Identity elements
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Collection
Title
Senator Mel Martinez papers
Date(s)
- 1998-2009 (Creation)
- 2004-2009 (Creation)
Extent
90.50 linear feet (90 record storage cartons and 1 document case)
Name of creator
Biographical history
Mel (Melquiades Rafael) Martinez was the first Cuban-American to be elected to the United States Senate, serving as the representative for Florida from 2005-2009. Born in Sagua La Grande, Cuba on October 23, 1946, Martinez immigrated to the United States in 1962 at the age of fifteen, through what was later known as Operation Pedro Pan. This initiative, sponsored by the Catholic Welfare Bureau and the U.S. government, coordinated the exodus of over 14,000 children from Fidel Castro’s Communist government in Cuba between 1960 and 1962. For four years, Martinez lived with two different foster families in Orlando, Florida, as he struggled to learn English and adjust to a life away from his family and homeland. His parents and younger sister remained in Cuba, and his younger brother lived with relatives in Miami. Martinez was reunited with his family in Orlando, Florida in 1966.
Martinez worked his way through college and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Florida State University in 1969. Encouraged by one of his undergraduate professors to pursue law, he proceeded to earn a Juris Doctorate degree from Florida State University in 1973. Martinez practiced law in Orlando for twenty-five years until 1998, when he won the election to serve as Mayor of Orange County, Florida. After two years in this position, Martinez was tapped by President George W. Bush to serve in his Cabinet as Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), becoming the first Cuban-American to serve in the Cabinet of a President. As HUD Secretary during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Martinez was responsible for overseeing funds appropriated by Congress for the reconstruction of Lower Manhattan. He served as HUD Secretary from 2001-2003. Martinez also served as a key advisor to the President on Cuban policy, and was named co-chair of the Commission for the Assistance to a Free Cuba alongside Secretary of State Colin Powell.
During his service as United States Senator (R-Florida) from January 4, 2005 until his resignation on September 9, 2009, Martinez focused on issues including U.S. policy toward Cuba, immigration reform, housing and the protection of home buyers from bad loans and predatory lending practices, the protection of Florida’s environment, and the modernization of the United States military through increased shipbuilding. He developed a reputation for bipartisanship by partnering with fellow U.S. Senator for Florida Bill Nelson (D) on restricting offshore drilling in Florida’s waters and with U.S. Senators Ted Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) and Barack Obama (D-Illinois) on immigration reform. Martinez was the ranking member of the Senate’s Special Committee on Aging and served on the Armed Services Committee, the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, and the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. During his tenure, his office assisted more than 36,000 Florida families through casework, written correspondence, and other efforts.
Martinez is the author of "A Sense of Belonging: From Castro’s Cuba to the U.S. Senate, One Man’s Pursuit of the American Dream" (Crown Forum, 2008). In his inaugural address as a U.S. Senator, he said, “I came to America from Communist Cuba so I might have a better way of life. I wanted to live the American Dream where if you worked hard and put your mind to task, anything was possible.”
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
The Senator Mel Martinez Papers, donated to the University of Miami in 2010, consist primarily of records created during Martinez’s service as a United States Senator for Florida from 2005 to 2009. Comprised of 89 boxes, the collection includes legislative and committee files, schedules and appointments, correspondence with constituents and colleagues, speeches and floor statements, media coverage, casework files, campaign files, and administrative office records. The collection also includes photographs, audiovisual materials, and electronic records that date primarily from 1998 to 2009, but also includes scans of photographs and memorabilia relating to Martinez’s childhood in Cuba and immigration to the United States. Topics of research include American legislative history, Mel Martinez’s committee assignments, Florida projects, immigration, United States relations with Cuba, services for the elderly, and Florida’s environment, including issues relating to offshore oil drilling.
System of arrangement
Series Descriptions
Series I: Personal/Political/Official Records (arranged chronologically)
Sub-series A: Scheduling Files and Invitations
Sub-series B: Senator’s Correspondence
Sub-series C: Campaign Files
Series II: Legislative (arranged chronologically by Congress and then alphabetically by issue)
Sub-series A: 109th Congress
Sub-series B: 110th Congress
Sub-series C: 111th Congress
Sub-series D: Co-Sponsorship Sheets and Decision Memos
Sub-series E: Committee Files
Series III: Constituent Services
Sub-series A: Constituent Mail (arranged alphabetically by issue, then chronologically)
Sub-series B: Mel Martinez Letter Library (arranged alphabetically by issue, then chronologically)
Sub-series C: Thank You and Congratulations Letters (arranged chronologically)
Sub-series D: Casework Files (arranged alphabetically)
Sub-series E: Records and Reports
Series IV: Press/Media Relations (arranged chronologically)
Sub-series A: Print Media
Sub-series B: Speeches and Statements (transcripts)
Series V: Office Administration (arranged chronologically)
Sub-series A: Office/Administrative Records
Sub-series B: Weekly Office Reports
Series VI: Photographs (arranged chronologically)
Series VII: Audiovisual and Electronic Materials (arranged chronologically)
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
This collection is open for research.
Physical access
This collection is kept in an off-campus storage facility. Please contact Special Collections at asc.library@miami.edu with the boxes you are interested in prior to your visit, and allow up to 1 week for delivery of materials.
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
University of Miami does not own copyright. It is incumbent on the user to obtain copyright from the original creator.
Languages of the material
- English
- Spanish
Scripts of the material
- Latin
Language and script notes
Finding aids
Generated finding aid
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Custodial history
Immediate source of acquisition
Gift of Senator Mel Martinez, March 15, 2010.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information
Accruals
Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
Congressional Timeline : 73rd Congress (March 9, 1933 - 111th Congress (March 10, 2009)
For each Congress beginning with the 73rd (1933-35), this timeline features session dates, partisan composition, the presidential administration, a list of congressional leaders, and notable legislation passed. This first version only addresses legislative output, not non-legislative events such as the impeachment of President Clinton or internal congressional processes or congressional politics.
Information about related materials is available at http://www.congressionaltimeline.org/