Program weekly talks. We prefer this requirement to be completed during the residency but will work with fellows to schedule this at a mutually agreeable time after the fellowship is completed.
Winterthur’s public programming is scheduled 9 to 12 months in advance. If there is a desire to present a public program or engage Winterthur visitors, these ideas should be conceived and shared with program staff prior to starting the fellowship.
Fellows are asked to compose one social media post about their research and share this via their personal social media channels, tagging #researchatwinterthur and the @winterthurmuse social media account.
Fellows cannot accept teaching assignments or undertake any other major work or research activities during their fellowship tenure.
Fellows are required to participate in their fellowships on-site at Winterthur at least four days per week. Fellows working remotely during hybrid portions of their fellowships are expected to spend the equivalent time dedicated to their projects. We are unable to fully support remote fellowships but can work with fellows to devise a flexible schedule of remote and in-person participation.
Fellows may hold non-Winterthur fellowships or grants during the fellowship tenure, including sabbaticals and grants from their own institutions, so long as they do not impede their ability to meet the requirements of the Winterthur fellowship.
Long-Term Fellowships
Winterthur Postdoctoral Fellowship Stipend: $4,500 per month.
Applicants at any level or rank who complete their Ph.D. before September 1, 2026, may apply for a four-month fellowship to pursue advanced research or revise research for publication. Applicants may still be Ph.D. candidates at the time of the application (January 15, 2026). Please contact us if you have any questions about qualifying for this fellowship based on the timing in which your degree will be conferred. Hybrid completion of this fellowship is possible.
Dissertation Fellowships
Stipend: $2,500 per month.
Winterthur’s dissertation fellowships support doctoral candidates conducting research or writing their dissertation and receive four-to-eight-month fellowships. Hybrid completion of this fellowship is possible. Students completing an external Ph.D. (defined as those who conduct research independently and are not actively registered or enrolled at a university) are not eligible for dissertation awards but may apply in the short-term fellowship category.
Short-Term Fellowships
Stipend: $2,500 per month.
Open to independent or institutional researchers and scholars of all levels, including graduate students completing Ph.D. and M.A. degrees. Applicants may apply for fellowship periods ranging from four to six weeks. Hybrid completion of this fellowship is possible.
Applicants need not apply for a named fellowship, but we do designate the following awards:
Faith Andrews Fellowships for the study of Shaker life and material culture
William Seale Fellowship for research related to architectural, landscape and gardens, and White House/Presidential history.
Ephemera Society of America—Winterthur Fellowship
Conservation Research Fellowship for research related to conservation and technical studies
The American Trust for the British Library (ATBL) Research Fellowship
Ephemera Society of America—Winterthur Fellowship Now in its second year, Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library offers a jointly sponsored fellowship with the Ephemera Society of America (ESA). Open to graduate and undergraduate students, the fellowship supports a visiting researcher at Winterthur for up to four weeks. We welcome projects that reflect a scholarly interest in ephemera and make use of Winterthur’s extensive ephemera holdings, including trade cards, greeting cards and postcards, cigar box labels, die-cuts, scrap, and thousands of other library and museum collections.
In addition to the Winterthur Fellowship requirements, the ESA-Winterthur fellowship recipient will be expected to propose a talk for the next ESA conference following their fellowship and/or submit an article for publication in the Ephemera Society of America Journal.
No special application is required; please indicate in your essay that you wish to be considered for the ESA-Winterthur Fellowship. Indicating interest does not preclude your consideration for other Winterthur fellowships.
The American Trust for the British Library (ATBL) Research Fellowship Beginning in 2025, Winterthur’s Research Fellowship Program is a partner institution with the American Trust for the British Library Research Fellowship Program.
The ATBL’s Research Fellowship Program is a short-term, $2,500 research stipend that supports research projects that make use of collections in any department in the British Library.
The Program partners with American collections-based institutions that currently have established, competitive short-term research fellowships or stipends on offer. This is an add-on option to Winterthur short-term research fellowship applications, ensuring that ATBL’s research program candidates conduct research in dialogue between an American collection and that of the British Library. If awarded a short-term research fellowship at Winterthur, the incumbent can later be considered for an ATBL fellowship. ATBL Fellowship recipients will be notified directly by ATBL on or before May 1, 2026.
Please direct any questions about the ATBL Research Fellowship Program to fellowships@atbl.us and check the organization’s website for information about this year’s competitive cycle.
“My lunchtime talk gave me the opportunity to pose very specific questions to a very knowledgeable audience… hearing from a group of experts has made me feel more confident about my own understanding and interpretations.”
Cambra Sklarz, Ph.D. Candidate, University of California, Riverside, 2023-2024 Short-Term Research Fellow
Maker-Creator Fellowship
Stipend: $2,500 per month.
HOW WILL WINTERTHUR INSPIRE YOU?
Our four-to-six-week research fellowships are designed for artistic and creative professionals to examine, study, and immerse themselves in Winterthur’s vast collections to inspire their practices. Past fellows have utilized the museum’s landscape, gardens, museum collections, and library for inspiration, precedent, instruction, and material for their creations. See our Current and Past Research Fellows page for a list of all Maker-Creator Fellowship recipients. The Winterthur Fellows’ Projects page has more information on the range of creative projects shaped by experiences at Winterthur.
This fellowship is designed to enhance artists’ practices through time with the institution’s collections. Winterthur has no dedicated studio space and there is no expectation that new work will be produced on site during the fellowship. Occasionally, modest on-site creation may be possible depending on the practice, and program staff are available to talk through your goals prior to applying.
Maker-Creator applicants are encouraged to contact Academic Programs staff with any questions about project feasibility or the application process and will review drafts of application narratives received before December 1.
