Events – University of Miami Archives

March 20, 2018 became one of the most important dates for the Otto G. Richter Library to remember. To help celebrate the dedication of the Kislak Center, the University Archives is offering two exhibitions in the beautifully renovated space. The first theme is “The History of the Kislak Center Venue,” and the other is “Pan-American Concept in the Past and Present Administrations.” Below, please see the text and exhibits from “The History of the Kislak Center Venue.”

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The History of the Kislak Center Venue

The opening of the Kislak Center’s Reading Room signals the triumphant return of the University of Miami Libraries’ premier scholarly and cultural presentation space.

Originally, this portion of the Library was built as Phase One of a central library for the University. When opened in 1960, it housed collections brought together from multiple storage locations and provided workspace for a few technical staff members. It was not open to students or faculty. Over the following two years, above and beside the structure that houses today’s Kislak Center, the main library was built and named for the benefactor Otto G. Richter.

In 1963, the University named the first floor of the Phase One facility in honor of George A. Brockway, who was the first significant donor to the University’s construction fund for a library building.

Over the next three decades, Brockway Lecture Hall was used for conferences, poetry and theatrical presentations, concerts, and exhibitions. It was also the gathering space for the very successful Friends of the University of Miami Library. Founded in 1960, Marjorie Stoneman Douglas served as the Friends’ first president.

Beginning in 1993, this space was used for other purposes, including collection storage. From 1999 until 2003, Brockway also housed the Cuban Heritage Collection.

Today’s opening of the Kislak Center brings the mission of this space full circle – once again celebrating a mission of scholarship, culture, and community engagement.

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Exhibits:

President Ashe (Left) Receiving a Donation from George A. Brockway
1943

Brockway was an upstate New York “Gentleman Farmer” who wintered in Miami. He made the first major gift toward construction of a central library. In recognition, the University named the Kislak Center venue the “George A. Brockway Lecture Hall” in 1963.

University of Miami Historical Photograph Collection
University Archives, University of Miami Libraries

Phase One of the Construction of the Otto G. Richter Library Completed in August 1960
1960

The stand-alone Phase One structure was primarily used for collection storage. There was no public access.

University of Miami Historical Photograph Collection
University Archives, University of Miami Libraries

Interior View of the Lecture Hall
ca. 1963

University of Miami Historical Photograph Collection
University Archives, University of Miami Libraries

Senator Edward “Ted” Kennedy holds a press conference in the Lecture Hall
1967

The Joseph P. Kennedy Foundation provided a grant and the land toward construction of the Mailman Center for Child Development.

University of Miami University Communications Collection
University Archives, University of Miami Libraries

Richter Exhibition in the Lecture Hall
1984

Richter Library’s Open House was an annual event in the 1980s to welcome the University family and showcase its services and collections. The Lecture Hall was the focal point of the festivities for the guests to browse historical materials and rare books.

University of Miami Historical Photograph Collection
University Archives, University of Miami Libraries

Dr. Josephine Johnson’s Poetry Recital held in the Lecture Hall
1984

Dr. Josephine Johnson is Professor Emeritus of the University of Miami School of Communication, former Chair of the Department of Communication, and an alumna of the University. Her scholarship extended from W. B. Yates to post-modern British poets and she was a recognized solo performer throughout the country.

Josephine Johnson Papers
Special Collections, University of Miami Libraries

Events

Denman Fink as UM Professor

June 22, 2017September 20, 2018 Admin

Denman Fink (1880-1956) is often remembered as the artist and illustrator who left an important legacy through the designs he created for George Merrick’s real estate projects in Coral Gables during the 1920s. But he was also a highly regarded educator of art and architecture at the University of Miami, from the founding of the University in 1926 until his retirement in 1952. Since the University of Miami was always an integral part of Merrick’s planned community, Fink, a board member of the consulting architects of Coral Gables, was involved with the University from its inception.

Professor Fink first appeared as Consultant in Architecture in the 1929 Ibis.

The University Archives holds original materials by Denman Fink in the University of Miami Campus Architecture Collection. Fink created the iconic promotional poster entitled Keep the World Coming to Florida, Build the University of Miami, and the collection also includes artistic renderings and preliminary studies for the campus, many never realized, as well as lesser-known architectural drawings of the Solomon G. Merrick Building, campus dormitories, studio apartments, a research lab, and a stadium. A portrait of President Ashe painted by Fink, and the master’s thesis “Denman Fink: Dream Coordinator to George Merrick and the Development of Coral Gables, Florida,” represent other important items that are available for research.

View of the exhibition on the 8th floor of the Otto G. Richter Library.

