Clayton Library Friends

01/24/2026

Clayton Library Friends will have a booth there. This is always a wonderful event. Come join us!

We are thrilled to partner with Holocaust Museum Houston to present two vital genealogy workshops: "Documenting Your African American Family History: A Call to Action presented by Debra Blacklock- Sloan and “African American Historical Records” presented by Francisco Heredia with the Harris County District Clerk’s office.

Join us for an informative and educational session on tips, resources, and records needed to uncover your African American ancestors. This free event is a powerful step in preserving your family's legacy!

🗓️ When: Saturday, February 14, 2026, | 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 📍 Where: Holocaust Museum Houston (5401 Caroline St.)

BONUS: Ten Equal Justice Initiative calendars and one DNA kit will be given away after the presentation!
Seating is limited and advance registration is required!

➡️ RSVP NOW via Holocaust Museum Houston: https://9368a.blackbaudhosting.com/9368a/Genealogy-Workshop

10/22/2025

How wonderful is this? Come visit the ofrenda at Clayton. October is Family History Month, and it's a wonderful time to honor your ancestors by unearthing their stories through research...

09/12/2025

We have many new books that are new to the collection at Clayton, with more being added every month. Here are three recent titles --

1. “A Guide to Norwegian Genealogy Emigration, and Transmigration,” by Liv Marit Haakenstad

2. “San Lejos de Dios y Del Rey y Tan Cerca de Las Tentaciones Impias, 1568-1577,” by Thomas Hillerkus

3. “Pioneer Days in Idaho County, Volume 1,” by Sister Alfreda Elsensohn

08/20/2025

Time for school! Clayton has a collection of yearbooks, which can be a wonderful way to find photos of your ancestors. Come check out our display table just as you walk into the library. Here are a couple of highlights:

1.) “High School Heroes: A Century of Education and Football at Annapolis High School, 1896-2003,” by Jane E. Good. The author explores student athletic lists and combines them with genealogical research to follow the young players from the “gridiron to the battlefield.”

2.) “Legacy: A Portrait of the Young Men and Women of Kamehameha Schools, 1887-1987,” by Sharlene Chum-Lum. This is the story of the schools established by Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the last of the Hawaiian princesses.

08/05/2025

On your next visit to the Clayton, be sure to make time to wander upstairs where several collections have been moved. It’s a quiet, pleasant place to lay out your research and lose yourself in a good book!

1. “Pioneer Women: The Lives of Women on the Frontier,” by Linda Peavy and Ursula Smith. This book examines all aspects of frontier life from a woman’s perspective. Childbirth, laundry, teething infants, depression – how did the women who played such an important part in settling the US cope with these issues out of the back of a covered wagon , or in a sod house on the prairie? A very absorbing read.

2. “Fatal Army Air Forces Aviation Accidents in the United States, 1941-1945,” by Anthony J. Mireles. There are 6,350 fatal air crash summaries in this 3 volume set, with fascinating details of the locations and causes, as well as the people and specific aircraft involved. If you have family who flew during WWII, these stories make the history come alive.

3. “Professional Genealogy: Preparation, Practice and Standards,” by author/editor Elizabeth Shown Mills. Considered by many to be the touchstone for discovering the practice of professional genealogy. Family historians are made here. ‘Nuff said.

07/26/2025

Wanting to dig in a little deeper and examine your ancestry through DNA? Clayton has several excellent books to get you started. Here is just a small sampling from the collection:

1. “DNA & Genetic Genealogy: An Introduction,” by Diahan Southard

2. “DNA for Native American Genealogy,” by Roberta Estes

3. “Living in the Know: The Adoptee’s Quick-Start Guide to Finding Family with DNA Testing,” by Geraldine Berger

06/06/2025

Looking for possible migration routes your ancestors took on their journey across America? The Clayton Library has a wonderful collection of books that can set you on the road to discovering their paths and motivations.
1. "The Making of African America: The Four Great Migrations," by Ira Berlin;
2. "The Yankee Exodus: An Account of Migration from New England," by Stewart Hall Holbrook;
3. "Movin' On: The Great Migration North," by Mitch Yamasaki;
4. "Kentuckians in Missouri, Including Many Who Migrated by Way of Ohio, Indiana or Illinois," by Stuart Seely Sprague; and many others!

