The Thomas de Valcourt and Michael Lerner collection contains materials concerning 19th century New England poets and authors, most prominently Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, but also Henry David Thoreau, Washington Irving, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Walt Whitman, and minor figures. Much of the materials - which predominantly consists of prints, photographs, clippings, photocopies, newspapers, periodicals, postcards, reprints, poetry, and other formats - concerns their famous New England homes and their families' homes, and other literary landmarks in the vicinity. Most of the materials date from the late 19th and early 20th century.
Also included are a scrapbook of clippings of poetry, a 1962 plaster cast bust of Henry David Thoreau by Melvina Hoffman, an 1864 ceramic bust of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow by M. Milmore, two paperweights with depictions of the Longfellow house, a brick noted as "being used by Thoreau when adding to the family house on Virginia Road in Concord," and one copper ashtray.
The Virginia Spencer Carr Collection contains correspondence, research notes, interviews (transcripts and audio tapes), photographs, manuscript drafts of publications and other materials compiled and created by Virginia Spencer Carr in the course of her research and writing of John Dos Passos: A Life. John Dos Passos, a noted American literary figure of the "lost generation," published a number of important works, including the trilogy U.S.A.
Among important materials in the collection are the personal reminisces of family members, colleagues and contemporary figures of Dos Passos (notably, letters by Simone de Beauvoir, William F. Buckley, William Slater Brown, Frances Scott Fitzgerald, and family members of both Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck are included). The collection also includes extensive research files on the life and publications of Dos Passos and family members.
The Clark Mixon Emery papers consists of materials regarding the 20th century modernist expatriate American poet Ezra Pound (1885-1972).
A total of 53 letters and postcards by Ezra Pound addressed mostly to Emery written from September 4th, 1951 to August 1st, 1959 are held in this collection, predominantly written during Pound's stay in the St. Elizabeth Hospital where he was treated for mental illness until 1958. Some letters by his wife Dorothy are included as well. Most of the letters are typed, and about half are signed. Many of the letters concern Emery's work on his 1958 monograph Ideas Into Action; A Study of Pound's Cantos. In others Pound writes about his complacency in the hospital and his eagerness to depart, and discusses the work of Emery's student Ronald Perry. In addition to the letters the envelopes are preserved as well. Photocopies of the letters and envelopes are included in the collection.
Other correspondence held in the collection concerns Ezra Pound and his Cantos. These include letters from Pound's daughter, Mary de Rachewitz, to Emery; letters from Sheri Martinelli and Ronald Perry, also 20th century American poets, to Emery; a letter from Walton Brooks McDaniel, former teacher and friend of Pound, to Archie McNeal, former university librarian of the University of Miami Libraries, regarding Emery's work on Pound; and photocopies of other letters by Pound not addressed to Emery. Some of Ronald Perry's poetry, and two photographs of Sherri Martinelli's paintings of Ezra Pound, are included as well.
The other materials in the collection are as follows: essays by and about Pound from the 1950s; transcripts of broadcasts by Pound from December 7, 1941 to June 28, 1942; The Analyst, "A Guide to Ezra's Cantos"; a January 1948 issue of "Four Pages," regarding Pound's poetry; an "Ezra Pound for President" pamphlet; The Pound newsletter #1-10 from January 1954 to April 1956; Strike periodical #1-3, #5-6, #8-10 from June 1955 to June 1956; Amagogic & Paideuminic Review #5-6 and an October 1959 issue; a 1952 typescript titled "Die Pisaner Gesänge" by Rainer M. Gerhardt; and other periodicals, newspapers, and clippings.
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.
The Tom Pohrt photograph collection includes photographs from Cuba in the 19th and 20th century collected by Mr. Pohrt: albumen prints, including a group of images from an album dating from 1859 through the early 1860s of the lighthouses of Cuba and attributed to the studio of C.D. Fredricks; daguerreotype, ambrotype, carte de visite, and cabinet card portraits, the earliest dating from about 1845; stereographs taken by George Barnard around 1863; over 200 glass stereographs from the late 1890s to the 1920s; and 35 color slides from the 1940s. Barnard’s images include several prints that are among the earliest known photographs documenting slavery in 19th-century Cuba.
The papers document personal and professional activities of Adria Catalá Casey, "Cuban Shirley Temple," who was also a dancer in Grupo Folklórico. Grupo Folklórico was established by Ministry of Education of the Republic of Cuba in 1951 with the mandate to represent Cuba in official international events, including festivals. In April of 1954, the group represented Cuba in the National Folk Festival founded by the National Association of the Folkloric Festivals of the United States and the newspaper St. Louis Globe-Democrat. There are clippings and photographs in the papers that document Adria Catalá Casey's participation in this festival. The materials include three scrapbooks containing clippings, photographs, invitations, programs, two issues of Bohemia, correspondence, etc. regarding Adria Catalá, clippings and photographs of Grupo Folklórico from 1954, photographs of artists of the radio station CMQ, edited by Radio Emisora CMQ on June 5, 1938.
The Edgar Hay Papers contain articles, short stories and other writings, correspondence, photographs and scrapbooks with clippings of the column "Show Folks" which he wrote for the Miami Herald.