Directions to apply can be found here. Maker-Creator Fellowship applicants will need to supply photos of work samples in addition to the application form, essay, bibliography, CV, and letters of reference required for the other fellowships.
“The duet of primary source research and object-driven house tours grounded my time and provided me with a solid, sturdy footing for the next step of translating research into artworks. Without Winterthur’s Maker-Creator Fellowship and all that it encompassed, I know my project might not be a reality.”
Brece Honeycutt, artist and 2023-2024 Maker-Creator Fellow
Affiliated Researchers
We reserve a limited number of spaces for Affiliated Researchers who can provide their own financial support to be in residence. We welcome affiliated researchers at any stage of their career or artistic practice. Benefits of Affiliated Researcher status mirror those of funded researchers with access adjusted to the scope and needs of the project.
There is no application form. An email of interest should be sent to Academic Programs staff with the following information:
details of your current project or research subject
dates of intended time in residence at Winterthur
a copy of your current résumé or curriculum vitae
and a letter of reference that addresses your project, record of accomplishment, and ability to work with a collegial group. If you are working closely with Winterthur staff as part of your project, the letter of reference should come from that staff member.
Requests are reviewed by staff on a rolling basis. Please allow at least two months for processing a status request before the intended start date of your research here.
Image (left): Johnson Publishing Company Archive. Courtesy Ford Foundation, J. Paul Getty Trust, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Smithsonian Institution.
In 1953, American couturier Ann Lowe designed the wedding dress for future First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier’s marriage to John F. Kennedy, a dress that became one of the most recognizable and beloved wedding dresses in America. As a Black designer, Lowe didn’t receive proper credit for her work at the time.
Textile conservator Kate Sahmel accompanied University of Delaware Fashion and Apparel Studies professor Katya Roelse for a recent visit to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston to examine and document the construction of the original dress, which is too fragile to display on a form. Working with University students, Roelse will use the information gathered from this visit to create a reproduction of the dress for the Winterthur exhibition Ann Lowe: American Couturier, opening September 2023.
Katya Roelse (left) University of Delaware Instructor of Fashion and Apparel Studies, with the muslin prototype of the wedding gown she created, and Elizabeth Way (right) Associate Curator, The Museum of FIT, and guest curator of the 2023 exhibition, Ann Lowe: American Couturier, examining the muslin prototype.
The dress features several details characteristic of Lowe’s work, such as the ornate rosettes that embellish the skirt, each with a small spray of wax flowers at the center. A blue ribbon hidden under the skirt at the hem was a delightful surprise and completed the dress with a hopeful charm for her new marriage.
Magnolias in Pinetum. The sight and smell is intoxicating!
Check these out:
Blue carpet: A lavender-blue expanse of glory-of-the-snow (Chionodoxa forbesii) extendsthrough Azalea Woods, down the hill towards the Museum and down the March Bank, across the stream and up the hill through Icewell Terrace. In many places, he blue carpet includes royal blue Siberian squill (Scilla siberica).
Dazzling show: This week areas of the garden are aglow in the golden radiance of forsythias (Forsythia x intermedia, Forsythia ovata, Forsythia suspensa, Forsythia viridissima, Forsythia ‘Winterthur’). They start at the upper edge of the visitor parking lot, with masses along the drive behind the carriage houses, along the lower side of Chandler Farm Road below the Fire House, along the Museum lawn edge of the Peony Garden, along the field edge of Azalea Woods, along the Pinetum overlook wall, and on the Quarry edge of Sycamore Hill. The soft yellow glow of winter hazel (Corylopsis ‘Winterthur’, Corylopsis platypetala, Corylopsis spicata, Corylopsis pauciflora) starts with masses of blooms at the upper edge of the visitor parking lot and along the Winterhazel Walk, with accents in the woods from the Visitor Center to the Underpass, at the East Upper Terrace of the Museum, and along the Quarry walkway.
The Flowering Quince in the Pinetum. The wide variety of colors are stunning!
Check these out:
Cherries!: This week the cherry trees are at peak bloom. The white expanse of Yoshino weeping cherry (Prunus yedoensis ‘Shidari Yoshino’) is a cloud of delicate blossoms at the upper edge of the visitor’s parking lot. Along Garden Lane, the performance includes the white large Sargent cherry trees (Prunus sargentii) and the delicate white-to-pink of the Accolade (Prunus ‘Accolade’) and autumn rosebud (Prunus subhirtella ‘Autumnalis’) cherries.
Sundial Garden and Quince Walk: A flurry of flowers with the flowering quince (Chaenomeles cultivars) showing off in blazing red-orange, orange, red and cooler pale orange & white with a supporting cast of white spiraea (Spiraea x arguta & Spiraea prunifolium cultivars) and a carpet of pale blue starflower (Ipheion uniflorum).
Funny names: This year there is an abundance of bright white bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) and golden yellow trout lily (Erythronium species). There is a dense group of bloodroot flowers in the lawn at the sidewalk edge of the visitors parking lot midway between the Picnic House and the walkway to the Visitor Center. There is a golden carpet of trout lily flowers on the slope across the stream opposite the Magnolia Bend entrance to the March Walk.
Amazing anemones: Italian windflowers – (Anemone apennina) form a blue & white carpet extending throughout Azalea Woods, down the March Bank to the stream, & up the opposite bank into Icewell Terrace. They accent other parts of the garden.
Spring beauties: The native spring beauties (Claytonia virginica) form a white carpet on the lawn sloping down to the Museum and on parts of Oak Hill. Their small, star-shaped white to pale pink flowers can be found throughout the Estate.
Violets: Blue, blue & white, & yellow violets (Viola species) are blooming throughout the gardens and fields. They are mentioned only here.
