While processing some administrative records I came across a Sepia Magazine dated June 1974. As I leafed through the magazine to find the relevance to the institution, I found Dr. Mayme Agnew Clayton, featured in a 5 page spread! At the time that the article was written it focused on the Third World Bookstore. A bookstore she co-owned before she founded the Western States Black Research Center.
Years ago, the MCLM received a sizable collection, the Mervyn M. Dymally collection. Mervyn Dymally served in the Senate as well as the State Assembly of California. The items in this collection ranged from oral histories, photographs and clippings. The most interesting item I came across was Dymally’s resume, according to his resume we lived on the same street in California! Another interesting item was a rough draft of his yet to be release autobiography.
Week 20 at MCLM
I have not updated recently because I was out of the office, in Vegas! Anyway...
All of the cataloging goals that were set have been met or exceeded. All the inventories are complete and I have volunteers working on the inventorying of ethnic ads and other recent accessions. The ethnic ads we have are interesting, ranging from can labels to post cards. Most of the ads date from the early 1900’s to the 1940’s. The inventorying process is necessary so all the materials within our collection are accessible.
The access to MCLM's collection will be improving with the launch of our new database. I have become the acting database manager and I'm very excited to see the new database launch successfully. I believe that this online, searchable database will greatly increase MCLM's presence as an African American library and museum.
All of the cataloging goals that were set have been met or exceeded. All the inventories are complete and I have volunteers working on the inventorying of ethnic ads and other recent accessions. The ethnic ads we have are interesting, ranging from can labels to post cards. Most of the ads date from the early 1900’s to the 1940’s. The inventorying process is necessary so all the materials within our collection are accessible.
The access to MCLM's collection will be improving with the launch of our new database. I have become the acting database manager and I'm very excited to see the new database launch successfully. I believe that this online, searchable database will greatly increase MCLM's presence as an African American library and museum.
Week Eighteen at The Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum
Happy belated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day! All of the events that were planned at MCLM went well.
I continue to process a collection of songbooks with the help of two volunteers. There are certain duties that are easily assigned to volunteers such as the initial inventorying process and updating the name and subject authorities in the catalog. Some of the duties I take control of are pulling subjects from the library of congress, verifying the appropriate library of congress number for the book and what collection to attach the item to in the database. An item I came across that was interesting was a book entitled Negro Melodies No.1 Happy Contraband . The songs lyrics provide information about what slaves ate how the masters dressed and other details about slave life. Song lyrics are a primary source that I believe may be under utilized by historians.
I continue to process a collection of songbooks with the help of two volunteers. There are certain duties that are easily assigned to volunteers such as the initial inventorying process and updating the name and subject authorities in the catalog. Some of the duties I take control of are pulling subjects from the library of congress, verifying the appropriate library of congress number for the book and what collection to attach the item to in the database. An item I came across that was interesting was a book entitled Negro Melodies No.1 Happy Contraband . The songs lyrics provide information about what slaves ate how the masters dressed and other details about slave life. Song lyrics are a primary source that I believe may be under utilized by historians.
Week Seventeen at The Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum
This week was very busy at MCLM. We are running in high gear preparing for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. MCLM will be installing an exhibit at the Culver City Senior Center, the theme for the event is Have We Achieved the Dream? The exhibit space will consist of cases, tables, easels and a monitor.
Other than exhibition design I have been processing a collection of songbooks, sheet music, church bulletins, and clippings. I am truly in the beginning staging of processing; simply separating the items into their respective groupings. After the collection has been lightly processed volunteers can inventory the collection and then the inventory can be pushed into our catalog.
Other than exhibition design I have been processing a collection of songbooks, sheet music, church bulletins, and clippings. I am truly in the beginning staging of processing; simply separating the items into their respective groupings. After the collection has been lightly processed volunteers can inventory the collection and then the inventory can be pushed into our catalog.
Week Sixteen at The Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum
Seasons greetings! The week before the holiday break MCLM was proud to host the closing event for L.A. Rebellion Creating a New Black Cinema in conjunction with U.C.L.A. The event was spectacular! MCLM rolled out the red carpet (literally) for its guests, some notable attendees were John Singleton, Julie Dash and Roger Guenveur Smith. There was also a special presentation by Ben Caldwell, an independent film maker.
I continued to process scrapbooks and posters. Now that we have physical control of the collection MCLM collections is moving onto cataloging the items. The cataloging process for each item is different; some items will have LOC numbers while others will not or require numbers to be built. I put together workflows for the volunteers to begin the cataloging of the posters and sheet music.
I continued to process scrapbooks and posters. Now that we have physical control of the collection MCLM collections is moving onto cataloging the items. The cataloging process for each item is different; some items will have LOC numbers while others will not or require numbers to be built. I put together workflows for the volunteers to begin the cataloging of the posters and sheet music.
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