The Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.) Coral Gables Chapter Records consists of scrapbooks, correspondence, photographs, clippings, awards, certificates, yearbooks, periodicals, and other documents pertaining to the chapter, ranging from 1926 to 2000. The scrapbooks document the affairs and activities of the chapter primarily by means of photographs and clippings, but often a contextual or historical narrative is added as well. A few materials, largely yearbooks of other chapters or conference proceedings, not specifically from the Coral Gables chapter are also included.

The Alan Crockwell Collection contains a variety of materials from different sources that document the history of Miami, Coconut Grove, Coral Gables, and greater Miami-Dade County. Much of the content is related to Ralph Middleton Munroe and his family. Topically, the papers also address criminal history in Miami-Dade County, historic buildings in Coconut Grove including the Barnacle and the Coconut Grove Library, the history of the University of Miami, and the early settling of Miami-Dade County. The dates of items range from 1873 into the 1970s.

The Bernhardt E. Muller collection is a compendium of newspapers, architectural drawings, renderings, and photographs related to the design and construction of Opa-locka, Florida, the nation’s largest concentration of Moorish Revival architecture. The city, incorporated in 1926, was the third Florida suburban real estate development of Glenn H. Curtiss, aviation pioneer and millionaire developer. Opa-Locka is the only known city in the United States that used Moorish Revival architecture as its original theme.

The contents of the Muller collection fall into two distinct groups: architectural materials related directly to buildings designed by Muller and his staff; and supporting materials presumably collected by Muller that pertain to his work and the city of Opa-Locka. The vast majority of these materials are directly concerned with Muller’s work in the Opa-Locka and Miami area between 1925 and 1928. Supporting materials, including magazine extracts, brochures, and newspapers, date mostly from 1926 and 1927, with a few items from 1928, 1930, 1959, and 1960.

The Muller collection’s importance concerns its detailed documentation of the progress of Opa-Locka from a developer’s dream to a constructed city. Opa-Locka was designed according to a specific theme: a combination of Arabic, Persian, and Moorish architectural styles. It is also the first known instance of a town developed from interpretations of a literary work, The One Thousand and One Tales of the Arabian Nights.

The collection contains construction documents, sketches, renderings, and photographs of Opa-Locka’s first buildings. Extensive material exists on the designs of the Opa-Locka Company’s administration building, now the City Hall, as well as plans for seventeen institutional and public projects, including the Archery Club, Bathing Casino, and Observation Tower, with unbuilt designs for a Golf Club, school, and Mid-Winter Southern States Exposition.

Eighteen commercial buildings are found in the Muller collection, including many stores and apartments, as well as an unbuilt Chinese hotel. Sixty-three private residences of various sizes and designs are included in these drawings. It is probably that most of the work Bernhardt Muller ever did for Opa-Locka is contained in the collection. The majority of these drawings and materials date from 1926 to 1927, with only three drawings dated later than 1927.

The Muller collection is significant for its documentation of the history and development of South Florida. The volume of work designed and media contents demonstrate and describe the magnitude of the Florida Land Boom, which peaked early in 1926, just as construction began on Opa-Locka.

The Muller collection contains newspaper articles describing the hurricane that struck South Florida on September 17 and 18, 1926. The storm’s direct effect was a loss of 372 lives and $159 million in property, but its long-term results included the onset of the land “bust” and an economic decline that preceded the Great Depression of the 1930’s.  There are numerous articles and photographs of the hurricane's destruction.

The Greater Miami Opera Collection contains programs, brochures, and seasonal periodicals from the Greater Miami Opera Association and the Opera Guild of Greater Miami, ranging from 1953 to 1991. Among the operas featured are Madame Butterfly, The Barber of Seville, The Marriage of Figaro, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, La Boheme, Faust, Cavalleria Rusticana, The Flying Dutchman, Turandot, Rigoletto, Carmen, Tosca, and Die Fledermaus.

This collection contains records from the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute Department of Ophthalmology, administrative documents, development documents, materials from the Eye bank, Allied papers, Edward W. D. Norton's papers, general files, architectural designs and planning documents, papers from other notable faculty and administrators, newsletters, promotional materials, photographs, awards, plaques, ephemera, and audio-visual materials.

This collection contains scrapbooks, postcards, brochures, travel itineraries, and other promotional materials related to the cruising industry operating out of Miami, Florida as collected and compiled by Russell F. Nansen, a travel executive and consultant who worked for Royal Caribbean Cruises for 21 years.

The Walter Etling Papers include documents, clippings, and photographs related to Etling’s student years at the University of Miami, as well as his professional and community activities in Miami from the 1950s through the 1970s.

The bulk of the collection consists of photographs, clippings, documents, letters, programs, advertisements, brochures, and ephemera that Etling compiled into albums documenting his student years, professional activities, community service, and personal life.  The collection also contains loose personal papers, photographs, clippings, and other materials related to Etling’s student, business, community, and alumni activities, and personal life.

