Harold T. Pinkett Minority Student Award: Angela Osbourne

Angela Osbourne, a graduate student at San Jose State University, is a 2019 recipient of the Harold T. Pinkett Minority Student Award given by the Society of American Archivists (SAA). The award recognizes minority graduate students of African, Asian, Latino, or Native American descent who, through scholastic achievement, manifest an interest in becoming professional archivists and active members of SAA.

As a future archivist, Osbourne is committed to preserving and providing access to the history of African Americans for African American communities. In her studies and volunteer experiences, she has worked to become aware of the complexities that surround information needs in a modern library and has demonstrated her ability to learn and master the necessary technical skills required for an archivist and librarian. As a volunteer with Sacramento Central Library’s Special Collections, she assists with a variety of events, including 2018’s annual Archive Crawl, where she noticed a significant lack of African American visitors. These experiences have focused her efforts on informing the African American community that its history can be traced through archives and used to build a brighter future.

One recommender noted that “she displays a rich dedication to reaching and educating underserved African American communities, which will most certainly become an important asset to the larger profession.”