"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 Fundación Padre Santana records contain correspondence sent to the Fundación Padre Santana from people in Cuba, primarily during the country's Special Period from the early 1900s to 2000s. Founded in 1993 by the Reverend Francisco Santana, the foundation provided medical aid to Cubans on the island, communicating its services through radio programs.

Assorted Publications by Ron L Hubbard on the subject of Scientology and Dianetic Processing.

The Cecil V. Morris Papers contain the correspondence, writings, clippings and memorabilia of Cecil V. Morris, a reverend with the Southern Methodist Episcopal Church who did missionary work in Cuba in the 1930s.

The collection contains correspondence between Morris and his fellow missionaries and preachers, as well as newspaper articles and clippings pertaining to him and his church, personal notes and sermons written by Morris, and legal and educational documents.

The Dionisio de Lara Collection contains photographs, event programs, articles, philosophical and scholarly essays by Rev. de Lara, including papers on Felix Varela, Søren Kierkegaard, and others.

"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 consists of seven photographs of a 1965 event of the Comité Católico Cubano (Cuban Catholic Committee) in Dallas, Texas.

The Conchita La Villa Collection contains the personal papers of Miami-based Cuban teacher, volunteer, and church leader Conchita La Villa. The collection includes correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings on her and various organizations' charitable work in Miami, journals, a manuscript on Cuban women in politics, stamps, and other memorabilia.

This collection contains research files relating to the book authored by Freedberg entitled Brother Love, Murder, Money, and a Messiah. The book itself is centered around Hulon Mitchell, Jr. (also known as Yahweh ben Yahweh), a self-proclaimed messiah and the leader of the Nation of Yahweh, a Black Hebrew Israelite religious movement that began in Miami, Florida in 1979.