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.
Etling, Walter B., Jr.