In 1995, AAS welcomed its first class of Creative and Performing Artists and Writers Fellows. Visual artists, fiction writers, non-fiction writers, poets, playwrights, performance artists, musicians and composers, as well as film and media makers came to the society seeking to create original works based on American history to present to non-academic audiences and readers. These fellows added immensely to the intellectual mix under the dome of Antiquarian Hall and contributed to lively conversations with AAS staff, academic fellows, other scholars, and the general public over the past quarter century. Many have also created powerful, imaginative, and beautiful works, which we are celebrating in a program we are calling Artists in the Archive: Twenty-Five Years of Creative and Performing Artists and Writers Fellowships.