The Bob Simms collection documents the life and activities of Robert H. Simms in the black communities in Coconut Grove and Miami and reflects his work with the Community Relations Board and the Defense Race Relations Institute. The collection also contains campaign materials from Leah Simms, the first African American female judge in the state of Florida, and the "Glory in the Grove" photographs of people and events at the George Washington Carver elementary and high schools in Coconut Grove before desegregation. A final component of the collection includes photographs, correspondence and clippings of General "Chappie" James and his family. General James was the first four star African American General and married Dorothy Watkins.
Dr. Charles A. Bicking was an award-winning mechanical engineer active in the fields of Industrial Engineering, Industrial Statistics, Engineering Statistics, Operations Research, and Quality Control. A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Techology, Bicking has held numerous posts as an engineer, consultant, and lecturer in a number of countries. Bicking also published and presented dozens papers in the above fields. Bicking was an official U.S.A. delegate for the 1953 session of the International Statistical Institute in Rome. He won the ASTM Award of Merit in 1962. Some of the organizations, corporations, and associations that Bicking worked with include the American Society for Quality Control, the American Statistical Assocation, A.S.Q.C., Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry, White Sands Missile Range, Carborundum Company, Hercules Powder Company, NASA, Nashua Corporation, Tracor Jitco, the American Society for Testing and Materials, and the Control Data Corporation.
The Charles Bicking Papers contains documents spanning across the entirety of Dr. Bicking's career, as described above.
The personal papers of Frederick H. Koch, dramatist and educator, were donated to the University of Miami Archives by his son Fred H. Koch Jr., a Professor in Drama here at the University of Miami from 1939 to 1977. The collection was received in the early 1950's. Frederick H. Koch was a famous dramatist and gained fame from the founding of two major college theatre troupes as well as through his involvement in the production of native American folk drama.
The Frederick H. Koch Collection contains the personal papers of Frederick H. Koch and material he collected throughout his lifetime. The material extends from 1823 to 1947, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period of time between 1905 and 1944. The bulk of the collection is composed of theatre programs collected by Koch. These come mainly from New York but there is a good selection of theatre programs from other parts of the United States. Many of these programs date prior to Koch's birth.
The personal papers are composed mainly of material from Koch's work as an English and drama professor at the University of North Dakota (1905-1918) and the University of North Carolina (1918-1944), including a large number of folk plays written by his students.
The correspondence in the collection is mainly correspondence within the Koch family, including many letters between Koch and his four sons: Robert, Fred Jr., Bill, and George.
Of special interest to the University of Miami is a folder containing material related to the University and the University of Miami Playmakers founded by Fred H. Koch Jr. in the 1940's.
Gareth and Janet Dunleavy were historians of Irish literature and culture. The Gareth and Janet Dunleavy Collection was donated by Gareth and Janet Dunleavy in memory of Bernard Benstock, a colleague who served the University of Miami in many capacities.
The collection contains typescripts and articles by Gareth and Janet Dunleavy, as well as research materials for projects by both authors. Prominently featured are research materials on Mary Lavin, an Irish short story and novella writer who died in 1996. Of special interest among these research materials are copies of Lavin's working manuscripts, obtained by Professor Janet Dunleavy in the 1970s with the permission of Mary Lavin. Janet Dunleavy had planned a critical study of Lavin's work based on these materials, but had abandoned the idea. The collection also contains notes, letters, and other documents assembled during Gareth and Janet Dunleavy's preparation of their Douglas Hyde: A Maker of Modern Ireland (1991) and O'Connor Papers (1977).
Dr. I. A. Richards (1893-1979) was an influential English literary critic and rhetorician. His books on literary criticism, especially The Meaning of Meaning, Principles of Literary Criticism, Practical Criticism, and The Philosophy of Rhetoric, are taken to be founding influences for the New Criticism. Richards is also considered one of the founders of the contemporary study of literature in English.
The I. A. Richards Collection at the Special Collections department contains a large selection of Richards' work in language learning and literacy, in the form of textbooks, workbooks, brochures, audio-visual materials, index cards, phonograph records, and slides.
Oscar T. Owre (1917-1990) was a renowned professor from University of Miami's Biology Department, who retired in 1984 with the title of the Robert E. Maytag Professor of Ornithology. His papers contain correspondence, research data, field notes, slides, and other archival materials related to his profession and his subject interest in ornithology.
The U.M. Historical Photograph Collection holds over 500,000 photographs, negatives, and slides that document the University’s growth from the 1920s through the presidency of Henry King Stanford in the 1970s. The collection is especially rich in images showcasing UM sports, the expansion of each campus, student life, and special events such as commencement ceremonies.
