The Florida Promotional Materials (1886 to present) consists of a variety of advertising literature used by governmental and private organizations to depict the region as an ideal vacation destination. The collection includes various richly illustrated printed brochures, maps and flyers that provide information on public safety, tourism, art, horticulture, recreation, sport, education, as well as Florida’s famous hotels and rich wildlife, parks and national monuments. The collection also documents the growth of Florida’s cities to attract tourists and residents alike.
In October, 1963, Charles Cinnamon, public relations director of the Coconut Grove Playhouse, organized a “Left Bank” art show to publicize the opening of Irma La Douce at the Playhouse. The art show was a success and shortly thereafter the Coconut Grove Association was formed to put on an annual art festival.
In the early days, the whole community got involved, and Festival activities included an antique car parade, coconut smashing contest, concerts, and a children’s art exhibit. The Chamber of Commerce and Grove House artists helped in putting on the festival.
This juried arts festival has repeatedly been selected as the top outdoor fine arts festival in the United States, displaying the work of artists from around the world and attracting families and connoisseurs alike.
The collection contains a variety of material including correspondence, newspaper clippings, publications, press releases, administrative files, photographs, ephemera and posters from the Coconut Grove Art Festival 1963 to 2012.
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 New Urbanism is the only distinctly American architectural movement of the 20th Century that systemically critiqued the conventional urban planning patterns of the post-war period. The University of Miami Libraries Architecture Research Center Archives is the sole repository for collecting and housing materials documenting this movement that impacted the discourse on urbanization theories and town planning. The principles of the movement were articulated in 1994 in the Charter of the Congress for The New Urbanism. The Congress for the New Urbanism, an organization that promotes walkable, mixed-use neighborhood development and sustainable communities was recognized by the New York Times as "…the most important phenomenon to emerge in American Architecture in the post-Cold-War era." The New Urbanism movement, which signaled a turning point from the segregated planning and architecture of post-war America to a return to historic principles of traditional town planning, became the focus of a series of contested dialogues not just among architects, planners and developers, but among historians, environmentalists and policy makers as well. The movement continues to influence the principles of town planning and design, and spark debate among its advocates and critics as evidenced in the public fora thirty years following its inception. This collection includes drawings, project folios, books and manuscripts, periodicals, article clippings, correspondence, videos, CDs, DVDs, audio cassettes and other materials related to New Urbanism theory, writing, and design.
This collection contains photographs, 35 mm slides, and ephemera related to Browne's architectural legacy to include: Avocado Elementary School, Homestead FL; Rio Mar Village Residential Resort, Rio Grande, Luquillo, Puerto Rico; Ocean Pines Yacht Club, Ocean Pines, MD, and other projects in South Florida and the Caribbean.
