Black-History Collection Gets a New Home

A California librarian’s collection of African-American artifacts—books, films, slave records, and more, much of it stored in her garage for years—will finally get a home in an old courthouse, reports The Washington Post.

Mayme Clayton, who died in October at the age of 83, built her collection slowly, often picking up items at flea markets or used bookstores. She bought the only known signed copy of Phillis Wheatley’s 1773 book Poems on Various Subjects Religious and Moral for $600 in 1972.

“She has everything,” said Sue Hodson, curator of literary manuscripts at the Huntington Library, near Los Angeles. “This is probably the finest collection of African-American literature, manuscripts, film and ephemera in private hands. It is just staggering. It is just superior in every way.”

Her son, Avery Clayton, is moving the collection to a 24,000-square-foot former courthouse leased to him by Culver City, Calif., for $1 a year. He hopes to raise $7-million to restore and maintain the collection.