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Call for Essays: The Brenda S. Banks Travel Award

Posted January 13, 2019

The Brenda S. Banks Travel Award Subcommittee invites applications for a new Society of American Archivists (SAA) award. The Brenda S. Banks Travel Award recognizes and acknowledges individuals of color, such as those of African, Asian, Latinx, Native American, Alaska Native, or Pacific Islander descent, who are employed in archives and who manifest an interest in becoming active members of SAA. Recipients receive full complimentary registration and related expenses for hotel and travel to attend the SAA Annual Meeting during the year in which the award is received. In addition, recipients receive a complimentary one-year membership in SAA.

This award supports the objectives of SAA’s Archivists and Archives of Color Section’s objectives:

  • Providing individuals of color employed in archives with an opportunity for professional development and networking through engagement with SAA; and
  • Promoting increased participation in SAA by individuals of color employed in an archives by exposing first-time Annual Meeting attendees to the experience of attending national meetings and encouraging them to join and remain members of the organization.

Created in 2017, the award is named in honor of Brenda S. Banks, Fellow and Past President of SAA and co-founder of the Archivists and Archives of Color Section. The award is sponsored by SAA’s Archivists and Archives of Color Section and funded through the SAA Foundation.

Application Requirements:

Recipients will be selected based on the strength of their personal statement/essay. Personal statements/essays must be no more than 500 words and will be evaluated on:

  • Overall clarity;
  • Understanding of professional goals and experience with and/or commitment to working with, or documenting and preserving the histories of communities of color;
  • Description of the benefits of attending the SAA Annual Meeting; and
  • Explanation of commitment to SAA, diversity and inclusion, and the profession.

In addition, applicants must include a current CV or resume.

 

To be eligible, the applicant:

  • Must be of American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latinx, or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander descent;
  • Must be currently employed in an archives; and
  • Shall not have previously attended an SAA Annual Meeting.

Click here to preview the application and/or to apply.

 

Applications must be received by February 28, 2019.

Questions? Please direct them to Margarita Vargas-Betancourt, Ph.D., Chair of the Brenda S. Banks Travel Award Subcommittee, [email protected] or (352) 273-2692.

 

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