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"Archive of letters between members of the Michelsen and Havens family, including correspondence from Kate C. Havens, a prominent female theosophist from Miami, Florida and Cloudland, Geogia. Approximately 75 letters plus newspaper clippings, ephemera, and a sketch book containing costume designs by Cleo Michelsen. The majority of these letters are addressed to Cleo Michelsen, a young lady, who is interested in the arts and would eventually marry Auriel Bessemer, a noted muralist of the New Deal. Cleo came from a well-established family from Miami. The letters are written from her brothers, sisters, parents, and grandparents. The family is well-educated, and the letters are articulate and well-written.

However, with the Depression looming over the country, her family is is in the midst of a crisis. Cleo's father has seen his business fortunes plummet, and he and Cleo's mother have separated. Her father eventually moves to Cuba where he attempts to revive his holding company. Her mother stays in Florida but is in terrible financial straits. One of Cleo's sisters writes regarding the lack of money and her mother's impoverished state - one which forces her to go days without eating.

In addition, as mentioned above, Cleo has been courted by Auriel Bessemer, who she meets in art school. A promising artist himself, they go on to marry in 1935. During the New Deal, Auriel was commissioned by the Treasury Department to create seven murals - "Historical and Industrial Scenes - Sketches of Virginia," for the first federal building in Arlington. The murals were conserved in 2007, and today, they remain in their permanent home in the U.S. Post Office Building in Arlington.

Most importantly, in this collection are a series of letters from Cleo's grandmother, Kate C. Havens, who splits her time between her home in Miami, Florida and a mountain retreat in Cloudland, Georgia. Mrs. Havens originally hailed from Chicago and was a prominent voice in the Theosophy movement of the time, delivering lectures, writing articles and becoming acquainted other notable theorists, including Anne Besant and Max Heindel. In Miami, she continued her involvement with Theosophy becoming the president of the newly formed Theosophical Society there in 1919. She was a free and very liberal thinker and also became heavily involved in the Women's suffrage movement, eventually becoming an officer on the legal status of women in the Florida State League of Women Voters.

Havens has a great affection for Cleo and writes her interesting heartfelt letters, which are mostly always infused with a Theosophical bent, injecting her views on spirituality and orientalism, providing her opinions on important theosophical readings, reporting upon her lectures given to the Theosophical Society in Miami, and giving accounts of two fascinating meetings with Pearl Buck and Dr. Alvin Kuhns." -Denning House Antiquarian Books & Manuscripts

Hervey Allen was a literature professor, poet, World War I veteran, and Trustee of the University of Miami from 1936 until 1949, the year that he died. Allen had a formative influence on the "Friends of the University" organization, as well as on Latin American studies at the University.

The collection consists of letters both by Allen and about Allen after his passing away, clippings about Allen and his writings, photographs, photocopies and typescripts of Allen's writings, and obituaries including an official University of Miami memorial.

The Nicaragua collection documents the Nicaraguan diaspora living in Miami during the 1980s and the political and social conditions in Nicaragua from the 1979 Sandinista revolution onward until their loss of power in 1990.

Many of the materials falling into the latter category are from the United States in origin, such as anti-Soviet propaganda endorsing the anti-Sandinista "Contra" Freedom Fighters, pamphlets that describe the Sandinista government and Central America in general from an American perspective, and periodicals and reports about Nicaragua written to an American audience. The materials that document the Nicaraguan diaspora are mostly fliers, menus, calendars, brochures, and other genres that were from local Nicaraguan businesses, restaurants, clubs, and other organizations. Some of the materials transcend these two categories, as many that concern the political conditions are addressed to or produced by Nicaraguan exiles.

A large part of the collection consists of photocopies of news articles.

Writers that are especially represented by the collection include Ruben Dario, Esteban Duque-Estrada, and Luis Mejia Gonzalez. Associations and organizations that are especially represented include Alanzia Revolucionaria Democrática (ARDE), American Defense Foundation, American Defense Lobby. Asociación Nicaragüenses en el Exilio, Asociación Nicaragüense pro Derechos Humanos, Bloque Opositor del Sur (B.O.S.), Council for Interamerican Security, Fundación Ruben Dario, Nicaraguan American Solidarity (NICAS), Nicaraguan Freedom Fighters, Partido Conservador de Nicaragua, Partido Socialcristiano de Nicaragua en el Exilio, Resistencia Nicaragüense, and Unidad Nicaragüense Opositora (UNO). Materials from some of these were grouped together in a series titled "Associations."

Also of notice are brochures advertising tourism to Nicaragua during the Sandinista regime, and memorabilia such as a handmade Nicaraguan crest, Nicaraguan paper money from the Sandinista era, and a pin that says "If you like Cuba you'll love Nicaragua."

Simón Daro Dawidowicz was a businessman and art collector who resided in Miami, Florida. A long-time resident of Colombia, Dawidowicz had a strong interest in Latin American liberator Simón Bolívar and his lasting influence on Latin America. Dawidowicz was a member of several Bolivarian societies, president of the Bolavarian Review, and founded the non-profit organization Darien Action Committee, which sought to promote the completion of the Panamerican Highway from Panama to Colombia. Dawidowicz had strong connections with several prominent Latin American artists including Leopoldo Richter and David Manzur. He was a curator as well as a collector of their and others' work, and donated a number of their pieces to museums and institutions including the University of Miami. A mural titled "Bolívar and Humboldt" by Leopoldo Richter was donated by Dawidowicz to the University, and currently stands in front of the Otto G. Richter Library.

