Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research Presents -
Scanning Saturdays and Booksale
Scanning: Bring your old photos, slides or documents to scan to the Family History Research Center to preserve your family memories! Things to bring include your photos, slides or documents and a flash or thumb drive to save your images to. Volunteers will be available to help get you oriented to the scanners.
Appointments are scheduled at 10:30am; 12:00pm; 1:30pm or 3:00pm every third Saturday of the month. Please call 832-393-2600 to reserve your spot!
There is limited restoration software available during your appointment time. A quick tutorial and more information about the software installed Restore by Vivid-Pix can be found HERE
Booksale: Looking for research books to add to your personal collection? Visit the Clayton Library Friends donated duplicate booksale and tour the historic William Clayton home located on the Family History Research Center library property. No appointment needed! Hours are 11:00am - 3:00pm on Scanning Saturdays.
Register here: Please call 832-393-2600 to reserve your spot!
This event is offered by Houston Public Library - Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research. Please direct questions to cla.reference@houstontx.gov or 832-393-2600.
CLF Donated Duplicate Booksale - 1st and 3rd Saturdays of every month
Looking for research books to add to your personal collection? Visit the Clayton Library Friends donated duplicate booksale and tour the historic William Clayton home located on the Family History Research Center library property. No appointment needed! Hours are 11:00am - 3:00pm on Scanning Saturdays.
Inside Clayton - Presented by Clayton Library Friends
Inside Clayton is a Clayton Library centric program to introduce both members and non-members to the Family History Research Center (FHRC) at the Clayton Library Campus, its collections, books and resources for genealogical research. This hybrid meeting is open to the public. It will begin with a presentation for both Zoom and library attendees. Followed by a hands-on practice for in-person attendees.
Topic: Interlibrary Loans (ILL) and Genealogy
What happens when a researcher is interested in a book that we don’t have at our library? Thankfully, a free and underutilized service is available with your Houston Public Library card: Interlibrary Loan.
Join new FHRC Manager Carl Smith for a brief overview of how Interlibrary Loans work and how you can leverage this free service to gain access to even more genealogical and historical books and records for free thru the library.
In-person attendance registration is not required for this meeting. Simply arrive by the scheduled time.
Online registration is required to receive the Zoom link for the instructional portion of this event (approx. 20-30 minutes).
Online registration click here.
Clayton Library Friends May General Meeting
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. Registration is required for in-person attendance due to limited seating capacity. Registration for online attendance is also required to obtain Zoom login instructions. See below for registration options.
The meeting will consist of a brief business meeting followed by our guest speaker.
Program Title: All God’s Children: The Enslaved and Their Owners, Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church (1801-1829), Jessamine County, Kentucky
Janet Miller always believed that her ancestors came from small, rural Protestant congregations that did not keep records. Recently, though, while searching for information on Lafon family members, she decided to look at the transcribed minutes of Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church online at FamilySearch. It was nice to find a Lafon mentioned—Anna, her likely fourth great grandmother who had joined the congregation in the summer of 1811. But then, on the same page were other familiar names: Singleton, Waller, Haydon, Barkley. And then she noticed that slaves were mentioned, first names only—Harry, Cato, Charity, Dolley—who were either joining the Church or being baptized. What started on a whim with the expectation of finding nothing of consequence, soon became a full-fledged hunt for family ties to the history of Mt. Pleasant Church and the Church’s ties to early American history, by way of the “Travelling Church” and the “Siege of Bryan’s Station.”
Janet’s personal journey into genealogical research began in the fall of 1992 when history professor Dr. Riley Froh challenged Janet and her much younger classmates to record their family stories. Writing the class paper, “Why Me Lord, Why Texas?” resulted in Janet’s first introduction to the magic of the Clayton Library in Houston and to the classical research tools of the day: the Soundex system, manual microfilm machines, books, books and more books, many arranged by state, county, author. Starting at the Clayton with “Why Me Lord...” and returning here some thirty years later with “All God’s Children...” became like a pair of bookends between which Janet claims to have learned so much. And yet, as she continues to be surprised and delighted to find ancestors in unexpected places, she realizes that there is so much more to learn.
Registration is required for either Zoom or in-person attendance. You do not need to be a member to attend the meeting.
Register: Click to register for Online Attendance
For in-person attendance click on In-Person Attendance Registration link on the bottom left. In person registration begins May 1, 2024.
Please note in-person attendance is required for each individual if multiple household members are attending or bringing guests. You may be asked to present proof of registration.
Handout: Janet_Miller_Handout.pdf
Clayton Library Friends August General Meeting
Program Title: State of the Library
Carl Smith, is the new Manager of the Family History Research Center at the Clayton Library Campus and will be presenting the Annual State of the Clayton Library Report.
The Family History Research Center at the Clayton Library Campus, 5300 Caroline Street, Houston, Texas which is a special collection of the Houston Public Library System. FHRC at the Clayton Library Campus has become one of the top family history research libraries in the nation with approximately 140,000 books, 3,200 periodical titles, 90,000 rolls of microfilm and 203,000 microfiche cards.
Carl’s passion for family history research began as a child growing up and listening to stories that his grandparents would share during summer vacations. A native of Mesa, Arizona Carl received his Bachelor’s degree in Family History/Genealogy from Brigham Young University and his Masters of Library and Information Science from Syracuse University in Upstate New York.
Before coming to work at the Clayton Library Carl was the Genealogy Librarian for the Montgomery County Memorial library system in Conroe, Texas as well as Branch manager for the Aldine Branch Library in Harris County, Texas. When not working and doing genealogy Carl enjoys hiking and camping, singing with the International Voices Houston -a local choir, playing piano, and spending time with his family.
For in-person attendance click on In-Person Attendance Registration link on the bottom left. In person registration begins July 31st.
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