While the personal papers of Martin Luther King Jr. will be shared with the public for the first time at the Atlanta University Center beginning this month, another important, though lesser-known collection is also seeing the light of day.

The Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum in Culver City, CA, houses the largest privately held collection of African-American materials, with more than 30,000 rare books, 75,000 photographs, and 1,700 films dating back to 1916. Housed in a former courthouse, the museum is set to open this summer, with permanent exhibits and an ongoing film program. A new Web site, just launching at press time, will feature teacher materials and lesson plans, says acting director Cynthia Hudley.

Clayton (pictured), a university librarian, combed flea markets and used-book stores to assemble her collection, said to rival that of the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center. She died in October 2006. “I knew Dr. Clayton much of my life, from the time I was 12 years old,” says Hudley, a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. “She was very open and generous with her time, inviting people into her home to view the collection. She was extremely smart and focused about collecting. She could spot a valuable item in a mound of junk.”