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Hecimovich named a W.E.B. Du Bois Research Institute Fellow at Harvard, again
Gregg Hecimovich, Department of English.
The first time Gregg Hecimovich was selected as a W.E.B. Du Bois Research Institute fellow at Harvard University, in 2014, the experience led to his first major biography project, “The Life and Times of Hannah Crafts: The True Story of The Bondwoman’s Narrative,” due out this year. It also served as the seedbed for his latest work in progress, “The Columbia Seven: The Life and Times of the Zealy Daguerreotypes,” about seven of the first known photographs of enslaved people, whose likenesses were recorded in Columbia, South Carolina, in March 1850.
When Hecimovich heard in May that he’d won a second W.E.B. Du Bois fellowship at the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, he literally jumped for joy, suited up for a long run, and allowed the news to sink in.
One of 22 fellows selected for 2023-2024, Hecimovich will embark on the fellowship during his sabbatical beginning in September.
The institute represents a unique blend of extended social connections, like the undergraduate experience, Hecimovich said, and the opportunities of graduate school, “where you push the boundaries of your discipline.”
“You have this wonderful opportunity to personally connect with experts from all over the world in different fields who are engaged in groundbreaking research,” he said.
Hecimovich said his colleagues at the Du Bois Research Institute in 2014-2015 pushed him to write in a broader, less specialized fashion to reach a wider audience. And besides the obvious advantages of living near the Zealy daguerreotypes that he intends to study further at Harvard’s Peabody Museum, he’s anticipating more of the same kinds of collaborations and inspiration in this upcoming stint strengthened by the resources available to his fellowship class.
“Last time, I was able to get a sense of a larger audience and engage the talents of a coterie of people from all over who weren’t trained like me, who haven’t thought like me, who haven’t read the books I’ve read. Being in such proximity (with these scholars), it’s like being a kid in a candy store,” he said. “I thought, ‘this is my one year of heaven,’ and somehow, it’s happening again. I’m just so grateful.”