Dr. L. A. Hodson was a Miami ophthamologist who had a strong interest in zoology. Dr. Hodson, a friend of professor of zoology and University of Miami president Jay F. Pearson, ventured on a number of trips to the Bahamas (a few times with Pearson) where he discovered a number of new species and collected hard to find species. These he donated to the University of Miami.

The L. A. Hodson collection contains clippings about these expeditions; correspondence; much of which concerns the securing of his visit, the donation, and an exhibit on the Cat Turtle that was set up at Tufts College Medical School; a photograph of Hodson taken by Pearson, and two typescripts: "The Discovery of the Cat Turtle," and "Notes on the Discovery and Biology of Two Bahaman Fresh-water Turtles of the Genus Pseudemys," the latter of which was co-written by Pearson.

This collection brings together a variety of historical documents that are topically related to Latin America, including manuscripts, correspondence, and illustrations. The documents range from 1420 to 1994 in date, and originate from Mexico, New Granada, Panama, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, and other parts of Latin America.

The Lemuel Adams Papers contains a ledger belonging to Lemuel Adams. There are logged transactions from 1792 to 1804, mostly from Hartford, Connecticut; however, the ledger also contains letters written by Adams, a genealogy of the Adams family, and a few dozen poems by Adams with titles ranging from "On Life" to "Description of the Tea Party."

The Luis Felipe Mencía papers contain correspondence, clippings about medicine and hospitals, as well as the Cuban Medical Conventions in Exile etc., one illustration of the Hospital Mercedes in Cuba, a roster and invitations to various events of the Cuban Society of Surgery, and pamphlets about surgery in Cuba.  It also contains historical issues of periodical publications related to medicine in Cuba and Cuban physicians.  The most important materials of this collection are a lecture offered by Mencía at the special session of the Ninth International Cuban Medical Association Congress, Miami, 1987, and the manuscript of Dr. Mencía's book: Recuerdos de la Cirugía en Cuba,  published in Miami in 1990.  In this collection we also find a photocopy of one speech by Dr. D. González Marmol.

The Lyn MacCorkle papers consists of research materials for two bibliographies that MacCorkle published in the 1980s: Cubans In The United States: A Bibliography For Research In The Social And Behavioral Sciences , 1960-1983 (1984) and Faculty Publications, University Of Miami (1986). The papers contain bibliographies, articles, drafts, resumes, essays, reports, and letters.

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.

The papers consist primarily of facsimilies and copies of documents relating to colonial Cuba.

Collection consists of correspondence, various iterations of Gottlieb-Roberts' art work (from drafts to finals), photographs (including slides and Polaroids), promotional materials, video cassettes (VHS, U-Matic, L-750) of performances, press, and more, from the 1970s through the 1990s.

The Martha Frayde Barraqué Papers consist of letters from the Cuban painter Wifredo Lam (1902-1982) to Frayde dating between 1962 and 1966.  The collection also includes a group photograph of Lam and Frayde in Mexico in 1957.

The Miami Beach Jaycees is a Florida chapter of the United States Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees for short). The not-for profit organization was founded in 1920 and has provided opportunities for men and women between the ages of 18 to 40 to develop leadership skills through community service. The Junior Chamber of Commerce International Headquarters was moved to Miami Beach in 1955.

The Miami Beach Jaycees Scrapbook documents the civic activities of the Miami Beach Junior Chamber of Commerce form 1952-1954. The collection consists primarily of photographs of conventions and social activities of the organization as well as newspaper clippings, documents, and a 1952-1953 yearbook of Miami Beach Jaycee.

Michael J. Maxwell was an architectural consultant whose firm, Michael Maxwell Associates, Inc., consulted the city of Opa-locka in the mid-80s on appraisal and restoration matters. This culminated in a Master Plan for the Restoration of Historic Opa-Locka City Hall, and a Nomination Proposal of several historical sites in Opa-Locka to the National Register of Historic Places. These two documents, as well as the planning materials, are held in the Michael J. Maxwell collection.

The collection also contains other Opa-locka related materials. Included are 1926-1927 Opa-locka price lists, a 1953 charter, copies of the Opa-locka Times from 1926 and 1927, letters including a 1926 letter petitioning for the establishment of a Post Office at Opa-locka, a history of Opa-locka brochure and preparation materials for the brochure, and other items.

"Archive of letters between members of the Michelsen and Havens family, including correspondence from Kate C. Havens, a prominent female theosophist from Miami, Florida and Cloudland, Geogia. Approximately 75 letters plus newspaper clippings, ephemera, and a sketch book containing costume designs by Cleo Michelsen. The majority of these letters are addressed to Cleo Michelsen, a young lady, who is interested in the arts and would eventually marry Auriel Bessemer, a noted muralist of the New Deal. Cleo came from a well-established family from Miami. The letters are written from her brothers, sisters, parents, and grandparents. The family is well-educated, and the letters are articulate and well-written.

