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This collection includes regional and historic maps, original drawings, plans, elevations, photographs, and blueprints of residential and commercial architecture, community project plans, city/town plans, historic restoration plans and aerial photographs.  The bulk of the materials are focused on, but, not limited to the areas of Miami-Dade, Coral Gables, and Miami Beach.

Drawings, plans, photographs, writing

The Miami Woman’s Club Records document the club’s history, as well as its civic, community, and social activities from 1903-2004.The records include minutes from 1903-1914, 1921-1929, 1936-1939, and 1959-1967. The collection also includes yearbooks from 1907-2004, as well as correspondence (correspondents include: Judge Edith M. Atkinson, Louise Austin, Alice Johnston, Anne Stevenson Brown, Katherine B. Trippetts, Katherine S. Fitts, and Eva J. Lewis), financial reports, programs, photographs, and other documentation. Also included are over 50 scrapbooks documenting club activities, membership, and events dating from 1919-1979.

The Walter Etling Papers include documents, clippings, and photographs related to Etling’s student years at the University of Miami, as well as his professional and community activities in Miami from the 1950s through the 1970s.

The bulk of the collection consists of photographs, clippings, documents, letters, programs, advertisements, brochures, and ephemera that Etling compiled into albums documenting his student years, professional activities, community service, and personal life.  The collection also contains loose personal papers, photographs, clippings, and other materials related to Etling’s student, business, community, and alumni activities, and personal life.

Business related materials, such as advertisements, brochures, statistics, and other papers, document Etling’s work as a real estate agent for the Allen Morris Company, the Keyes Company, and Walter Etling Company. Examples include brochures for the Keys Company and the Walter Etling Company, as well as the sale of the Flamingo Hotel. The collection also contains photographs and ephemera related to Etling’s involvement in establishing a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise in Spain, and letters and documents regarding his service on the board of Key Biscayne Bank.

Community service related materials include letters, certificates, clippings, photographs, and other materials primarily related to Etling’s service to the Miami Science Museum, and also his involvement with Kiwanis International and the Dade County Grand Jury.

The collection also contains materials related to Etling’s extensive involvement with the University of Miami. Class assignments, notes, photographs, clippings, and other materials document his student years. Also included are letters, programs, photographs, clippings, and ephemera regarding his service for the Alumni Association and the Board of Trustees. In addition, the collection contains materials relating to class reunions and university athletics, as well as artistic studies Etling prepared when creating the painting that is on the cover of the University of Miami’s 75th anniversary book, Rendezvous with Greatness. 

Personal materials document family vacations, such as photographs of a trip to the 1976 Winter Olympics. Also included are materials related to his hobby of selling memorabilia, and programs and clippings that document the activities of his children while attending the University of Miami.

Allison B. Curry, Jr. served as Director of Public Service for Coral Gables from 1934 to 1939. Between 1939 to 1942 he was promoted to city manager. In 1942 he left to hold this same post for the city of Miami. From 1946 to the end of his career he was Director of the Dade County Port Authority as well as of the Miami International Airport.

The Allison B. Curry collection contains diplomas, photographs, a brochure on the metric system, two metric rulers (one in a leather sleeve with his name in ink), metric converters, a lighter with his initials engraved and a case, and a cartoon of Curry signed by city employees.

Edward C. Dougherty was a Government Administrator and United Nations Expert in taxation for Latin America, as well as a private practitioner of law in the Miami area, specializing in Latin American matters. His papers consists predominantly of materials concerning real estate in Brazil, in the form of letters, maps, notes, photocopies, clippings, photographs, pamphlets, and reports.

Spec's Music Inc. records is comprised of press releases in the form of newspaper and magazine clippings, business records, photographs, store memorabilia, and framed music posters, and plaques acquired during Ann Lieff's tenure.

The following description of material types and context was provided by JC Bourque, the main designer for Spec's merchandising and ad campaigns:

Promotion to Record Labels
These programs were intended to convince the record labels to allocate advertising revenue, known as “co-op” funds, to Spec’s Music rather than the competitors, or at least garner a larger share of the labels’ promotion budgets. Spec’s would commit to a media schedule, and use these materials to show the labels how much coverage they could get for their co-op dollars.The calendars were created to show the various advertising and store promotion themes that would be employed during the upcoming year. For example, Country Music Month would employ a different media mix than Classical Music Month. Knowing this, the labels might coordinate the release of major artists when the media mix was weighted toward that musical genre.

Promotion to Public
Marketing to the public included radio and TV spots, newspaper ads and inserts, in-store signage and theme art, direct mail, in-store sale flyers and other methods. Typically, a theme would be created and used across all platforms used for a particular promotion. The particular mix of media and other methods would vary according to the particulars of each promotion.