The Simón Daro Dawidowicz Bolivarian collection contains items pertaining to all of the above pursuits and interests. Much of it is correspondence and official records, or newspapers clippings and photographs that document his activities. There are a number of audiocassettes and film reels, and a single videocassette as well.

Of particular interest are a bust of Simón Bolívar that Dawidowicz had commissioned as a gift for former President Lyndon Johnson, as well as a box containing photographs, photographic prints, brochures, periodicals, and other forms of material depicting the works of a number of Latin American artists. These include David Manzur, Leopoldo Richter, German Tessarolo, Marlene Hoffman, Enrique Grau, Edgar Silva, Armando Villegas, Patricia Tavera, Ràmon Carulla, and Miguel Rojas Niño. Some of these items are signed by the artists.

Two family members of Dawidowicz, Miriam and Sylvia, were curators and donors of Latin American art as well, and several documents detailing their efforts are held within the collection.

Finally, the collection contains assorted personal photographs and several short stories written by Dawidowicz.

Juanita Greene was a Miami Herald reporter and South Florida environmentalist. The collection consists of letters sent to Juanita Greene in response to a 1970 column in the Miami Herald requesting readers' thoughts on the current status of the Miami Metropolitan Transportation Services. The letters are subdivided into folders by topic, ranging thematically from complaints about smoking to inefficient service to the behavior of other ethnic and cultural groups on the buses.

Jeanne Perkins Harmans was a journalist and writer residing in the Virgin Islands of the United States. The collection consists of materials from and regarding the Virgin Islands on a wide range of issues in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including political conditions and controversies, tourism, description of the islands, and race and sexuality concerns on the islands. Many of the items consist of correspondence with and type-written notes by Harmans, or clippings from newspaper articles by Harmans and others; but there are also reports, periodicals, brochures, bibliographies, and maps. Some of the correspondence concerns Harmans's publishing activities, including that of a 1691 book titled "The Virgins: Magic Islands." A signed copy of this book was contained in the collection, but later separated out and housed with the Special Collections monographs.

Willard Hubbell was a South Florida architect and playwright. His collection contains several plays, clippings regarding and programs of the plays, architectural documents and correspondence, a blueprint titled "Cloth House No. 1," four issues of The American Eagle newspaper, a typescript titled "F. W. Munson - (Questionaire about Merritt Island)," a document titled "History of the Koreshan Unity" by A. H. Andrews, and other items.

Charles E. Feinberg was an editor Emeritus of the Walt Whitman Quarterly Review. The collection consists of Walt Whitman related materials; predominantly framed and unframed prints, but also leaves from periodicals and leaves advertising Whitman reissues, a Whitman poetry broadside, a Romanian Institute of Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries catalog for a Walt Whitman Exhibit, and other Whitman memorabilia.

Paul Nagel was a professor at the School of Communication at the University of Miami, as well as a writer, producer, director, and actor in non-theatrical "sponsored films."

The collection includes University of Miami radio tapes and video cassettes, scripts, and publications including Tempo, UM Bulletin, UM School of Music, UM Ballet, UM School of Communication; a series of historical photographs depicting students at work in the Radio, Television and Motion Pictures department of the School of Communication; and clippings, scripts, playbills and programs from the Coconut Grove Playhouse, Parker Playhouse, the Ring Theatre, Players State Theatre, the Cannes Film Festival, Mayfair Theatre, and the Carillon Hotel.

The Minnie Moore Willson Papers document the life and career of a noted Florida writer and advocate for the Seminole Indians of Florida. The Papers also include materials related to her husband James Mallory Willson, a prominent Kissimmee businessman and a defender of Seminole Indian rights. The Papers were purchased by the University of Miami in the late 1940s from the Elizabeth Aultman Cantrell Historical Museum in Kissimmee, Florida. Selected materials from the Papers, including books, maps, pamphlets and some periodicals were removed from the collection and sent to the appropriate areas in the Library.

The collection includes material from Minnie Moore Willson as well as material from her husband James Mallory Willson. The Minnie Moore Willson Collection consists of correspondence with individuals including Florida Senator Duncan Fletcher and Florida Representative Ruth Bryan Owen.  Correspondence files also include letters with Seminole Indians such as Billy Bowlegs, Tony Tommie and other prominent Seminole Indian chiefs. The collection contains a number of manuscripts by M.M. Willson related to the Seminole Indians and such issues as the equality of blacks and Southern politics. Additional material relates to the creation of a bird sanctuary in Kissimmee, Florida.

James M. Willson's papers contain business records including correspondence, abstract of titles (original and copies) scrapbooks, and financial records from the 1880's to the 1930's (in the latter years Minnie Moore Willson handled the business correspondence due to illness). Correspondence deals with Mr. Willson's real estate and insurance business in the Kissimmee area. The files also contain manuscripts, correspondence and material collected or written by Elizabeth Cantrell, niece of James Mallory Willson. Correspondence to and from S.B. Aultman (Elizabeth Cantrell's father and brother-in-law of J.M. Willson)and letters with Dr. Howard Kelly, a family friend and widely known surgeon are also organized in these files.

The collection also includes several newspaper clippings from the late 1800's through the 1930's. The majority of these clippings are from Florida-based newspapers. Several maps of Florida have been removed from the collection and placed with Map Collection.

Also included are photographs of the Willsons, Seminole Indians, plants, and animals. The collection also includes postcards depicting scenes from Florida and the United States.

The Royal Poinciana Festival is a South Floridian festival that celebrates the royal poinciana tree's blooming in May. The Royal Poinciana Festival Records Collection holds materials pertaining to the festival, in the form of clippings, records, letters, notes, photocopies, photographs, and programs.