The H. Franklin Williams Papers provide an extensive record of the activities of the Economic Opportunity Program, Inc. (EOPI), a non-profit corporation established to provide "through governmental or private means economic opportunity for the citizens and residents of Dade County, Florida and to further assist in the war against poverty...". The program coordinated governmental units and local agencies involved in implementing the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. Williams was a professor of history and administrator at the University of Miami from 1939 to 1972.
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.
Collection consists of author files, press photos and other photographs, organizational records, financial records, audio recordings, video recordings, and promotional materials.
Author files (8 cubic feet): manila folders containing materials related to authors who appeared or were considered as panelists.
Photographs: candid photos of KWLS authors and attendees; some studio/posed portraits.
Organizational records (6 cubic feet): 3-ring binders containing board agendas, minutes, related correspondence, and press clippings. Financial records (3 cubic feet) tax and accounting records, grant records.
Audio recordings: approximately 75 unique audio cassettes, 20 unique DAT (digital audio tape) recordings; 100+ unique CD (compact disc) recordings 1999-2008; 85 GB unique audio stored on digital drives, 2009-2014.
Video recordings: 7 VHS cassettes.
Ephemera and other promotional materials: posters, programs, postcards, and publications.
Books received with the donation will be cataloged separately.
The Scott Carver Housing History collection includes photographs, clippings, reports, ephemera, and digitized files of oral history interviews that document the advocacy work of Scott Carver Miami residents and activists for the restitution of the demolished Scott Carver homes.
The papers consists of correspondence, photographs, clippings, publications, awards, certificates and medals, speeches and various other materials documenting the life and work of Dr. John O. Brown, first African American Ophthalmologist in Florida and the first African American President of the American Medical Association. The collection also includes clippings, sermons, speeches and photos of African American folklorist, Rev. William Faulkner.
This collection consists of the technical files and papers of John G. Borger (1913-2011), who served as Pan American World Airways, Inc.'s Vice President and Chief Engineer. His materials document the development and acquisition of: Boeing aircrafts, including the 377 Stratocruiser, B-707 and B-747; the Douglas DC-6B, DC-7B, and DC-7C, the DC-8 jet; the Lockheed Constellation and the L-1011; the Convair CV-240; the Dassault Falcon 20, 10, and 50; the Pratt and Whitney and Rolls Royce engines, including the JT9D; and the Supersonic Transport (SST) aircraft.
Types of materials retained in the collection include: pamphlets, programs, engineering information, studies, evaluation reports, manuals, personal notes taken by John G. Borger, lectures, typescripts, correspondence, diagrams, flight path drawings, periodicals, research, articles, ephemera, newsclippings, and 3D material objects.
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."
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.
The papers of A.S. Houghton (1866-1948) numbering approximately 4500 items consist of articles, printed matter, newspaper clippings, by-laws, legislative matter, and pamphlets. The material extends from 1905 to 1948 with the bulk of the papers falling within the period of 1929 to 1948.
The papers deal primarily with Augustus Houghton's work as a conservationist. The material is broken down into the different organizations with which he was involved. There is a large section of material dealing with the American Game Association, the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks, and the
Camp Fire Club of America but they are not a major part of the collection because Houghton corresponded and kept files on a diverse number of conservation and wildlife organizations.
The correspondence to and from August S. Houghton is varied and he had several principal correspondents, all of whom shared with him their interest in conservation. His principal correspondents were: John B. Burnham, President of the American Game Protective Association, which later became the American Game Association; Carlos Avery, President of the American Game Association; Seth Gordon, President of the American Game Association; William Greely, leading member of the American Game Association; Erl Roman, Fishing Editor of the Miami Herald; Merlin Mitchell, Executive Secretary, Florida State Fish and Game Association and later secretary of the Florida Wildlife Federation; Jay N. (Ding) Darling, famous cartoonist and leading Florida conservationist; Dr. W.T. Hornaday, Zoological Gardens, N.Y.; Lithgow Osborne, Conservation Commissioner, State of New York; Raymond Torrey, Camp Fire Club of America; and Karl Frederick, President of the New York State Conservation Council. Houghton also corresponded with F.G. Walton Smith, Director of the University of Miami's Marine Laboratory (now the Rosentiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences) and with Spessard L. Holland, Governor of Florida in the early 1940's.
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.
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.
This collection contains a manuscript titled "Why: The day by day account of a victim of the nation's worst disaster, Hurricane Andrew" by Edward R. Gerson and associated news clippings covering Hurricane Andrew's destruction and relief efforts in Miami.
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.
The Billy Matthews collection documents the work of Terry Miller and Terry Helbing co-founders in the 1980's of the Meridian Gay Theater Production Company in New York. The archives include typescripts, clippings, articles, contact lists, reviews, and research files on various plays, theatrical history, and playwrights. The correspondence reflects the administrative history of the Meridian Gay Theater.
The Helen Muir Papers include correspondence, drafts of writings, research notes, topical files, publications, photographs, clippings, materials relating to Robert Frost, and other items documenting Muir’s life, career, and service.
The correspondence dates from 1927-1995, and includes both personal and professional correspondence. Intermixed with the correspondence are notes, clippings, writings and other materials relating to the correspondent. Noteworthy files include Marjory Stoneman Douglas, former Florida governor Bob Graham, Richard and George Merrick, Eunice Peacock, and Janet Reno.
The collection also contains drafts of Muir’s articles and columns, research notes, and several magazines containing published articles. Also included are notes for her book The Biltmore: A Beacon for Miami, and extensive notes and chapter drafts for her book Miami, U.S.A.
In addition, the collection contains topical files on various subjects, including libraries, awards, photographs, and speaking engagements. Also included are scrapbooks documenting Muir’s life and career, as well as her 1929 class yearbook.
The Ross Beiler papers include published studies and research files on politics in south Florida, 1958-68. The papers, which include polls, articles and papers, newspaper clippings, political advertisements, correspondence, course outlines, and other materials, consist of five series.
Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator was created to promote, nurture, and cultivate the visions and diverse talents of emerging artists from the Caribbean and the Latin American Diaspora through exhibitions, artists in residence programs, international exchanges, and education and outreach activities that celebrate Miami-Dade's rich cultural and social fabric. The Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator records include the gallery's organizational records, administrative documents, artists' information, resumes, artists' profiles, programs, invitations, slides, catalogs, photographs, audio-visual materials (VHS tapes, CD-ROMs, CDs, audiocassettes), notes, and event ephemera.
This collection contains articles, screenplays, research notes, drafts, and other writings by John Underwood, as well as research files, audiovisual materials, and clippings. His research topics included former Florida State Senator George A. Smathers, sports, Disney, and South Florida. His collection also contains correspondence, his personal files, photograph albums, scrapbooks, his University of Miami files, and ephemera.
This collection contains typed manuscripts, drafts, poems, periodicals, publications, correspondence, news clippings, photographs, slides, negatives, VHS tapes, audiocassette tapes, CDs and other archival materials from the local South Floridian poet, Jeffrey Knapp (1949-2010). Also included in the collection are photographs and research materials on the South Floridian artist, Betti Bernay (also known as Betty Godlfarb; 1926-2010).