Newspaper Ads and Inserts
Spec’s would often place full-color, full page ads on the back covers of the Sunday lifestyle magazine in various major newspapers in Florida and Puerto Rico. Sometimes, for major promotions, multi-page inserts printed on higher-quality paper were inserted into newspapers instead.

Music Genre Art
These artworks were produced by Impossible Images for use in print materials to denote various musical genres.

Store Signage
Several types of in-store signage were used to reinforce the advertising messaging utilized in radio, TV, and print media.
Posters - There were two types of posters produced. Single-sided posters were used on walls and windows. Double-sided posters were hung from the store ceiling grid so they could be seen from any place in the store.
Danglers - These were also hung from the grid. A single line was attached to one corner of the dangler, presenting a diamond-shaped sign that would rotate in the air currents of the ventilation system.
Genre Signage - These were typically mounted on top of the music bins (gondolas) and consisted of the genre descriptor (Country, Jazz, etc.) and a Spec’s logo. These would identify specific locations for the different types of music. These were used in conjunction with large murals, below, that showed customers the general area of their music preferences.
Retrofit Signage - These were developed by Impossible Products to be added to older gondolas that had not been fabricated with slots for the genre signage holders. These were installed between back-to-back gondolas, with different genre inserts on either side.

Sound & Vision Magazine
This was a periodic publication that would showcase popular music and video releases. The music section was named “Sound &”, while the video section, printed upside down relative to the music section, was titled “Vision &”, so ether side could be considered the front page.

Moon Beach TV Spot
This was a “theme” TV spot (as opposed to a “donut”, below) that was intended to increase “top-of-mind-awareness” of the Spec’s brand, and create a shopping preference in the consumer. It was shot completely under ultraviolet light, and all the props, costumes and makeup were decorated with fluorescent materials.
The script, costumes and props were created by JC Bourque of Impossible Images, Inc. The spot was directed and shot by David Schweitzer. The footage was shot on 16mm film and transferred to electronic media for compositing.
The music was composed after the footage was roughed in. Various visual elements, such as the “frizbee” landing were accentuated in the music track. The musician thought JC was nuts when he proposed attempting this.
Behind the Scenes - Moon Beach TV Spot
These are photos of the shoot during production.

“Dominoes” Video TV Spot
This is an example of a “donut” spot introducing Spec’s entry into the video market. The donut would be distributed to the various TV stations, and the “hole” would be filled with promotions for specific video titles, with the visuals and narration supplied by the station. These insert would be different and various stations depending on demographics, time slot and label co-op purchases.

Special Promotions
Various themes, such as “Instant Hits Blitz,” “Mother’s Day Deals,” and “Saving Season” were developed and deployed across most or all of the media and store displays.Music... Serious Business This was a campaign to get prospective employees interested in the retail side of the music industry. I believe these were used at job fairs and other venues where people were looking for careers. The poster was designed similar to a playing card, with the two interlocking aspects of the music industry: the music, and the business.The brochure was a take-away for the prospect and included in-depth information about the business side of the industry.

Daniella Levine Cava was elected as the Miami-Dade County Commissioner in 2014 and 2018, representing District 8. Her collection contains materials from her successful 2014 campaign, including correspondence, interviews, and periodicals documenting her initiatives on the campaign trail.

The Laurence Donovan Papers include correspondence, poetry, artwork, book reviews, writings, subject files, and other documents concerning the life and career of Laurence Donovan, an English professor at the University of Miami.

The correspondence dates from 1945-2001, and includes letters from Donovan’s family, friends, and professional associates. It provides insight into Donovan’s personal life, in addition to documenting his writing, artwork, and teaching. Most of the letters are incoming, but the series does contain some outgoing letters.

The collection also contains poetry, artwork, and writings by Donovan. The poetry includes typescripts and published poems. The typescripts are undated, and some have handwritten revisions. The artwork includes a small selection of Donovan’s published illustrations. The writings include typescripts and photocopies of book reviews that Donovan wrote for the Miami Herald, as well as papers and other materials.

The subject files include materials related to Donovan’s teaching and work at the University of Miami, as well as his poetry and artwork. Also included are articles and other materials about literary figures and works; programs and flyers for exhibitions, readings, shows, and other events; and writings and other materials by and about his friends and colleagues.

The International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) is a progressive, diversified trade union that primarily represents operating engineers, who work as heavy equipment operators, mechanics, and surveyors in the construction industry, and stationary engineers, who work in operations and maintenance in building and industrial complexes, and in the service industries. IUOE also represents nurses and other health industry workers, a significant number of public employees engaged in a wide variety of occupations, as well as a number of job classifications in the petrochemical industry (https://www.iuoe.org/). This collection focuses on Local 487, based in Miami, FL, and their minutes and bylaws from 1911 to 2012.