The Polita Grau de Agüero Papers document two aspects of Polita Grau’s life and family. The correspondence, writings, and memorabilia primarily document Polita’s time as a political prisoner in Cuba as well as her activities in exile on behalf of political prisoners. There are many clippings related to Polita’s experiences in prison, her life in exile, and Operation Pedro Pan. The photographs in this collection document Polita’s family from her parents to her own grandchildren, as well as the life of her uncle, Cuban president Ramón Grau San Martín.
Of special note in this collection is Series II where can be found biographies of Cuban women political prisoners. These biographies detail the experiences of these women in Cuban prisons. Series IV contains handicrafts created by Polita Grau and other political prisoners while serving their sentences.
The papers document activities of José Morell Romero. They illustrate his entry into the fight against Machado as one of the leaders of the Directorio Estudiantil Universitario of 1930, his service as general counsel to the University of Havana and his service in the Grau administration as president of the Retiro Azucarero. The materials also document Morell Romero's service in the Prío administration as president of the Retiro, administrator of the railroads, administrator of the bus lines and Secretary of Labor, as well as his service as a justice of the Cuban Supreme Court during the period 1950-1960. Finally, the documents depict Morell Romero's service as a leader or member of various exile groups seeking to achieve the liberation of Cuba from 1960s until his death, and his service as provisional president of Cuba in exile under the 1940 Constitution. The papers contribute to the documentation of the efforts of the Cuban exile community to regain the homeland. Of particular interest in this regard are those documents that detail efforts that took place in the early 1960s and are being made available to the public perhaps for the first time. One can discern from these documents that the exiles were closer than most may have imagined to securing a post-Bay of Pigs action against the Communist regime.
The materials include documents, photographs, correspondence, meetings minutes, anti-Castro articles, notes, essays and course outlines. From the Cuba period, the papers contain documents and newspaper clippings that were brought by José Morell Romero from Cuba. Included in this group is his "Algunos Votos Particulares," a monograph of his dissenting votes during the Batista administration, as well as, dissenting opinions and newspaper clippings from the time period right before and immediately after his resignation from the Cuban Supreme Court in November of 1960. These documents reflect the deterioration and ultimate destruction of an independent judiciary.
Pedro Monge Rafuls is a playwright and the founder of the Ollantay Center for the Arts in Queens, New York and Ollantay Theater Magazine. His papers include records of the Ollantay Center for the Arts in Queens, New York along with a collection of ephemera documenting Hispanic and primarily Cuban theater, literary, and other arts in the area.
Richard A. Kahn was a lawyer and economist who taught economics and business law courses, published numerous articles and held a variety of positions in the United States government. The Richard A. Kahn Papers, arranged in three series, contain correspondence, newspaper clippings, book manuscripts, copies of published articles, and marketing research. Much of the content of this collection concerns his work with various fishery institutions, such as the U.S. Branch of Commercial Fisheries and the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute.
Between August 1964 and December 1968, the Rand Corporation, under contract to the U.S. Department of Defense, conducted approximately 2,400 interviews with Vietnamese who were familiar with activities of the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army. Reports of these interviews, totalizing approximately 62,000 pages, constitute a rich source of information about political and military upheaval in a developing country, Vietnamese rural life, the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese armed forces and many related subjects. The documents describe conversations with prisoners captured by South Vietnamese or U.S. forces, defectors who voluntarily left the Viet Cong or the North Vietnamese Army as well as refugees from battle areas. Many of the reports have a poignant, human quality; nearly all are informative about conditions in Vietnam. In December 1971, action was initiated to make these interview reports available to the public. The decision to provide access to these documents entailed a scrupulous double reading of all the reports and blocking out of information that might enable identification of the respondents.
The University of Miami holds approximate 1,780 (48,000 pages) out of the 2,400 interviews conducted under this study.
Research material from noted author and historian, Arva Moore Parks McCabe (1939-2020). Born in Miami, Florida, Arva had written countless books on Florida's eclectic history, including The Forgotten Frontier: Florida through the Lens of Ralph Middleton Munroe, Miami, the Magic City, and George Merrick, Son of the South Wind: Visionary Creator of Coral Gables. She also served as chief curator, interim director, and chair of the Coral Gables Museum.
This collection focuses heavily on George E. Merrick, Coral Gables, and other research topics used in her writings. It also features a large assortment of archival material: booklets, books, magazines, posters, photographs, negatives, pamphlets, postcards, maps, ephemera, newspapers, and guides about Miami and other notable cities and famous people related to South Florida.
