In 2024, the USGA announced the launch of the Wilson Endowed Research Fund, an initiative that would provide financial support for individuals wishing to conduct original research utilizing the collections of the USGA Golf Museum and Library in Liberty Corner, N.J. Eric Steagall, a Ph.D. candidate at Georgia Tech University, was the first recipient of this grant.
This year, the USGA Museum and Library is proud to announce the selection of two new recipients: Deirdre Beaumont and Bonnie Hagerman. Beaumont is a student at the University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Hagerman is an Associate Professor at the University of Virginia.
Through the generosity of Don M. Wilson, III, a member of the USGA Golf Museum and Library Committee since 2001, and a Founding Partner of the USGA Foundation in 2018, this fund granted $5,000 for qualified applicants in 2024 and will grant $10,000 for qualified applicants in 2025.
Beaumont’s research project is, “The Grass Roots of the Front Lawn Aesthetic: The Scientific Production of an American Cultural Icon,” where she brings a new perspective on the history behind the perfectly manicured, bright green lawn that has grown to so perfectly encapsulate Suburban America.
“Rather than focus on what the lawn means for Americans, the following work will explain how the lawn came to be what it is. This approach will draw our attention to the farmers, scientists and golfers who, through many years of careful research and experimentation, collaboratively cultivated the turfgrasses that line the streets of American suburbia… an intriguing story about an unlikely yet profoundly influential partnership between the federal government and the USGA,” explained Beaumont in her abstract.
Beaumont will graduate in May with a B.A. Combined Honours Degree in the History of Science and Technology (HOST) and French.
Hagerman received her B.A. in Anthropology at Princeton University, later becoming a Doctor of Philosophy in History, with a specialization in U.S. Social History, at Ohio University.
Her research topic is: “Glenna Collett Vare as part of A Pair of Queens, a dual biography of Glenna Collett and Helen Wills and their contributions to a Golden Age of Sport,” where she explores the cultural and historical significance of their athletic achievements to better understand why that decade was considered so exceptional in American sport.
“If the 1920s marks ‘the Golden Age of Sport,’ then the athletic accomplishments of Helen Wills (Moody) and Glenna Collett (Vare) are essential to understanding why...” explains Hagerman.
Interested applicants for the 2026 cycle may direct inquiries to researchgrant@usga.org. The link to apply can be found here.