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.
A comprehensive and eclectic collection of contortionist images. Subjects include contortionists performing before audiences; child contortionists; twin contortionists; families of contortionists; contortionists posing privately in apparent studio settings; in costume; in various states of undress; indoors and outdoors; etc.
The records of the Save the Alhambra Water Tower Committee document the successful mission of a local historic preservation organization to protect the Alhambra Water Tower, a Coral Gables landmark. The collection includes scrapbooks, committee records, financial documents, photographs, and minutes of meetings.
The Alhambra Water Tower, once a functional part of the Coral Gables water system, has survived time and weathering to remain an architectural symbol of the community. The Save the Alhambra Water Tower Committee raised money and awareness to contribute to the refurbishment and preservation of the historic structure.
Dr. L. A. Hodson was a Miami ophthamologist who had a strong interest in zoology. Dr. Hodson, a friend of professor of zoology and University of Miami president Jay F. Pearson, ventured on a number of trips to the Bahamas (a few times with Pearson) where he discovered a number of new species and collected hard to find species. These he donated to the University of Miami.
The L. A. Hodson collection contains clippings about these expeditions; correspondence; much of which concerns the securing of his visit, the donation, and an exhibit on the Cat Turtle that was set up at Tufts College Medical School; a photograph of Hodson taken by Pearson, and two typescripts: "The Discovery of the Cat Turtle," and "Notes on the Discovery and Biology of Two Bahaman Fresh-water Turtles of the Genus Pseudemys," the latter of which was co-written by Pearson.
The Latin American and Caribbean photograph collection brings together various photographic materials owned by the University of Miami that depict these two regions. Currently, the collection holds a 1929 photograph album of the Bahamas made by Dr. and Adelande Dolley; a 1913 photograph album of Costa Rica, Panama, and Jamaica; a two-volume photograph album set of the Roxana Petroleum Corporation's activities in Mexico, dated 1920-1923; a set of 88 photographs of various parts of the Dominican Republic; and a collection of 739 photographs (most of which are in two photograph albums) from 1925 to the 1940s documenting the family and social life of Mr. & Mrs. E. W. Monroe and their three children while living in suburban Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1925 to 1929, and subsequently back at the family homestead in Monticello, Indiana.
The Eugene Dynner collection contains photograph albums, photographs, slides, negatives, and prints depicting historical Mayan sites such as the Altun Ha ruins in Belize, the Copán ruins in Honduras, the Quiriguá archeological site in Guatemala, various sites in the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico. The focus is on the sculpture and architecture found at these sites. Also depicted are the landscape, cities, and people of those countries in general.
Along with the photographic materials are a typescript by Eugene Dynner titled "Chinese Elements in Maya Art," and two issues of a periodical titled Muse News containing essays by Dynner.
Edison Marshall was an American adventure and fiction writer active during the 1920s to the 1960s.
The Edison Marshall collection contains six typescripts and an undated photograph inscribed to Dr. Archie McNeal, former dean of the University of Miami Libraries. The typescripts are as follows: A publisher's copy of The Conqueror (1962), a publisher's copy of Cortez and Marina (1963), an original and corrected copy of Cortez and Marina which is titled "The Serpent and the Sword," a publisher's copy of The Heart and the Hunter (1956), a publisher's copy of The Inevitable Hour (1957), and a publisher's copy of Princess Sophia (1958).
This collection consists of archival materials, primarily photographs, slides, research files, academic administrative documents, and lectures, that relate back to American author and biologist Julia Francis McHugh Morton. Julia F. Morton was Research Professor of Biology and Director of the Morton Collection at University of Miami, a research and information center devoted to economic botany. She was an internationally recognized authority on economic plants, particularly ornamental, edible, medicinal, and toxic species. She was also the author of 10 books and co-author of or contributor to 12 others; she wrote 94 scientific papers and co-authored 27 others.
Dr. Vincent A. Jablon was a podiatrist and professor of Roentgenology, who received from the University of Miami in 1931. While at the University of Miami, he worked for the Curtiss Airplane and Motor Company and was part of the Omicron Phi fraternity, which was based on the interest in aviation. The Vincent A. Jabon papers contain materials pertaining to these topics, in the form of scrapbooks of Omicron Phi activities, photographs of Curtiss airplanes, clippings, Jabon's mechanic identity card, letters, photocopies, Jabon's 1930 class schedule, and his jacket, goggles, and pilot hat.
The Harold Bauer Papers consist primarily of correspondence between the University of Miami School of Music and Bauer regarding his master piano classes. The letters are primarily between Bauer and Bertha Foster, Dean of the School of Music until 1944, and Joseph Tarpley, School of Music Secretary from 1944 to 1951 and Assistant Dean until 1967. Correspondence files also include memoranda amongst University administration regarding Bauer's classes as well as with prospective students.
The collection also contains a few photographs, concert programs, and clippings.
William P. Halstead was a Professor of the University of Miami English Department. The collection contains manuscripts, essays, reprinted articles from periodicals, notebooks, and photographs.
