subjectId: 69885

Table of Contents

Collection Development

The Libraries’ feature an extensive collection of materials and repositories relating to the study of Miami, Florida, and the University of Miami. The Libraries’ have digitized and made available online, a wide collection of items that highlight the rich archival history of South Florida. The UM Libraries Digital Collection also features a distinctive array of items including for example, the South Florida Postcard Collection and Hurricane Andrew Collection. In addition, the University of Miami’s Cuban Heritage Collection is quite unique to the area both nationally and globally.

florida_postcard_2.jpg
  Florida Sunset as Seen Through Caribbean Pines, postcard from the South Florida Postcard Collection at the University of Miami
 

Subject Specialist

  • Adrian Legaspi

    History, Religious Studies, Political Science, International Studies, and Modern Languages & Literatures Librarian

    axl641@miami.edu

    284-3257

History at the U

The University of Miami is strategically located between North and South America and is an important hemispheric center. As a result, the Libraries’ at the University have been at the forefront of scholarship whether that involves faculty research through the Scholarly Repository or through student activities via The Miami Hurricane Archive. The resources below include photographs, postcards, dissertations, and financial files that detail the rich history of the University of Miami.

U-Databases

The Miami Hurricane Archive Online, 1927-2015: This collection comprises the University of Miami’s student newspaper and represents an important historical record of campus life and student activity.
UM Libraries Digital Collections: Collection of digital objects developed to preserve and support digital scholarship and the research, teaching, and learning mission of the University. Digital Collections feature materials from the collections at the University of Miami Libraries, Calder Medical Library, and the University of Miami Archives.
University of Miami Electronic Theses and Dissertations: This collection contains over 4000 dissertations and theses created between 1961 and the present from the Coral Gables campus, Miller School of Medicine, and at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.
University of Miami Scholarly Repository: Features selected research and scholarly works prepared by faculty, students, and staff at the University of Miami.      

Special Collections

Cuban Photograph Collections:  The University of Miami’s distinct collection of 5000+ photos relating to Cuba and the Cuban Diaspora. Items in the collection range from the correspondences and personal papers of Rosa M. Abella (librarian at the Otto G. Richter Library) to the Arva Moore Park’s photograph collection (UM historian) dating from the 1960s. 
Cuban Postcard Collection: A unique collection of postcards documenting Cuba and the Cuban diaspora dating from the early 1900s.
Manuel R. Bustamante Photograph Collection: Consists of 600 black-and-white photographs of Cuba from the early 1900s to the 1930s.
Pan American World Airways, Inc. Records: Includes the administrative and financial files, technical, mechanical and research reports, internal publications including newsletters, journals and press releases of the Pan American airways. 
The Jackie Gleason Collection: Includes approximately 1,700 volumes of books, journals, pamphlets detailing the life of Jackie Gleason as well as his studies on parapsychology.

Subject Specialist

  • Adrian Legaspi

    History, Religious Studies, Political Science, International Studies, and Modern Languages & Literatures Librarian

    axl641@miami.edu

    284-3257

University of Miami Digital Collections

The following resources include the digital collections developed by the University of Miami. They include a growing collection of digital objects, projects, photographs, publications, and promotional booklets developed to preserve and support the digital scholarship and the research, teaching, and learning mission of the University of Miami.

Special Collections

Bob H. Simms: Life and Legacy: Chronicles the life and career of Robert H. Simms, whose activism in the South Florida Community was immeasurable particularly in the 1960s and 1970s.
Charles Deering Collection: Consists of albums and photographs of Charles Deering from Florida, Spain and Portugal, including images of his homes and family members.
Helen Muir Papers: Include Mrs. Muir's personal as well as professional correspondence including letters to poet Robert Frost and his daughter, Leslie, Janet Reno, and Marjory Stoneman Douglas.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas Writer & Conservationist: Highlights the literary accomplishments and social activism of Marjory Stoneman Douglas, a unique personality in Florida history.
Mark F. Boyd Collection: Chronicles the work and life of Dr. Mark F. Boyd Collection (1889-1968), a specialist in tropical medicine, as well as the materials relating to Florida and United States history as well as to natural history and medicine.
Special Collections Books: Includes local promotional materials and a work of historical and pictorial information on the Alhambra Palace.
The Civil Rights Movement and the Black Experience in Miami: Relates the story of struggle, community challenges, and hope for Black Miami in the C20th and includes personal books, photographs, flier, and reports.
The Helen Carmichael Purdy Foundation Collection: Contains an outstanding collection of rare and unique research materials on Florida and its vast history.
Voices of Andrew:  An online archive of approximately seventy oral history interviews with people who lived through Hurricane Andrew, and experienced the subsequent recovery process in the first few months. Interviews were conducted by undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Miami under the supervision of Professor Eugene F. Provenzo, School of Education.

florida_postcard_1.jpgBreath of old Spain in Florida from the South Florida Postcard Collection at the University of Miami

Visual Resources

Coral Gables Garden Club Scrapbooks: Organized in 1925, the Coral Gables Garden Club has promoted gardening and community beautification in Coral Gables.
Florida Photograph Album Collection: Photographs from Florida's natural wonders, landscapes and historic landmarks from St. Augustine to Key West, dating primarily from the late 1800s to the 1920s.
Florida Photograph Collection: A selection of photographs focusing specifically on the Miami area.
Florida Promotional Materials: A selection of promotional booklets and flyers covering places and activities in South Florida.
Lillian Frow Peacock & Eunice Peacock Merrick Collection: Photographs showing the Frows, Peacocks, and other families at recognizable landmarks in historic Coconut Grove. Extended family and neighbors are portrayed in images dating from the 1860s through the early 1900s.
Old Florida Maps: A collection of digital reproductions of maps from monographs and private collections that relate the story of how Florida came to be. The author of this scholarly endeavor is Dr. Joseph Fitzgerald, founder and chairman of the Miami International Map Fair at the Historical Museum of Southern Florida.
Richard B. Hoit Photograph Collection: A collection by the photographer Richard Hoit who came to Miami in 1914. His collection of photographs includes scenes from regions as far apart as Vermont, Florida, and South America.
South Florida Postcards: A selection of postcards from the Florida Postcard Collection covering South Florida from the University of Miami Libraries Special Collections Division.
Souvenirs of Miami, Florida: 100 Years of Promotional Literature: The Special Collection of promotional literature that offers an important and colorful avenue to explore the historical development of Miami and its environs. 
The Jesse S. Wooley Florida Photographs: A collection of photographs from Jesse Sumner Wooley, a well-known photographer from Ballston Spa, New York of his trips to Florida in 1896, the1920s and 1930s.

Publication of Archival, Library & Museum Materials (PALMM)

A cooperative initiative by public universities and colleges in Florida to provide digital access to important source materials. The project creates high-quality virtual collections relevant to the students, research community and general citizenry of Florida. 

Florida State Library and Archives

The links below provide access to official repositories and archival materials relating to the rich cultural history of Florida from the 1900s till the present.

Subject Specialist

  • Adrian Legaspi

    History, Religious Studies, Political Science, International Studies, and Modern Languages & Literatures Librarian

    axl641@miami.edu

    284-3257

The following digital collections are made available by the Florida International University (FIU) and the University of South Florida (USF). They include a variety of digitized primary resources like maps, oral histories, postcards, and photographs that document the rich history of South Florida.