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The Manuel Rionda papers reflect activities of a sugar baron, Manuel Rionda, Spanish-born master of two important Cuban sugar mills and chair of the major U.S. sugar brokerage firm of Czarnikow-Rionda. Rionda was a businessman associated with Cuba, New York and Santo Domingo. The majority of materials include bills of ladings Rionda used to conduct his shipping business between New York and Cuba and Santo Domingo. Correspondence and other official documents are also included in this collection.

This collection contains correspondence from the Barnott family, primarily letters to and from Mary A. Barnott, the wife of Edward Barnott. The two of them were early settlers of the Biscayne Bay area in the 1870s, and the family's letters document much of the day-to-day affairs of life in Miami at the turn of the 20th century. They were also close friends with William H. Gleason, the founder of the Biscayne community, and his family, all of whose correspondence with the Barnotts can be found in this collection. Furthermore, the collection contains other archival materials, such as clippings, notes, old checks, and advertisements.

The James Baxter collection contains Florida related materials. Included are a deed of sale and title of a house in Flagler; theater publications from the Coconut Grove Playhouse, the Miami Summer Star Theater, and the Dade County Auditorium Playgoer; postcards from Key West, Ft. Lauderdale, Port Everglades, Fort Myers, Palm Beach, and Miami Beach; a series of photographs of historic sites in Florida, largely lighthouses; a 1903 periodical titled "Liberty Boys of '76: The Liberty Boys in Florida, 1903"; an 1883 Vol XIX issue of Dime Beadle's New York Library, subtitled "Alligator Ike; or The Secret of the Everglade. A Tale of the Outlaws of the Okeechobee"; and a photocopy of the latter periodical.

The papers include letters from various prominent Cuban figures; among them Tomás Estrada Palma, Salvador Cisneros, Lola R. de Tió, Armando Menocal, Mario Menocal and others.  The materials also consist of newspaper clippings about sugar industry and some photographs.

The collection contains four scrapbooks and other photographs of projects on which José Escudé worked as an engineer in Cuba. The bulk of the photographs are of Cuban architecture, street scenes, cities, towns, and family portraits. The collection also contains personal documents related to José Escudé, his son Joseph, and his daughter Margaret, as well as documents and blueprints related to mines owned by José Escudé.

The Abraham Schwaczkin collection consists primarily of Jewish cantorial sheet music and lyrics.

Also included are a birth certificate and marriage certificates of Schwaczkin, a 1953 copy of the B'nai B'rith messenger newspaper, a catalog, several yearbooks from Jewish congregations, a photograph, and a series of letters between Schwaczkin and a Mrs. Morrison from 1940.

The collection contains a letter, envelopes and a medallion relating to Cuban senator, mayor, and historian Manuel Martínez-Moles (1863-1951). The collection also includes a copy of "Manuel Martínez-Moles" written by Dr. Juan L. Riera for The Cuban Philatelist. Subsequent donations have included photographs of Cuban monuments in Miami, taken in 2020; restaurant and culinary ephemera; clippings and articles related to philately and Cuban historical figures such as José María Heredia, Félix Varela, León Primelles, and José Martí, authored by Dr. Riera; exhibition ephemera; political flyers; documents related to the Cuban communities in Ybor City and Key West; conference materials related to the InterAmerican Institute for Democracy, held in August 2022; and tourism ephemera. The collection also contains memorabilia such as matchbooks and cigarette ration coupons.

The Florida culinary history collection contains a wide range of materials related to Florida's rich history of food, its unique restaurants and dishes, and its domestic food production. Items within the collection include pamphlets, flyers, ephemera, periodicals, and other memorabilia originating from Florida.

The Florida Photograph Collection contains a series of photographs and negatives depicting the state from 1886 to 1950. The content of these includes people, scenery, nature, infrastructure, historic areas and landmarks, housing, commerce, tourism, and aerial views. Cities photographed include, but are not limited to, Miami, Miami Beach, Coconut Grove, St. Augustine, Key West, Coral Gables. Also of particular notice are photographs of Seminole Indians and villages, and historic photographs by Ed Romer from the 1940s of lower income African-American housing from the Sign Company and Gulf State Properties, Inc. in Overtown (Miami).

The Charles T. Simpson collection contains photographs, account statements, letters, minutes, contracts, typescripts, articles, certificates, membership cards, manuscripts, notes, photocopies, and a plant specimen, which document the lengthy botanical and zoological career of the early 20th century naturalist.

A collection of negatives of South Florida buildings and maps including Plymouth Church in Coconut Grove, the Everglades, Miami Beach hotels and Vizcaya Museum.

This collection contains typescripts, photocopies and photographs regarding the history of the confederate submarine H. L. Hunley.