05/24/2025

New books at the Clayton! Here is a brief synopsis of a few that have definitely caught my eye...

1.) "Jerome and Rohwer: Memories of Japanese American Internment in World War II Arkansas," edited by Walter M. Imahara and David E. Meltzer. It's a collection of "autobiographical remembrances" and personal accounts as told by former internees and their family members.

2.) "All the Hometown Boys: Wisconsin's 150th Machine Gun Battalion in World War I," by Brad Larson. These are stories gleaned from diaries, letters, and interviews, as told to the author, who is the Director of the Oshkosh Public Museum.

3.) "Tucumcari Tonite! A Story of Railroads, Route 66, and the Waning of a Western Town," by David H. Stratton. This book chronicles the rise and decline of New Mexico's popular little roadside town located on the famed Route 66. The City of Tucumcari boasts that it is "where western hospitality meets the Mother Road."

05/22/2025

If you are interested in Arab American genealogy, the Clayton Library has several books which can aid you in your research -- A Country Called Amreeka: Arab Roots, American Stories, by Alia Malek; Dépôt des papiers publics des colonies (Archives Nationales d’Outre-Mer); Search Your Middle Eastern and European Genealogy, by Anne Hart; and many others!

05/13/2025

It’s May, and that means it is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month. The knowledgeable librarians at the Clayton Library have put together a table of books that can help start you on your genealogical voyage. Take a look! Korean Genealogy Guide: A Resource to Help English Speakers Discover Korean Ancestors; Forgotten Souls: A Social History of the Hong Kong Cemetery; Tracing Your Philippine Ancestors; and Migration, Ethnicity, and Madness: New Zealand, 1860-1910, among many others!

05/12/2025

Clayton Library Friends May General Meeting this Saturday!

This general meeting will be a hybrid meeting – held both online via Zoom and in-person at Clayton’s Garwood Meeting Room – and requires registration.

The meeting will consist of a brief business meeting followed by our guest speaker. *** Registration is OPEN***

Program Title: DNA-Based Relationship Estimators and Analyzers

Explore the tools and methodologies used in genetic genealogy to estimate and analyze relationships between individuals based on DNA data. This lecture will cover how relationship estimators analyze shared DNA segments to predict familial connections. We will discuss the science behind these estimators, including centimorgan (cM) values and segment analysis, and how they are used to build and verify family trees. Attendees will learn to interpret DNA match results, utilize relationship prediction tools effectively, and address common challenges, such as outliers. By integrating these advanced DNA analysis techniques, genealogists can enhance their research, solve complex family mysteries, and validate traditional genealogical findings.

Blaine Bettinger, Ph.D., J.D., is a professional genealogist specializing in DNA evidence and the use of artificial intelligence for genealogical research. He is the author of the long-running blog The Genetic Genealogist, and frequently gives presentations and webinars to educate others about the use of DNA and artificial intelligence. (Blaine will be presenting via Zoom, he will not be here in-person).

Registration is required for either Zoom or in-person attendance. You do not need to be a member to attend the meeting.

https://claytonlibraryfriends.org/event-6067524

To Register:
Click to register for Online Attendance, (100 person limit) or

Click to register for In-Person Attendance (40 person limit)

Handout: none

This general meeting will be a hybrid meeting – held both online via Zoom and in-person at Clayton’s Garwood Meeting Room – and requires registration.

04/25/2025

Check out the Clayton Library's collection of books on the history of African Americans in the military. Titles include Forgotten Patriots, Black Confederates, African American Doctors of WWI, and Memories of a Tuskegee Airmen Nurse and Her Military Sisters.