Papers document activities of Xavier Cortada, Miami-based Cuban-American lawyer and artist.  Materials include various art projects, videos, correspondence, programs, invitations, awards, certificates, news clippings, rendering/sketches, brochures, catalogues, handouts, grant proposals, photos, notes, memorabilia, mementos, printed materials and posters.

This collection contains materials from the University of Miami's 75th Anniversary celebration. The materials in this collection include news clippings, memorabilia, posters, t-shirts, correspondence, general ephemera, reports, photographs, pamphlets, programs, invitations, announcements, and other materials related to the event planning among the different schools, colleges, and divisions.

The collection consists of memorabilia commemorating anniversaries and special events by the University of Miami, its schools and departments, athletic programs, student groups, and affiliated organizations. Included among the objects are medallions, cups, bags, hats, gowns, golf balls, t-shirts, parking decals, signs, logos, blankets, plush toys, collecting cards, footballs, and other assorted items.

The University of Miami celebrated its first annual Giving Day on April 8, 2019, which was a 24-hour online and social media extravaganza that brought together students, faculty, staff, alumni, and the UM community in an effort to support, celebrate, and give back to the University. This particular day was chosen because the University of Miami was officially incorporated on April 8, 1925.

The collection contains a cardboard "giving box," filled with promotional posters, flyers, postcards, and other memorabilia, such as a luggage tag, balloons, an acrylic standee, and a t-shirt.

This collection contains materials donated by members of the University of Miami Black Alumni Society. Contained within are photographs, event announcements, calendars, certificates, memorabilia, programs, plaques, and publications.

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.

The Raquel & Ruth Robés collection contains photographs of school life in pre-revolutionary Cuba, as well as pamphlets and memorabilia. It also contains certifications for educators Raquel and Ruth Robés.

The Martha Dorn collection contains an M-Club sweater, various University of Miami publications, a portrait, newspaper clippings, and other items of memorabilia. She was a student at the university from 1936 to 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 collections consists of 85 music records of Olga Guillot, a famous Cuban singer who was very well known around the world. This collection also includes 16 scrapbooks containing photographs, clippings, correspondence, and memorabilia of Olga Guillot. Olga Guillot left Cuba after Fidel Castro seized power in 1959.

The Instituto de Profesionales Hispanos Retirados was created in 1984 by Pablo Chao along with the collaboration of Dr. Julio Garcerán de Vals. The Instituto offered a seasonal program of conferences all held at the Koubek Center in Miami, Florida, which was under the administration of the University of Miami School of Continuing Studies. This collection is comprised of conference writings, mostly authored by Fernando Escobio, Luis René García Fernández, Mario Filippi, and Mázimo Sorondo.

Collection consists of catalogues and folders with the reproductions of Humberto Calzada's paintings and a poster.

This collection documents the career of the University of Miami President Henry King Stanford (April 22, 1916 – January 1, 2009). Contained within are correspondence to and from Henry King Stanford, newspaper clippings, photographs, speeches, research files, scrapbooks, ephemera, and memorabilia that once belonged to him.

The Henry Fillmore collection includes the following items: papers, photos, memorabilia, publications, and plaques documenting the career of American musician, Henry Fillmore (1881-1956).

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 papers document activities of Eugenio Castillo who was a lawyer and a Consul of Cuba before 1959.  He was associated with the following places: Cuba, London, New York, Paris and Baltimore.  The materials include correspondence with prominent Cuban figures including José Raul Capablanca, who was a Cuban chess player and a world chess champion from 1921 to 1927, Luis Machado and others, as well as, PelDrak Cuba Copper Products Corporation data and photographs, invitations, clippings, official papers signed by a president of the Republic of Cuba and memorabilia.

Enildo A. García was a Spanish and Latin American Literature professor at St. Francis College in Brooklyn, New York. His collection is comprised of research materials about the Guiteras family from Matanzas, Cuba. Writings, photographs, correspondence and some memorabilia of the Guiteras family are also included in this collection.

Donald W. Thomson worked for Pan American World Airways from 1932 to 1976 when he retired as the company's treasurer.  His papers include corporate records, memoranda, reports, memorabilia and photographs.  Bound volumes of annual reports and books were separated from the collection for cataloging.

Charles E. Feinberg was an editor Emeritus of the Walt Whitman Quarterly Review. The collection consists of Walt Whitman related materials; predominantly framed and unframed prints, but also leaves from periodicals and leaves advertising Whitman reissues, a Whitman poetry broadside, a Romanian Institute of Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries catalog for a Walt Whitman Exhibit, and other Whitman memorabilia.