The Minnie Moore Willson Papers document the life and career of a noted Florida writer and advocate for the Seminole Indians of Florida. The Papers also include materials related to her husband James Mallory Willson, a prominent Kissimmee businessman and a defender of Seminole Indian rights. The Papers were purchased by the University of Miami in the late 1940s from the Elizabeth Aultman Cantrell Historical Museum in Kissimmee, Florida. Selected materials from the Papers, including books, maps, pamphlets and some periodicals were removed from the collection and sent to the appropriate areas in the Library.

The collection includes material from Minnie Moore Willson as well as material from her husband James Mallory Willson. The Minnie Moore Willson Collection consists of correspondence with individuals including Florida Senator Duncan Fletcher and Florida Representative Ruth Bryan Owen.  Correspondence files also include letters with Seminole Indians such as Billy Bowlegs, Tony Tommie and other prominent Seminole Indian chiefs. The collection contains a number of manuscripts by M.M. Willson related to the Seminole Indians and such issues as the equality of blacks and Southern politics. Additional material relates to the creation of a bird sanctuary in Kissimmee, Florida.

James M. Willson's papers contain business records including correspondence, abstract of titles (original and copies) scrapbooks, and financial records from the 1880's to the 1930's (in the latter years Minnie Moore Willson handled the business correspondence due to illness). Correspondence deals with Mr. Willson's real estate and insurance business in the Kissimmee area. The files also contain manuscripts, correspondence and material collected or written by Elizabeth Cantrell, niece of James Mallory Willson. Correspondence to and from S.B. Aultman (Elizabeth Cantrell's father and brother-in-law of J.M. Willson)and letters with Dr. Howard Kelly, a family friend and widely known surgeon are also organized in these files.

The collection also includes several newspaper clippings from the late 1800's through the 1930's. The majority of these clippings are from Florida-based newspapers. Several maps of Florida have been removed from the collection and placed with Map Collection.

Also included are photographs of the Willsons, Seminole Indians, plants, and animals. The collection also includes postcards depicting scenes from Florida and the United States.

"Collection of 208 Koreshan Unity Periodicals - The Guiding Star: Expositor of the Divine Science[together with] The Plowshare and Pruning Hook: Indicator of Commercial Equation[together with] The Flaming Sword[bound together with] The Salvator and Scientist: Evangel of Koreshanity, the Religion of Science and Life.

A substantial group of periodicals and newsletters edited and written by Dr. Cyrus R. Teed, a Utica, NY native and founder of the Koreshan Unity. 'Koreshanity,' as it was also known, was born in the wake of two related western movements: the millenial fervor that swept early-to-mid 19th century central and western New York State, and the utopian communalism that began attracting increasing numbers of adherents during the same period and into the later 19th century.' A graduate of Eclecitc Medical College of the City of New York, Teed's inerests went beyond medicine to encompass alchemy, botany, physics, and metaphysics, and he would regularly conduct experiments in these areas inside what would become known as Koreshanity after experiencing a late-night religious vision. During what he called his 'illumination,' he saw a beautiful woman who revealed to him a series of universal truths which formed foundamental principles of Koreshan belief. 'Among Teed's most interesting beliefs was cellular cosmogony, or the hollow earth - the notion that the earth was not a convex sphere but instead a hollow, concave cell, containing the entire universe with the sun at its center.

After failed attempts at founding communal settlements in Moravia, Syracuse, and New York City, Teed moved to Chicago, IL, where his persuasive oratory enabled him to assemble a firm core of followers in the late 1880's and form the commune called Beth-Ophra. Teed incorporated his organization there as the College of Life in 1886, and established a printing house that began producing three major publications: The Guiding Star, The Flaming Sword, The Plowshare and Pruning Hook. 'These publications began a long legacy of Koreshan publishing aimed at the public as well as their own members, intending to explain and promote their beliefs, relate and preserve their story, and discuss political, social, scientific, and religious ideas and issues.' The Salvator and Scientist, a short-lived publication publsihed concurrently with The Flaming Sword, focused primarily on aspects of Koreshan science, astronomy, and geodesy.

Believing himself to be a messiah who would lead his people in establishing a New Jerusalem, Teed assumed the name Koresh in 1891 (after Cyrus the Great, King of Persia). As with his previous locations, Teed's beliefs did not endear him or his followers to the general public, forcing him to relocate from Chicago to the quiet beach town of estero, FL. in 1894, the final home of the Koreshan Unity where Teed would establish his New Jerusalem. It was here that the Koreshan Unity established a growing, self-sustaining community, though at the height of the movement, their membership numbered no more than 250. Apparently, there were an additional 4,000 members scattered throught the country, including a small contingent who formed a short-lived Koreshan community in San Francisco, CA. Teed died in Florida in December 1908, nearly two years after a brawl with citizens of nearby Ft. Myers, during which he was struck in the head and face several times. " -Lorne Bair / http://www.lornebair.com/

This collection is comprised of a scrapbook titled "Juicios, Críticas, Elógios, Artículos" 1889-1936. It also contains clippings collected by Zamora, a resident of Havana, Cuba.