Clayton Museum Wins Grant

Phyllis Wheatley, an American Poet, from the MCML collection
Phyllis Wheatley, an American Poet, from the Clayton collection

Culver City’s Mamie A. Clayton Museum and Library (MCLM) has won a grant that will allow it seek a permanent director, and allow the institution to expand it’s world-class status.  MCLM is the largest independently-held collection of objects, documents and memorabilia on African American history and culture.   The museum has been under Acting Director Cynthia Hudley  since the death of Culver City resident Avery Clayton, Mamie’s son, last year.

The collection, now totaling more than 3,500,000 objects, documents, photographs and artifacts, is a remarkable cultural treasure.  Mayme A. Clayton, PhD., the organization’s founder, began collecting documents in the early 1960’s and continued until her death in 2006.

Thanks to a grant from the Federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), Culver City’s  Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum (MCLM) will begin immediately to search for a permanent Director of the institution. These funds will also provide support for an archivist. Funding for the leadership team will allow MCLM to move forward at an even more rapid pace to prepare the large and historically significant collection for public access.

“I could not be more grateful to IMLS for their wisdom in providing us with this funding. This collection is an extremely important and remarkable cultural treasure that we are determined to preserve and share with the public,” said Hudley, on learning that the grant had been awarded.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The Institute’s mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas. The Institute works at the national level and in coordination with state and local organizations to sustain heritage, culture, and knowledge; enhance learning and innovation; and support professional development.

For more information about the museum, call  (310) 202-1647.

The Actors' Gang

1 Comment

  1. Someone brought this article to my attention recently; thank you so much. However, the piece is in error in stating that “The museum has been under Acting Director Marsha L. Semmel”. The error is understandable, but this person is the Acting Director of the Federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), i.e., the granting agency, not the Acting Director of MCLM. I have been the interim Director since the untimely death of our founding director, Avery Clayton. I hope the posting can be corrected.

    Cynthia Hudley, PhD
    Interim Director, Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum
    Professor, University of California, Santa Barbara

    Editor’s note- So it has been, thank you for letting us know.

    http://education.ucsb.edu/hudley

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