The Mayme Agnew Clayton Collection of African-American History and Culture

Dr. Clayton standing amid her collection of Black culture, via Goddard College.

Mayme Agnew Clayton dedicated her spare time to archiving Black history. By the end of her lifetime, she had personally collected over 2 million artifacts and over 30,000 out of print books. She single-handedly curated and preserved what’s considered to be the largest and most academically substantial independent collections of African American history and culture.

• Explore the Clayton Museum YouTube Channel for digital versions of artifacts curated by Dr. Clayton.
• Donate to the Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum.

About Mayme Agnew Clayton

Dr. Mayme Agnew Clayton was born in August 1923 in Arkansas. Her parents instilled in her a deep appreciation for Black culture from an early age. After graduating high school, living in NYC, and getting married, she and her partner moved to Los Angeles, CA in 1946 (Encyclopedia).

For most of her career, Dr. Mayme Agnew Clayton worked as a librarian. She started as a librarian’s assistant at the University of Southern California, then moved to the university’s law library. She was tasked with building the university’s collection of African American literature but became frustrated when UCLA refused to buy out-of-print books, opting instead for known contemporary classics. So she started buying out-of-print books herself, which sparked her collection.

Later, she left UCLA to join the team at Universal Books in Hollywood, CA. The bookstore was dedicated to African American works but was struggling financially. She invested in the store, become part-owner, and merged her collection with those of her business partner. But the business partner gambled away the bookstore’s money, forcing it to close. She and her partner split the remaining inventory, which meant that Clayton now owned over 4,000 volumes of books related to Black society and culture. Disappointed but not deterred, she started her own bookstore out of the garage and called it Third World Ethnic Book Store (KCET).

Dr. Clayton was also an avid golfer and traveled regularly for competitions. On those trips, she’d gather whatever Black history she could find. Her collection expanded to include “photographs, newspapers, slave documents including purchase receipts and inventory lists, films, and movie posters featuring all-black casts” (KCET). She even went to Black newspaper organizations and bought old editions (Goddard). To honor the film content in her collection, she created the Black American Cinema Society, an association that hosted festivals and scholarships to elevate African American actors and filmmakers. (Somehow she also had time to get her Master's Degree from Goddard College in Vermont and her PhD in Humanities from La Sierra University, which I can't get over!)

By the time of her death in 2006, Dr. Clayton had single-handedly collected over 2 million artifacts of Black culture, including over 30,000 out of print books. All of this was carefully stored in a three-car garage adjacent to her home (Goddard). Her trove is considered to be the largest and most academically substantial independently held collection of objects, documents, and memorabilia on African American history and culture.

Her collection includes artifacts like:

• Signed first editions of works by Zora Neale Hurston
• Handwritten correspondence from scientist and inventor George Washington Carver
• A rare signed copy of Phyllis Wheatley’s Poems on Various Subjects Religious and Moral

“As we continue to make strides toward our goals and try to fulfill our dreams that one day the realization that a collection for the preservation on Black history and a National Black Archives will exist for our boys and girls so that they can have something to point to with an uplifted head, a light heart, and knowledge about there they came from, who they are, and some direction as to where they are going.”

Dr. Mayme A. Clayton, in her master's thesis at Goddard College, via Goddard College

Upon her death, Dr. Clayton’s family moved the collection to its own facilities in Culver City, Los Angeles until 2019 (Culver City Observer). In 2020, the California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) agreed to house the Mayme A. Clayton Collection of African American History and Culture on campus in the Gerth Archives and Special Collections. The university is committed to preserving and archiving the collection “ so that it is more visible and accessible to the public” (CSUDH). Because of one woman’s tireless dedication to Black culture, generations more will be able to enjoy it.

Reflection Questions

• We are all historians, even if we don’t have a fancy title or work at a museum. Consider, how can you use the tools available to you today to collect the history of tomorrow?
• What is something that you’re passionate about? How can you save content related to that hobby for the future?

Learn More

• The Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum and Its 25,000 Artifacts of African-American History Face Eviction From Culver City (The Argonaut)
• Avery Clayton dies at 62; carried on mother’s work through African American library-museum (LA Times)
• California Endowment Pledges $225M to Support Calif. Black-Led Organizations (Los Angeles Sentinel)