Josephine Forman Scholarship: Rai Mckinley Terry

Rai Mckinley Terry, who is pursuing an MLIS degree at Simmons University with a concentration in cultural heritage and archives management, is the 2025 recipient of the Josephine Forman Scholarship, sponsored by the General Commission on Archives and History of the United Methodist Church in cooperation with the Society of American Archivists (SAA). This $10,000 scholarship provides financial support to students of color pursuing graduate education in archival science, encourages students to pursue careers as archivists, and promotes the diversification of the American archives profession.

Terry’s work in archives began as a student assistant at Brandeis University Archives, where they assisted in the course “Black Brandeis, Black History.” In that course, they witnessed firsthand the impacts of archival work as students built an interactive digital timeline documenting Black history at the university. Of that experience, they said, “It was clear to me that making archives more inclusive, accessible, and responsive was the path I wanted to pursue.” In 2022, Terry received their MA in public humanities from Brown University while also serving as an inaugural Pathways Fellow with the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA). They currently work closely with the South Side Home Movie Project in Chicago, a project dedicated to collecting, preserving, digitizing, and exhibiting the many home movies created by Chicago’s South Side residents. Terry also founded Auntie Penny’s Tapes, a project named after their Aunt Penny where they digitize videotapes for individuals at no charge. Through their work, they are committed to “the preservation of magnetic media, especially for Black and queer communities for whom videotape was often the first accessible form of self-reflective media.”

Ultimately, Terry hopes to expand the archives field toward more inclusive and innovative practices “that acknowledge history as something living and evolving.” That vision has not gone unnoticed: one of Terry’s instructors described them as “one of the most insightful, visionary students who I have encountered.” Another added that Terry “elevates the level of dialogue in every space they inhabit.”