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In partnership with the American Catholic Historical Association, the Cushwa Center has established the Cyprian Davis, O.S.B., Award recognizing works in progress that promise to make significant contributions to the study of the Black Catholic experience in North America and the Caribbean from the colonial period to the 20th century. This award celebrates the life and legacy of Father Cyprian Davis, O.S.B. (1930–2015), a Benedictine monk of Saint Meinrad Archabbey in Indiana, respected academic, and beloved teacher and lecturer. Father Davis served as archivist for the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus, of which he was a founding member in 1968. Among his six books, The History of Black Catholics in the United States (Crossroad, 1990) won the John Gilmary Shea Prize for its groundbreaking contribution. Father Davis' comprehensive history helped restore the stories of Black Catholics to the writing and teaching of U.S. Catholic history and continues to inspire new scholarship on African American Catholicism. The center invites applications from scholars of any academic discipline. In addition to receiving a cash award of $1,000, each year's Davis Award recipient is invited to the annual meeting of the American Catholic Historical Association to be recognized along with other honorees of the association.

The Cushwa Center offers Peter R. D'Agostino Research Travel Grants to facilitate the study of the American past from an international perspective. Funds support research in Roman archives for projects on U.S. Catholic history. Grants are offered in honor of the late Peter R. D'Agostino (1962–2005), a friend and colleague to many, author of the award-winning book Rome in America: Transnational Catholic Ideology from the Risorgimento to Fascism (UNC, 2004), and a tireless promoter of transatlantic research in American Catholic studies. The grant supports travel, lodging, and research expenses for scholars conducting research in Roman archives related to U.S. Catholic history. Recipients are expected to acknowledge the Cushwa Center in publications and provide the center with a short report on their research results.