However, with the Depression looming over the country, her family is is in the midst of a crisis. Cleo's father has seen his business fortunes plummet, and he and Cleo's mother have separated. Her father eventually moves to Cuba where he attempts to revive his holding company. Her mother stays in Florida but is in terrible financial straits. One of Cleo's sisters writes regarding the lack of money and her mother's impoverished state - one which forces her to go days without eating.

In addition, as mentioned above, Cleo has been courted by Auriel Bessemer, who she meets in art school. A promising artist himself, they go on to marry in 1935. During the New Deal, Auriel was commissioned by the Treasury Department to create seven murals - "Historical and Industrial Scenes - Sketches of Virginia," for the first federal building in Arlington. The murals were conserved in 2007, and today, they remain in their permanent home in the U.S. Post Office Building in Arlington.

Most importantly, in this collection are a series of letters from Cleo's grandmother, Kate C. Havens, who splits her time between her home in Miami, Florida and a mountain retreat in Cloudland, Georgia. Mrs. Havens originally hailed from Chicago and was a prominent voice in the Theosophy movement of the time, delivering lectures, writing articles and becoming acquainted other notable theorists, including Anne Besant and Max Heindel. In Miami, she continued her involvement with Theosophy becoming the president of the newly formed Theosophical Society there in 1919. She was a free and very liberal thinker and also became heavily involved in the Women's suffrage movement, eventually becoming an officer on the legal status of women in the Florida State League of Women Voters.

Havens has a great affection for Cleo and writes her interesting heartfelt letters, which are mostly always infused with a Theosophical bent, injecting her views on spirituality and orientalism, providing her opinions on important theosophical readings, reporting upon her lectures given to the Theosophical Society in Miami, and giving accounts of two fascinating meetings with Pearl Buck and Dr. Alvin Kuhns." -Denning House Antiquarian Books & Manuscripts

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.

The Nicaragua collection documents the Nicaraguan diaspora living in Miami during the 1980s and the political and social conditions in Nicaragua from the 1979 Sandinista revolution onward until their loss of power in 1990.

Many of the materials falling into the latter category are from the United States in origin, such as anti-Soviet propaganda endorsing the anti-Sandinista "Contra" Freedom Fighters, pamphlets that describe the Sandinista government and Central America in general from an American perspective, and periodicals and reports about Nicaragua written to an American audience. The materials that document the Nicaraguan diaspora are mostly fliers, menus, calendars, brochures, and other genres that were from local Nicaraguan businesses, restaurants, clubs, and other organizations. Some of the materials transcend these two categories, as many that concern the political conditions are addressed to or produced by Nicaraguan exiles.

A large part of the collection consists of photocopies of news articles.

Writers that are especially represented by the collection include Ruben Dario, Esteban Duque-Estrada, and Luis Mejia Gonzalez. Associations and organizations that are especially represented include Alanzia Revolucionaria Democrática (ARDE), American Defense Foundation, American Defense Lobby. Asociación Nicaragüenses en el Exilio, Asociación Nicaragüense pro Derechos Humanos, Bloque Opositor del Sur (B.O.S.), Council for Interamerican Security, Fundación Ruben Dario, Nicaraguan American Solidarity (NICAS), Nicaraguan Freedom Fighters, Partido Conservador de Nicaragua, Partido Socialcristiano de Nicaragua en el Exilio, Resistencia Nicaragüense, and Unidad Nicaragüense Opositora (UNO). Materials from some of these were grouped together in a series titled "Associations."

Also of notice are brochures advertising tourism to Nicaragua during the Sandinista regime, and memorabilia such as a handmade Nicaraguan crest, Nicaraguan paper money from the Sandinista era, and a pin that says "If you like Cuba you'll love Nicaragua."

Nicolás Guillén Papers cover a particular time and place in the life of one of Cuba's finest 20th century poet.  They all deal with a trip he made to Uruguay in the late 1940s.  There are two manuscript writing styles.  The smaller tighter script is probably Guillén's.  The looser more open script matches his signature but could be someone else's.  It is possible that this second script is a dictation or copying of a Guillén work.  Materials include correspondence, clippings and photographs.  Some documents are signed by Guillén and others are not signed.

The Norman Díaz Papers include typescripts, clippings, and correspondence regarding the 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion and Cuban exile organizations of the early 1960s, including Consejo Revolucionario de Cuba, Brigade 2506, and Frente Revolucionario Cubano.