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 Ruth Blanch Papers contains photographic slides, some purchased and some original, depicting a number of major cities in Europe as well as some in the United States and Mexico. Particularly represented in the collection are Italian cities and provinces, such as Rome, Venice, Caserta, Pompei, Naples, Padova, Milan, as well as the Vatican. Interspersed are purchased slides of famous European artworks and personal family slides.
Jesse Wooley was a professional photographer from New York who visited Florida in 1896. Wooley used his trip to create a stereopticon or lantern-slide lecture about Florida. Several of these lantern slides were colored.
The Eugene Provenzo Collection contains a manuscript by Provenzo and William E. Brown titled "From Ice to Snow to Flowers and Fruit: Jesse Wooley's 1896 Tour of Florida." The manuscript by Provenzo and Brown aimed to reproduce this lantern-slide lecture with the original lecture notes, as well as to provide a historical analysis of lantern slide lectures and a biographical essay on Jesse Wooley. The collection also contains correspondence regarding the manuscript, duplicate pages of the manuscript, research documents and notebooks, photographs and photographic slides taken of the surviving lantern slides, clippings, articles, and other documents.
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 collection includes correspondence, logbooks, photographs albums, slides, and diaries pertaining to various members of the Munroe Family who settled in Coconut Grove, Florida.
The Michael L. Carlebach photography collection consists primarily of black and white photographic prints taken and personally hand developed by Professor Michael L. Carlebach. In general, the images are thematically grouped around journalistic pieces published in newspapers, or artistic topics such as portraits and landscapes. The collection also includes pieces shown in various exhibits as well as photographs made for special assignments like the George McGovern 1972 presidential campaign and the exclusive insider’s look at the Krome Avenue Detention Center for refugees in South Florida. Another highlight of the collection includes photographs dealing with the medical profession, especially children in hospital settings. In addition to photographing using 35mm black and white film, Carlebach shot color slides, vividly portraying the flora and fauna of the Everglades, historic structures such as Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, and news stories dealing with the environment. The entire collection consists of over 5,000 silver prints, color slides, and publications. Currently over 2,000 items are digitized and made available online.
Michael J. Maxwell was an architectural consultant whose firm, Michael Maxwell Associates, Inc., consulted the city of Opa-locka in the mid-80s on appraisal and restoration matters. This culminated in a Master Plan for the Restoration of Historic Opa-Locka City Hall, and a Nomination Proposal of several historical sites in Opa-Locka to the National Register of Historic Places. These two documents, as well as the planning materials, are held in the Michael J. Maxwell collection.
The collection also contains other Opa-locka related materials. Included are 1926-1927 Opa-locka price lists, a 1953 charter, copies of the Opa-locka Times from 1926 and 1927, letters including a 1926 letter petitioning for the establishment of a Post Office at Opa-locka, a history of Opa-locka brochure and preparation materials for the brochure, and other items.
Collection consists of correspondence, various iterations of Gottlieb-Roberts' art work (from drafts to finals), photographs (including slides and Polaroids), promotional materials, video cassettes (VHS, U-Matic, L-750) of performances, press, and more, from the 1970s through the 1990s.
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.
Joseph L. Herndon (1948-2021) was a historical preservationist who aided in several global restoration projects, including the Old Spanish Fort (1730) in Pascagoula, Mississippi; Qasr Ibrihim (1600's) in Hoffuf, Saudi Arabia; the Old Post Office (1897) in Washington, D.C.; The Rugby Colony (1880's) in Rugby, Tennessee; Union Station (1900) in Nashville, Tennessee; The Germantown neighborhood revitalization (1840's) in Nashville, Tennessee; The Biltmore Hotel (1926) in Miami, Florida. His papers include a large breadth of information and research pertaining to the Biltmore Hotel, the Panama Canal, Turkey, the Deering Estate, resorts, and other areas of interest to Joseph Herndon. Material types represented within include audio-visual materials (CD-ROMS, VHS, photographs, slides), print-outs, administrative files, financial files, travel brochures, ephemera, architectural plans, interior design samples, research files, reports, proposals, periodicals, and 3D objects.
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 (1949-2011). Also included in the collection are photographs and research materials on the South Floridian artist, Betti Bernay (also known as Betty Godlfarb; 1926-2010).
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.
The Hurricane Andrew collection contains two different series of materials regarding the 1992 hurricane.
Series I consists of photographs, writings, and artwork made by children representing their Hurricane Andrew experience. The majority of the materials are photographs, negatives, prints, photographic slides, writings about those photographs, and administrative documents from a project done at Southwood Middle School titled "The Eye of the Storm through the Eye of the Child." Administered and organized by Colette Stemple, a photography teacher at the school, the photographs depict damage done to their homes and their neighborhoods, and have accompanying text written by the children as well. The project was eventually on display in the Miami Art Museum one year after the landfall of Andrew, under the same name. Also included are drawings, poems, a bound volume titled "Hands On: The Day the Winds Came... Migrant Children Write About the Effects of Hurricane Andrew," reflections written by Caribbean Elementary School students, and a folder scrapbook on Hurricane Andrew's effects titled "In the Wake of Andrew."
Series II contains historic Miami Herald newspapers chronicling the Hurricane's impending landfall in South Florida, the actual landfall, and several weeks of the aftermath.
A collection of material from acclaimed theater director, Henry Fonte, who served as the producing artistic director at the Jerry Herman Ring Theatre and the Director of Conservatory Programs in University of Miami for five years. He received his initial education from the University of Florida, earning both a Bachelor of Arts in 1973 and a Master of Arts in teaching in 1976. His acting career began in New York City where he was a founding member of the Pearl Theatre Company. He later founded the New Works Development Program at the Hartt School at the University of Hartford in Connecticut.
The collection is primarily comprised of playscripts, production notes, playbills, and programs but also contains audio-visual materials, posters, photographs, clippings, correspondence, theater set models, and various related items and ephemera from Henry Fonte.
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 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.
