Today In Black History: Harold Thomas Pinkett
African American agricultural archivist and historian
Issue #768 Today In Black History, Monday, November 18, 2024
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Harold Thomas Pinkett was an African American agricultural archivist and historian. He was an expert in agricultural archives.
In 1942, he became the first African American archivist employed at the National Archives of the United States. He was also the first African American to become a fellow of the Society of American Archivists, editor of The American Archivist Journal, and president of the Agricultural History Society.
Harold Thomas Pinkett was born in Salisbury, Maryland, on April 7, 1914. His parents emphasized the importance of education and community service and encouraged him to pursue his interests in science and technology.
Pinkett enrolled in Morgan College, a Methodist institution, when he was sixteen. He received a Maryland state scholarship to pay for his tuition and waited tables each summer to cover his rent. While at Morgan, he pledged to Omega Psi Phi Fraternity.
Pinkett wanted to pursue a graduate education in history, but the University of Maryland was still segregated. So, in the fall of 1935, Pinkett began his graduate work at the University of Pennsylvania, where he finished his master's degree in 1938.
After graduation, Pinkett returned south to teach at Livingstone College. He was appointed a sabbatical fill-in for the 1938–1939 school year. After his appointment, he wanted to return to school for his doctorate, but the University of Maryland remained closed to African Americans, so he enrolled in Columbia University.
He began working at American University in 1948 and graduated in 1953 with a PhD in history and archival administration. His dissertation, “Gifford Pinchot and the Early Conservation Movement in the United States," was published by the University of Illinois Press and won the Agricultural History Society's Book of the Year award in 1968.
In 1959, Pinkett applied for the position of chief of the Agriculture and General Services Branch. He was the only Black person among 25 candidates. From 1959 to 1962, Pinkett supervised the branch's archival and administrative operations.
He played a pivotal role in which records were kept and which were destroyed. His work advising researchers and government officials earned him a Commendable Service Award in 1964.
He also taught at Howard University from 1970 to 1976 and at American University from 1976 to 1977.
Although Pinkett retired from the National Archives in 1980, he helped Howard University establish its University Archives and worked as an archival consultant for several African American organizations. He also worked with Cheyney University and contributed to The American Archivist and the American Library Association World Encyclopedia of Library and Information Services.
In 1999, The Society of American Archivists Award for minority graduate students was named after Pinkett. He died on March 31, 2001, just shy of his 87th birthday.
Today In Black History
In 1861, the first provisional meeting of the Confederate Congress was held in Richmond, Virginia.
In 1977, former KKK member Robert Edward Chambliss was convicted of first-degree murder in connection with the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, that killed four little girls attending Sunday School classes.
In 1978, over nine hundred people, primarily African Americans, died in a mass murder and suicide pact in Jonestown, Guyana, under the leadership of cult leader Jim Jones.
In 1992, the Spike Lee movie, “Malcolm X,” opened to a nationwide audience.
In 1993, Black and white leaders in South Africa approved the new democratic constitution that gave Blacks the right to vote and ended white minority rule.
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