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The Office of the President records contain files generated and compiled by University of Miami's Office of the President.  The documents are classified by subject under each administration.  Subject folders available in the collection include correspondence, meeting minutes, reports, publications, and press clippings.

The files from Ashe and Pearson Administrations are available for research. Please see the attached inventory lists for the two administrations for further information.

Thomas J. Wood was professor of government at the University of Miami. The Wood Papers document the move to consolidate the city of Miami and Dade county governments.  Legislation introduced in 1945 represented the first effort to combine local governments and alleviate conflicts and confusion resulting from overlapping city and county functions.  The various municipalities, however, opposed the bill.  Although a similar effort was made in 1947, no change occurred until 1953 when the Metropolitan Miami Municipal Board organized to draft a new plan for municipal and county government in Dade County.  As the Board's initial step, it hired the University of Miami Government Department to supervise a survey of Greater Miami governments. The university contracted a firm of professional government consultants, the Public Administration Service of Chicago, to begin research.  Members of the Government Department reviewed the findings and reported to the 3M board.  A special Charter Board of the  3M board drafted a charter and legislation to reorganize local government and initiated a campaign to promote metro government.

The Wood papers include political advertisements, correspondence, minutes of meetings, clippings, transcripts of radio broadcasts, survey forms and government reports.

The records of Pan American World Airways Inc. begin with the company's founding in 1927 and document the 64 year lifespan of a pioneer airline and international symbol of adventure and romance. The 1,500 linear foot collection contains evidence of Pan Am’s long list of accomplishments, which includes being: the first American airline to operate a permanent international air service, the first American airline to use radio communications, the first American airline to develop an airport and airways traffic control system, the first American airline to employ cabin attendants and serve meals aloft, the first American airline to develop a complete aviation weather service, the first airline in the world to offer scheduled transpacific passenger and mail service, the first airline in the world to offer scheduled transatlantic passenger and mail service, and the first airline to operate jets within the continental United States.

Among the many divisions, departments, offices and individuals that contributed to the daily operations of Pan Am reflected in this collection are: the Alaska Division, the Atlantic Division, the Latin American Division, China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC), Pan American Grace Airways (Panagra), the Technical Assistance Program, the legal department, the library, and the offices of: Pan Am Founder and Chief Executive Officer Juan T. Trippe, Andre Priester, C. Edward Acker, Charles Vaughn, Erwin Balluder, Everette M. Goulard, Franklin Gledhill, G. Erskine Rice, George Rihl, H. Preston Morris, Harold Bixby, Harold E. Gray, Humphrey Toomey, John C. Leslie, John C. Pirie, Karl Lueder, Kathy Babl, Najeeb E. Halaby, Mike Clark, Peter Paul von Bauer Chlumecky, Robert G. Thach, Russel L. Ray, Jr., Samuel Pryor, Sergio Bettancourt, Thomas G. Plaskett, William Langhorne Bond, William Mallory, William T. Seawell, William Van Dusen, and Willis Player.

The types of records contained in the collection include: administrative reports, clippings (newspapers, magazines, etc.), contracts (agreements, legal instruments, etc.), corporate minutes, correspondence (letters, memos, telegraphs, telexes, etc.), financial records (financial statements, bonds, expense accounts, taxation, etc.), legal records (trial and arbitral proceedings, dockets, applications for court orders, exhibits, etc.), logbooks, manuals, pamphlets (booklets, brochures, etc.), periodicals, press kits, press releases, sales records (purchase agreements, invoices, etc.), and timetables. Additionally, the collection contains audiovisual material, graphic material and over 2,000 folders of photographs.

Among the noteworthy people referenced in the collection are: famed aviator and technical assistant to Pan Am, Charles Lindbergh; Haitian writer Pradel Pompilus; famed navigator and aviation pioneer Frederick “Fred” Noonan; the Beatles; Raquel Welch; former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill; former Presidents Franklin Roosevelt, Dwight David “Ike” Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan; and former First Ladies Eleanor Roosevelt and Mamie Eisenhower.

Collection highlights include: correspondence between Charles A. Lindbergh and Juan Trippe from 1933 regarding the establishment of a transatlantic air route, many internal publications containing detailed accounts of everything from the operations of company divisions to biweekly memoranda from Juan Trippe to top executives regarding changes to corporate structure, hundreds of files documenting the vital role Pan Am played in World War II, and the records of National Airlines obtained during the Pan Am/National Airlines merger in 1980.

Absent from the collection are employee medical and personnel records. These were retained by Pan Am during bankruptcy proceedings. Their disposition is unknown.