These materials complement The Life and Art of Denman Finke, an exhibition currently on view at the Coral Gables Museum. University Archives partnered with the museum and provided a number of digitized items for their exhibit.

Trustee Julian S. Eaton commissioned the Ashe portrait in honor of the University’s 25th Anniversary in 1951.

Events, In the News

Now On View – Our New Exhibition “We Were Pioneers”

February 8, 2017September 20, 2018 Admin

Entrance view of the exhibition “We Were Pioneers.”

The University Archives is pleased to announce a new exhibition “We Were Pioneers” for the African American History Month to honor the University of Miami’s African-American Students, Faculty, and Administrators of the 1960s and 1970s.

Front wall of the exhibition space honors 12 student UTrailbrazers.

The exhibition features publications, images, memorabilia, and other artifacts from the University Archives’s collection in 9 exhibition cases and surrounding walls on the first floor of the Otto G. Richter Library. You will be able to find out University of Miami’s desegregation history, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic visit to the University, United Black Students, first African-American athletes, first African-American faculty and administrators, local resources on diversity, and so on in the exhibits. This exhibition also showcases Richter’s Special Collections’ materials on Miami’s desegregation and civil rights movement history.

We will create an online version of this exhibition shortly so that future faculty and students can research the materials and resources we put together for the exhibition. Also, we hope this exhibition will inspire our fellow colleagues as well as former and current Canes to archive with us.

Have you thought U’s centennial celebration is only 8 years away? We hope we will be able to curate a monumental exhibition to celebrate the U’s centennial jubilee with historical materials from all the schools, departments, and student groups of the University.

Rear wall of the exhibition space honors UTrailbrazer faculty and administrators.

The rich contents of “Malaika,” published by the United Black Students in the 1970s and 1980s, made possible for us to curate the exhibition.

Events

Current Exhibition Extended Through July

April 22, 2016September 20, 2018 Admin

We just received approval by Dean Charles Eckman to extend our current exhibition “The Pan American University: The Original Spirit of the U Lives On” through July 2016, so that the participants of the RBMS Conference could see it when they visit the Otto G. Richter Library in late June.

FYI, RBMS stands for Rare Books and Manuscripts Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries, which is a division of the American Library Association. This year the group meets in Miami from June 21 to 24 at the Biltmore Hotel for various programs. Please go to the link below for further information about the conference.

RBMS2016

We appreciate very much the opportunity to display University of Miami’s history as well as University Archives’ collections for the attendees of the Conference.

Events, In the News, Research Assistance

UM Historical Materials Showcased at Inauguration 2016

March 2, 2016September 20, 2018 Admin

Written by Koichi Tasa and Sarah Block

Staff and student assistants at the University Archives recently caught a glimpse of the enormous effort in producing large-scale events when they assisted in planning the celebration of President Frenk’s inauguration, which took place during the last week of January 2016.

The University Archives, which houses a vast expanse of records documenting the history of the University of Miami, provided research and exhibition assistance for the “Firsts at UM” event on January 27 in the Newman Alumni Center as well as the inaugural ceremony, which was held on January 29 at the Bank United Center.

Koichi Tasa says December to January was the busiest time in the decade he has served as University Archivist. “In these months, we gained valuable experience through collaboration with colleagues outside of the UM Libraries,” Tasa said. “We were proud to help bring UM history to life through the materials we preserve.”

President Frenk holding the Second Ceremonial Mace of the UM. Photo Courtesy of University Communications.

Working with the Office of the President, University Communications, and other University departments, Tasa and his staff culled information as well as artifacts, including more than 300 high-resolution images for a video that aired at the event and past inaugural addresses and programs from three previous inauguration ceremonies.

The department’s materials were also featured in an exhibit at “Firsts at UM,” in which President Frenk and UM historian and author Arva Moore Parks discussed key moments throughout the 90-year history of the U. Guests, including several pioneers and trailblazers, viewed and engaged with prized memorabilia such as the second commencement mace of the University and the commencement cap and gown worn by the first University president Ashe. Official portraits of the former five UM presidents, also housed by the Archives, were on display.

“Inauguration 2016 was an opportunity, in addition to showcasing our collections and services, to take an active part in the history as it’s being made,” Tasa says. “An unexpected benefit from this experience was that we got to learn more about our wonderful colleagues, who are already proposing ideas for the U’s centennial celebration in 2026.”

In order to assist in facilitating these ideas, Tasa says the University Archives plans to reach out to more schools, departments, and student groups to archive their organizational history. “We believe that such efforts would be a tremendous help for the next historian to write a new book about the University of Miami at the centennial anniversary.”