Mayme Clayton
*Mayme Clayton was born on this date in 1923. She was a Black Librarian, researcher, and historian.
She graduated from high school at sixteen in Van Buren, Arkansas. The daughter of Southern pioneers, she was proud of her father, the only Black business owner of a general store, serving successfully with both Black and White communities where she grew up. Her parents instilled in her a love of culture and a sense of adventure.
After graduating from Lincoln University in Nebraska in 1945, she moved to New York, where she met her husband, married, and moved to Los Angeles. She earned a B.A. from the University of California-Berkeley, a master's of library science from Goddard College, and a Ph.D. from Sierra University in Los Angeles.
Clayton began her career as a librarian in 1952, working at the Doheny Library at the University of Southern California. In 1957, she left USC to become a law librarian at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she remained for fifteen years. While at UCLA, Clayton also served as a consultant and founding member of the Afro-American Studies Center Library. During the 60s, UCLA asked her to develop a library for the Black Studies Department. She became keenly aware that the administration did not value the attainment of out-of-print materials.
The mission of preserving out-of-print African American materials fused with her unwavering and passionate interest in preserving Black heritage. After leaving UCLA, Clayton took a position at Universal Books in Hollywood. When the store closed, the partners divided the remaining volumes among themselves. Clayton left with more than 4,000 volumes of books that pertained to Black society and culture.
Since then, her collection has grown to more than 20,000 pieces, including films, books, magazines, music, and advertisements. Some of the treasures in this collection are signed first editions of works by Zora Neale Hurston and handwritten correspondence from George Washington Carver, as well as a rare signed copy of Phyllis Wheatley's "Poems on Various Subjects Religious and Moral," considered as the first book published in America by an author of African descent.
The collection resides in the Western States Black Research and Cultural Center in the Mayme A. Clayton Library and Cultural Center. Clayton was the center's president, and her son Avery was the executive director. Clayton was also the founder of the Black American Cinema Society, which awards scholarships and hosts film festivals.
She received numerous awards, including the Phoenix and Paul Robeson awards. Mayme A. Clayton died on October 13, 2006, at 83.
