Showing 536 results

This collection contains an array of materials, including correspondence, broadsides, pamphlets, periodicals, newsletters, and other ephemera, pertaining to the occult, paranormal, UFOs, supernatural entities, and spiritualism. Of particular note is a letter from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, dated 1914.

Donald Edward Spencer was an archivist and historian who served as the head of the American prosecution document room at the Nuremburg Trials following World War II. This collection includes primary sources he used to assemble a biography of Hitler's Deputy, Rudolf Hess, as well as a manuscript of said biography.

The Spencer Family papers contains a number of personal items pertaining to various members of the Spencer family, in the form of books, clippings, journals, manuscripts, memorandums, news bulletins,  newspapers, notebooks, pamphlets, periodicals, photographs, poetry, postcards, reports, and scrapbooks.

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.

Photographs and negatives of Hurricane Andrew created by the students of Southwood Middle School.

This collection contains a photo-album of photographs of South Florida from the 1920s, predominantly of the Southern States plantations and crops. Most of the photographs are of the West Palm Beach, St. Lucie, and Lake Okeechobee areas.

The collection consists primarily of draft agendas from the South Florida public policy agency.

The collection consists primarily of playbills of various theatrical performances in South Florida from 1920 to 2006.

A collection of periodicals, pamphlets, brochures, tracts, leaflets, broadsides, and assorted materials, focusing on social movements across the globe. The collection presently includes materials from various organizations, mostly French, Iranian, African-American groups fighting for social rights and liberties, pro-environmentalist/anti-capitalist groups, and socialist groups, and will continue to expand as materials are collected.

Manuscript and research files of : "1961, The Year of the Refugee" a narrative of life in Cuba by Trudy Snider.

Simón Daro Dawidowicz was a businessman and art collector who resided in Miami, Florida. A long-time resident of Colombia, Dawidowicz had a strong interest in Latin American liberator Simón Bolívar and his lasting influence on Latin America. Dawidowicz was a member of several Bolivarian societies, president of the Bolavarian Review, and founded the non-profit organization Darien Action Committee, which sought to promote the completion of the Panamerican Highway from Panama to Colombia. Dawidowicz had strong connections with several prominent Latin American artists including Leopoldo Richter and David Manzur. He was a curator as well as a collector of their and others' work, and donated a number of their pieces to museums and institutions including the University of Miami. A mural titled "Bolívar and Humboldt" by Leopoldo Richter was donated by Dawidowicz to the University, and currently stands in front of the Otto G. Richter Library.

The Simón Daro Dawidowicz Bolivarian collection contains items pertaining to all of the above pursuits and interests. Much of it is correspondence and official records, or newspapers clippings and photographs that document his activities. There are a number of audiocassettes and film reels, and a single videocassette as well.

Of particular interest are a bust of Simón Bolívar that Dawidowicz had commissioned as a gift for former President Lyndon Johnson, as well as a box containing photographs, photographic prints, brochures, periodicals, and other forms of material depicting the works of a number of Latin American artists. These include David Manzur, Leopoldo Richter, German Tessarolo, Marlene Hoffman, Enrique Grau, Edgar Silva, Armando Villegas, Patricia Tavera, Ràmon Carulla, and Miguel Rojas Niño. Some of these items are signed by the artists.

Two family members of Dawidowicz, Miriam and Sylvia, were curators and donors of Latin American art as well, and several documents detailing their efforts are held within the collection.

Finally, the collection contains assorted personal photographs and several short stories written by Dawidowicz.

This collection contains 20 maps and 10 prints in French, depicting locales and images from the Americas and the Caribbean during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Sidney Serebreny was a technical supervisor from 1941 to 1960 for the Pacific Alaska Division for the Pan American World Airways, Inc. The Sidney Serebreny Papers contains a typescript by Serebreny titled "Tailwind."

Dr. Sidney Walter Fox (1912-1998) was a biochemist known for discoveries in the autosynthesis of protocells. Fox served as director of the Institute for Molecular and Cellular Evolution (IMCE) at the University of Miami.

The Sidney Fox Collection contains 9 NASA reports concerning the NASA Surveyor Program which took place from 1966 to 1968. The Surveyor Program was a NASA program that sent seven robotic spacecraft to the surface of the Moon, with the intent of demonstrating the possibility of soft landings on the Moon.

Also included is a 1978 interview with Russian-American inventor and engineer Dr. Vladimir Zworykin.

The Ralph E. Shikes papers consists primarily of letters to and from Camille Pissarro, a French-Danish Impressionist painter. In addition, the papers contain Mr. Pissarro's will.

This collection also contains papers and letters from other artisits, such as Vincent Van Gogh, as well as various photographs, negatives, postcards, and a thesis written by Alexander Seltzer covering the topics of anarchism, antisemitism, the press and the Dreyfus affair.

The Shaw Family Papers contains one photograph album containing photographs from More Shaw, Eleanor Shaw, and their mother's trip to Florida from February 16, 1917 to March 15, 1917. The trip was part of an organized tour called "Season of 1917: A Tour to Florida, East and West Coasts," of which a pamphlet is included in the album. The photographs are of Jacksonville, Ocala, Orlando, Tampa, Palm Beach, and Miami.

The Senator Mel Martinez Papers, donated to the University of Miami in 2010, consist primarily of records created during Martinez’s service as a United States Senator for Florida from 2005 to 2009.  Comprised of 89 boxes, the collection includes legislative and committee files, schedules and appointments, correspondence with constituents and colleagues, speeches and floor statements, media coverage, casework files, campaign files, and administrative office records.  The collection also includes photographs, audiovisual materials, and electronic records that date primarily from 1998 to 2009, but also includes scans of photographs and memorabilia relating to Martinez’s childhood in Cuba and immigration to the United States.  Topics of research include American legislative history, Mel Martinez’s committee assignments, Florida projects, immigration, United States relations with Cuba, services for the elderly, and Florida’s environment, including issues relating to offshore oil drilling.