Mélena Laudig has been awarded the 2024-2025 Richard S. Dunn Fellowship at the McNeil Center for Early American Studies as well as the 2024-2025 Lake Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship at the Lake Institute on Faith and Giving. The Richard S. Dunn Fellowship "acknowledges excellence in any aspect of Early American Studies" while the Lake Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship supports research that "engages issues at the intersection of religion and philanthropy or faith and giving." Both fellowships will provide her with the support necessary for the completion of her dissertation, "Her Country's Children": African American Religion and Childhood in Slavery and Freedom.