University of Miami Archives -- Let's Archive It

In coordination with the current Richter exhibition “This Space, This Place,” the University Archives is offering a mini exhibition titled “University of Miami’s First Campus” at the Special Collections Reading Room on the 8th floor of the library.

The featured item in the case is an appraisal report of the university properties from 1953. It contains a detailed map of Coral Gables that pinpoints the original location of the first campus of the university at the University Drive and Riviera Drive. The Anastasia Building was located there, which served as the home for administrative offices and classrooms of the University of Miami from 1926 through the late 1960s.

After the devastating hurricane of 1926 passed over South Florida, University officials knew that they would never be able to finish the Merrick Building and open on time, so they set their sights on the Anastasia Building, which was originally planned as a hotel but construction had been halted for lack of funds. The University leased the building and quickly installed room dividers to make the building function as a school. The building thus became known as the “Cardboard College.”

We hope this exhibition is going to be a good introduction for new students and employees to our collections and the university’s history and heritage.

1926 ~ The Miami Hurricanes’ First Season

August 1, 2014September 21, 2018 Admin

How did UM’s athletic program get started? What did the first team look like? Do you know how we came to adopt the name “the Hurricanes”?

With the fall semester and another exciting football season just around the corner, there’s no better time to explore the history of our team. A new exhibit from the University Archives features materials related to the Hurricanes’ first season, in 1926.

The exhibit is located on the third floor of Richter Library, adjacent to the Presidential Portrait Gallery, which includes portraits of the five presidents of the University, from 1925 to present.

Sports history is one of the most frequently referenced topics at the Archives. In addition to directories and programs that have been donated to us by the University of Miami Athletics, resources such as the University of Miami Historical Photograph Collection, IBIS yearbooks, and The Miami Hurricane Archive Online (1927-2004) hold a wealth of information about UM sports through the decades. In the coming year, even more information on the subject will be available from the fifty linear feet of historical images, press clippings, and publications that were recently donated by the department.

If you would like to learn more about the items on display in the exhibit or explore other topics related UM’s history, come by the University Archives, located on the 8th floor of Richter Library.

In the News

Summer Renovations at Richter Library

June 13, 2014September 21, 2018 Admin

A series of improvements to Richter Library’s facilities are underway. These include much needed enhancements to services and furnishings in the student study areas, replacement of entry turnstiles, and a crucial renovation of the library’s collections processing and maintenance areas on the third floor.

Although the renovations may lead to higher noise levels on Richter’s main floors, quiet work spaces will continue to be accessible in the stacks (floors 4-7 and 9) as well as the reading rooms in Special Collections (8th floor) and the Cuban Heritage Collection (2nd floor). Computers, laptops, and tablets are welcome in all of these spaces. However, please be aware that since both reading rooms hold distinctive collections, they have a “pencils only” writing policy, and food or beverages are not permitted.

If you are having difficulty locating a quiet work space, please visit Access Services (at the library’s entrance) for further assistance. We appreciate your patience this summer as we update our facilities, and look forward to an improved library experience for all.

People

U of M Opened Here

June 6, 2014September 21, 2018 Admin

This is a meaningful picture for the University taken in 2007 – two historically important people of the university are standing at the birthplace of the first campus. Dr. William Butler (left) and Dr. Henry King Stanford (right, third president of the University from 1962-1981) are standing in front of the sign “U of M Opened Here” located near downtown Coral Gables. The picture was given to us by Dr. B together with two dozens of additional images on his professional and personal life from 1942 to 2014.

Dr. Butler had served as the Vice President for Student Affairs and professor at the University of Miami for 32 years and retired in 1997. He is the founder of the William R. Butler Volunteer Service Center at the U.M. also. He helped me many times with research questions, and he is an ardent supporter of the University Archives by donating us his interview videos “Conversations with Dr. William Butler (1995-2004)” and publishing the book “Embracing the World: the University of Miami, from Cardboard College to International and Global Acclaim (2008).”

(Conversations with Dr. William Butler)

(Embracing the World)

Please go to the link below to see pictures and learn more about the first campus of the University.
(Anastasia building & North Campus)

Digital Collections

Airplane built by UM students

May 15, 2014September 21, 2018 Admin

It was a quiet afternoon a few days ago. My phone rang and I heard a raspy voice of an elderly patron. I heard him passionately telling me a story that he was in his 90s, he is retired for many years, his hobby is building model planes, and someone at a Washington DC museum gave him my phone number … I could not understand him at all. I heard some words like “airplane … U of M … early 30s … Lanier” in the conversation.

I finally figured out what this was about when he gave me the spelling of the word “Vacuplane” for the third time. I searched our digital collections by the keyword and found a dozen or so historical images and several newspaper clippings on the subject right away. I knew the University of Miami had an aviation training program in the past, but I did not know our students even built airplanes. Please see the image above with a note “Aviation courses at UM began in 1929 and ended in 1931. During that time students in Aviation built the Lanier XL-3 Vacuplane. It flew.” (It looks amazing!)

I copied the pictures and some diagrams of the plane and mailed them to the patron. I spent more time than I normally do for the request, because I enjoyed looking this up for myself. I wonder if the patron will give me a picture of the model he is going to create.

View Vacuplanes in the UM Historical Photograph Collection