Dear American Dialect Society community,

Thank you for your past support of the American Dialect Society, its publications, and its annual meeting. 

The American Dialect Society is involved in a number of activities that you might not be aware of and that would also benefit from your generosity.

For example, ADS regularly supports an American Dialect Society professorship at the biennial LSA Institute, offers travels grants, honorary memberships, reduced membership fees to students ($20 for a student membership, which includes an online subscription to American Speech), as well off-sets the cost for members to attend the annual conference luncheon and invites annual award winners to attend the luncheon at no cost.

These benefits are made possible, in part, with donations from you and other ADS members.

Specific ways that you can help are to donate to the travel award funds: The Audrey Duckert Travel Award and Student Travel Award. These $500 awards help defray travel costs for students and members to attend the annual meeting. 

We would like to be able to extend a luncheon invitation to all students who attend the annual conference; however, this is only possible with your financial support. Dennis Preston has created a fund specifically for this purpose: The Carol Guagliardo Preston ADS Student Free Lunch Fund. Typically, the luncheon fee is about $40. Please consider donating to this fund to enable one or more students to attend the luncheon at no cost.

Another specific way that you can support the Society and its commitment to our students is by giving to the Presidential Honorary Membership Award fund. This award is given annually to three students. The four-year honorary membership includes a subscription to the Society’s journal, American Speech, and the annual PADS publication. Your support of this award is a meaningful way to encourage students’ continued involvement in ADS and in the field. Information about the travel and honorary membership awards can be found here.

Your contribution to these funds helps to make it possible for students and emerging scholars to attend the annual meeting, and moreover, provides them the opportunity to engage with scholars from other schools and organizations and to join our larger community of scholars. 

In addition to gifts made to the ADS professorship, travel awards, honorary membership, and luncheon funds, you can support the Society, its members and students several other ways: through dedicated gifts, planned giving, and bequests. These are wonderful ways to leave a legacy that ensures the long-term continuation of the American Dialect Society and support of scholars for years to come. 

Yet another way to support the ADS is to join the Friends of the American Dialect Society. This group of donors was created in 2010 to recognize those members who have made large, unrestricted, charitable contributions to the Society. The minimum contribution requested for membership is $100. Information about the Friends can be found here.

With your generosity, the Society will be able continue to provide awards and other support for students and members. 

Please support the American Dialect Society, our members and students by giving today here or by contacting the society’s executive director at biz@americandialect.org.

With heartfelt gratitude,

Kathryn A. Remlinger, president
American Dialect Society

Julie Roberts, executive director
American Dialect Society

Dennis Preston, adjunct professor of linguistics
University of Kentucky