Donald Peterson Student Travel Award: Chloe Inoue

Chloe Inoue, who is pursuing an MSLIS with a certificate in advanced archives at Pratt Institute, is the 2025 recipient of the Donald Peterson Student Travel Award given by the Society of American Archivists (SAA). The award, established in 2005, supports students and recent graduates from graduate archival programs within North America to attend SAA’s Annual Meeting. The goal of the scholarship is to stimulate greater participation in SAA events, such as presenting research or joining a committee or section.

Inoue is the Pratt Archives and Digital Initiatives graduate assistant. In this role, she processes archival collections, digitizes black and white negatives from the 1950s to 1970s, and assists with accessions. While digitizing Pratt’s Static Fish collection, an anthology of comic books created by Pratt students beginning in 1985, she also curated and assembled an exhibition utilizing archival materials surrounding the New York School of Applied Design for Women. She is dedicated to making the historical record more inclusive through her research, digitization, and processing to provide a more complete view of the Pratt Institute.

In addition to her graduate assistantship, Inoue has already engaged deeply with the professional archives community through her service as an early-career member of SAA’s International Archival Affairs (IAAS) Steering Committee. Within this role, she has been assisting with updating the subtitles for the IAAS Archival Landscapes videos, making sure that the programs are more accessible for participants. Furthering her engagement in the archives field, Inoue was a mentee for the New York Association of College and Research Libraries’ 2024–2025 mentoring program, learning alongside Iris Finkel, the web and digital initiatives librarian at Hunter College Libraries.

Inoue’s research and social media content have “increased engagement with the archives in part by reflecting upon the history and contributions of community members.” Additionally, one supporter stated that Inoue “has a deep desire to learn as much as she can and her enthusiasm for the work is contagious.” Inoue has expressed that her greatest desire is to “become an archivist who listens, learns, supports, and grows.”

The Donald Peterson Student Travel Award honors the memory of New York lawyer and philatelist Donald Peterson. Recent past recipients include Sandy Yang (University of Alabama), Erika Alfieri (Florida State University), and Katherine Schlesinger (University of Arizona).