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).
The Frost Museum of Science had originally opened in 1950 under the name the Junior Museum of Miami and has since underwent several renovations and relocations. It had also been renamed in 1952 as the Museum of Science and Natural History and once again renamed in 2011 after Phillip and Patricia, two wealthy and influential Miami philanthropists who have donated and supported various educational institutes and museums throughout South Florida, including the University of Miami. In its current inception, the Frost Museum of Science is located in Downtown Miami's waterfront Museum Park and offers a variety of STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math)-based exhibits, lectures, and shows. It is particularly well-known for hosting the show Star Gazers with Jack Horheimer (formerly Jack Horheimer: Star Hustlers and Jack Horheimer: Star Gazer).
This collection includes typescripts for the Star Gazers (Star Hustler) planetarium show, research files, exhibit files, exhibit prints, convention proceedings, pamphlets, historical news clippings, ephemera, periodicals, scrapbooks, photographs, event files, administrative records, and other archival documents pertaining to the Frost Museum of Science's day-to-day operations.
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.
The Finlay B. Matheson collection includes more than 2,411 photographs; 112 maps, surveys, and architectural plans; and 13 books related to William John Matheson and his immediate family. Estate documents and other documents containing historical and biographical information pertaining to the Matheson family and their various business ventures can also be found within this collection, as well as drawings, postcards, and some of the first aerial view photographs of Key Biscayne, Coconut Grove, the Miami River, and the Florida Keys. Florida's landscape during the early 20th century is captured throughout the various albums and scrapbooks and attests to a more leisurely lifestyle before the advent of skyscrapers and multi-lane highways. Furthermore, the collection provides an in-depth glimpse into the burgeoning social life of early inhabitants who gathered at the Biscayne Bay Yacht Club.
The Felipe Préstamo collection consists of 75 slides of Cuba, including the slides of the following seven villages founded by Diego Velázquez de Cuellar: Havana, Baracoa, Bayamo, Santiago de Cuba, Sancti Spiritu, Puerto Principe and Trinidad, which were taken from the photographs and postcards held in Cuban Heritage Collection.
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.
The collection consists of 64 slides taken from materials held in Cuban Archives at the University of Miami, and forming part of Cuban Memorabilia Collection, Pedro Pan Collection, Cuban Exile Periodicals Collection, Lydia Cabrera Collection, Cuban Exile Photographs Collection and Cuban Exile Posters Collection. Editorial CLIO, a publisher in Mexico City specializing in pictorial histories, used these materials to publish a book about Cuban exiles in Miami.
The Division of Communication Services slide collection consists of 35mm slides on University of Miami-related subjects, such as UM buildings, schools and departments, athletic programs, and events dating from the 1920s to the 1980s.
The Daniel O. Graham papers contains a variety of materials from Graham's military career and his work in United States intelligence and defense. Included are Westmoreland vs. CBS trial papers, documents on Arlington politics, a series of drafts about Project High Frontier, materials on Soviet-American relations, materials on the Strategic Defense Initiative and the CIA, personal and official correspondence, press clippings and newspapers, manuscripts, articles, essays, awards, and other materials.
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 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.
This collection contains records from the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute Department of Ophthalmology, administrative documents, development documents, materials from the Eye bank, Allied papers, Edward W. D. Norton's papers, general files, architectural designs and planning documents, papers from other notable faculty and administrators, newsletters, promotional materials, photographs, awards, plaques, ephemera, and audio-visual materials.