Missing the View from Above: aviation photographs from digital collections
When people talk about things they miss during this time of COVID19 restriction, it’s typical to hear things like parties, restaurants, bars, shopping, and other leisure activities which physical distancing has limited or eliminated entirely. One thing I never thought I would miss was the sound of planes flying low over my house. I live blocks from the airport and spent most of my childhood … Continue reading Missing the View from Above: aviation photographs from digital collections
Earth and Archives
Spring is here, along with a plethora of Earth-related holidays to celebrate our planet and bring us together, including International Day of Forests (March 21), World Water Day (March 22) Manatee Appreciation Day (March 25), Arbor Day (April 10) and Earth day (April 22). Working here in Special Collections, it’s easy to wonder what a library devoted to rare books and manuscripts of the past … Continue reading Earth and Archives
Now Accepting Applications: The World Wings International, Inc. Research Grant
The World Wings International, Inc. Research Grant The World Wings International, Inc. (WWI) Research Grant, is an annual grant which is open to advanced graduate students, independent scholars, and faculty members who are interested in conducting research on the organizational records of WWI, a historic association of former Pan Am flight attendants. Priority will be given to research proposals that will result in publication in … Continue reading Now Accepting Applications: The World Wings International, Inc. Research Grant
Handle with Care | Preservation Strategies for Pan Am’s Digital Archive
Repair and conserve: a phrase that drives a vast and complex component of University of Miami Libraries’ (UML) mission. Primary source materials and books are handled over years, decades, and even centuries; room conditions fluctuate, humidity falls and rises, and critters occasionally find their way to them for a snack. For the specialists that manage UML’s Preservation Strategies Department, “repair and conserve” holds a significance … Continue reading Handle with Care | Preservation Strategies for Pan Am’s Digital Archive
25 Years Ago – Hurricane Andrew and a School Project That Went Far
As the extremely powerful Hurricane Irma made its way towards Florida on September 10 this year, it stirred some depressing memories in many residents of Miami and the South Florida regions – memories of Hurricane Andrew, which had struck 25 years ago with devastating consequences. In the early morning hours of August 24th, 1992 Hurricane Andrew, the biggest storm to hit Miami in over 60 … Continue reading 25 Years Ago – Hurricane Andrew and a School Project That Went Far
THIS JUST IN: Dissecting Gender Roles through Greeting Cards
By Yvette Yurubi, Special Collections Archives Assistant According to the Greeting Card Association, greeting cards have their recorded origins dating as far back as the Ancient Egyptians, who would often include messages of goodwill on papyrus scrolls. Greeting cards had a prolific growth in use with the advent of the printing press and the rise of systemic, government-operated mail delivery that made it easier to … Continue reading THIS JUST IN: Dissecting Gender Roles through Greeting Cards
THIS JUST IN: Motoring through the Depression: to Florida & New England by ‘House Car’
By Nicola Hellmann-McFarland, Special Collections Library Assistant What exactly is a “house car”? It is, indeed, what it sounds like -a house that is also a car, very much like any other recreational vehicle (RV). However, it is often custom-built on a truck frame or a small bus, converted into a bulky sleeper and touring car made to allow its driver and inhabitants to romance the road … Continue reading THIS JUST IN: Motoring through the Depression: to Florida & New England by ‘House Car’
When the Illusory is Real: Richard Haas’ Fontainebleau Trompe-l’oeil Mural
Perhaps it was foreboding, ominous, or just plain bad luck, but in 1986, when Richard Haas’s iconic mural on a side addition of the Fontainebleau Miami Beach was christened, the Mayor of Miami Beach Alex Daoud tried to smash a champagne bottle on the wall and couldn’t. The bottle didn’t break. Around a decade later, Mayor Daoud was indicted on forty-one counts of bribery and … Continue reading When the Illusory is Real: Richard Haas’ Fontainebleau Trompe-l’oeil Mural
THIS JUST IN: Ben Cartwright Wants You to Know About Propaganda
By Nicola Hellmann-McFarland, Special Collections Library Assistant For those of you old enough, or those who have fathers and grandfathers that remember the Golden Age of Television, the 1960s TV show, Bonanza, was about Ben “Pa” Cartwright and his three sons, who ran a farm by the name of “Ponderosa Ranch” in the Wild West during the Civil War era. Bonanza aired on television for an amazing fourteen years, … Continue reading THIS JUST IN: Ben Cartwright Wants You to Know About Propaganda
The Man Who Built South Florida: The Landscape Designs of William Lyman Phillips
Imagine the wilderness of South Florida. In your head, right now. Born and raised native, resident, or visitor, everyone can concoct a vision of sprawling mangroves clasping the shoreline, sawgrass slicing through the slough, or lush sea grape hanging over the sand dunes. Feel the breeze. Let any version of being outside in the tropics come into your thoughts. Relax. There’s a man who lived … Continue reading The Man Who Built South Florida: The Landscape Designs of William Lyman Phillips
Special Collections Mosaic 