The Society of Colonial Wars in the Commonwealth of Virginia has completed funding for a fellowship in Colonial History at the College of William and Mary in partnership with the General Society of Colonial Wars intended to memorialize former Society Governor General Russell Scott, Virginia Governor Blair H. Nelsen reported.
“In the second of our initiatives with the General Society that are awarded through the history program at America’s premier institution for the study of Colonial History, we will be providing an annual stipend to a graduate student in the school,” Nelsen said.
“The grant, known as the Russell Cecil Scott Fellowship, will be a permanent yearly support going to a graduate student chosen by the History faculty whose area of study seeks to contribute to our understanding of the Colonial era, its people and events,” said Nelsen.
Scott, a Virginian and engineer whose career included work on guided missile programs for the Navy and on guided missile propulsion at Experiment Incorporated in Richmond, died in 2018. He had served as Governor General of the General Society of Colonial Wars and Governor of the Virginia Society as well as a member and participant in numerous other lineage groups such as Society of the Cincinnati, Sons of the Revolution (past member of the board of managers of the Virginia Society) and Order of First Families of Virginia 1607-1624/5.
He led many efforts as Governor General to identify and memorialize important Colonial era events and landmarks and was, in addition to his interest in history, an avid waterman and a dedicated environmentalist for the Chesapeake Bay.
Below: Dr. Tuska Benes accepts the first grant check for the new Fellowship from General Society Tablets and Monuments Chair Channing Hall.