Business related materials, such as advertisements, brochures, statistics, and other papers, document Etling’s work as a real estate agent for the Allen Morris Company, the Keyes Company, and Walter Etling Company. Examples include brochures for the Keys Company and the Walter Etling Company, as well as the sale of the Flamingo Hotel. The collection also contains photographs and ephemera related to Etling’s involvement in establishing a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise in Spain, and letters and documents regarding his service on the board of Key Biscayne Bank.

Community service related materials include letters, certificates, clippings, photographs, and other materials primarily related to Etling’s service to the Miami Science Museum, and also his involvement with Kiwanis International and the Dade County Grand Jury.

The collection also contains materials related to Etling’s extensive involvement with the University of Miami. Class assignments, notes, photographs, clippings, and other materials document his student years. Also included are letters, programs, photographs, clippings, and ephemera regarding his service for the Alumni Association and the Board of Trustees. In addition, the collection contains materials relating to class reunions and university athletics, as well as artistic studies Etling prepared when creating the painting that is on the cover of the University of Miami’s 75th anniversary book, Rendezvous with Greatness. 

Personal materials document family vacations, such as photographs of a trip to the 1976 Winter Olympics. Also included are materials related to his hobby of selling memorabilia, and programs and clippings that document the activities of his children while attending the University of Miami.

This collection contains fragmentary texts and images documenting cultural expressions from the Caribbean and South America. Many of the transitory materials grouped under ephemera include posters, postcards, leaflets, tracts, special editions, programs and menus published in countries such as the Bahamas, Brazil, Cuba, Curaçao Grenada, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico, and Trinidad and Tobago.

The School of Music, Lucas Drew collection contains a varied selection of programs, news clippings, schedules, brochures, newsletters, and other miscellaneous papers, mainly from the University of Miami's Frost School of Music.

The Florida culinary history collection contains a wide range of materials related to Florida's rich history of food, its unique restaurants and dishes, and its domestic food production. Items within the collection include pamphlets, flyers, ephemera, periodicals, and other memorabilia originating from Florida.

A list of case studies in building projects from 1989 to 1998.

Examples and case studies of redevelopment in Chicago by various companies

Joaquín Roy is Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration at the University of Miami and Co-Director of the European Union Center of Excellence, Miami. The collection consists of personal materials and documents from organizations or programs in which Dr. Roy was personally involved.

Series I contains typescripts, books, and publications from the Letras de Oro program organized by the North-South Center at the University of Miami. This program awarded prizes and published novels, poetry, theater plays, essays, and literary criticism in the Spanish language.

Series II contains newspapers, periodicals, brochures, pamphlets, publications, reports, letters, clippings from the Florida Catalan Society.

Series III contains personal materials from Dr. Joaquín Roy, including typescripts and manuscripts, lecture notes, periodicals, letters, clippings, bibliographies, and other materials. Included among the typescripts are ones for Julio Cortázar Ante Su Sociedad, ALA : Periodismo y Literatura, and Lecturas De Prensa.

Michael J. Maxwell was an architectural consultant whose firm, Michael Maxwell Associates, Inc., consulted the city of Opa-locka in the mid-80s on appraisal and restoration matters. This culminated in a Master Plan for the Restoration of Historic Opa-Locka City Hall, and a Nomination Proposal of several historical sites in Opa-Locka to the National Register of Historic Places. These two documents, as well as the planning materials, are held in the Michael J. Maxwell collection.

The collection also contains other Opa-locka related materials. Included are 1926-1927 Opa-locka price lists, a 1953 charter, copies of the Opa-locka Times from 1926 and 1927, letters including a 1926 letter petitioning for the establishment of a Post Office at Opa-locka, a history of Opa-locka brochure and preparation materials for the brochure, and other items.

Dr. George W. O'Connor was a criminal justice professor at the University of Miami, also active with the Center for Urban Studies. He also served as director of the Professional Standards Division of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

The George W. O'Connor Papers consist of documents pertaining to his work in both academia and in the public sector. Many of the papers are concerned with criminal justice, firearms control, court structure and operation, local Floridian court systems, and correctional institutions.

The Urban Environment League is a non-profit organization originally created in 1996 under the leadership and guidance of Gregory Bush, a professor at the University of Miami's History department and the Institute for Public History. The organization is dedicated to promoting safe and responsible practices in urban development in Miami-Dade through education and by advocating for environmental reform and legal protections for historical landmarks. Their records contain several issues of their internal newsletter, the Urban Forum; membership lists; minutes; correspondence; pamphlets; flyers; brochures; periodicals; research files on historical landmarks in Greater Miami, and urban planning; financial records; administrative files; ephemera; audio-visual materials (floppy disks and negatives); and legal files.

Brochure for the church Unity of Delray Beach, with mention of Robert Fitch Smith as the designer.