The Avery Clayton Spirit Award was established by the Executive Committee of LA as Subject in 2010 to honor the character and spirit of Avery Clayton (1947-2009), founder of the Mayme A. Clayton Library and a long time active member of LA as Subject. Avery was a beloved friend to all who knew him, and an honored colleague to all who worked with him. He was passionate, dedicated, and unceasingly enthusiastic with endless curiosity and unvarying generosity to friend and stranger alike.
When asked why he founded the Mayme A. Clayton Library to house his mother’s unique collection of African-Americana, Avery invariably responded “to bring it to the world”, words uniquely his that epitomize the mission of LA as Subject to identify, preserve, and disseminate the primary sources for the cultural, economic, ethnic, political, and social history of the Los Angeles region.
The Avery Clayton Spirit Award is given annually to an institution, organization, or individual that embodies Avery Clayton’s spirit of dedication, enthusiasm, energy, curiosity and generosity in working to identify, preserve, and make accessible the sources for the history of the Los Angeles region.
The recipient of this annual award is chosen through nomination and voting by the general LA as Subject membership. Any LA as Subject member may nominate any institution, organization or individual that embodies Avery’s spirit of dedication, enthusiasm, energy, curiosity, and generosity in working to identify, preserve, and share the history of the Los Angeles region.
The nominee need not be an LA as Subject member. Nominations should be submitted to Liza Posas at posas@usc.edu and include a brief statement describing how the nominee embodies Avery Clayton’s character and spirit. Nominations due Friday, September 27.