Progress Report - University of Miami Libraries

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The Importance of Special Collections The scope and depth of the Libraries’ special collections distinguish the University of Miami from its peers and help establish the University as one of the nation’s elite institutions of higher learning. Researchers depend on our special collections’ rich primary sources and other rare and unique materials to build and support their scholarship. Miami’s holdings are particularly strong in manuscripts, images, and books from the diasporas of Cuba and the Caribbean and Latin America—materials that provide insight into the peoples and cultures of the greater Miami area and the region. 12 “The Bog Walk,” from A Picturesque Tour of the Island of Jamaica from Drawings made in the Years 1820 and 1821, by James Hakewill (London: Hurst and Robinson, 1825). Hakewill’s illustrations depict beautiful landscapes and the pro-plantation propaganda of idyllic images of complacent slaves.
Above: Dr. John Brown and two other men at the segregated Virginia Beach in Key Biscayne, Florida, 1958. Below: Pin from one of the Freedom Rides organized by the Congress of Racial Equality in the early 1960s. These items are from the Dr. John O. Brown and Marie Faulkner Brown Papers. Right: Reverend Theodore R. Gibson riding in a car parade accompanied by his wife, Thelma Gibson, when he was Vice-Mayor of the City of Miami; elected to the Miami City Commission in 1972, Reverend Gibson was one of the most important civil rights leaders in Miami in the early 1960s. Photograph is from the Theodore R. Gibson Family Papers. Teaching with Special Collections When Professor of History Donald Spivey teaches his students about the African American Civil Rights Movement, he doesn’t just point them towards books. He takes them to the Otto G. Richter Library’s special collections reading room to read the words and see the photographs of Miamians who experienced that revolutionary time period and the activists that engineered change. “These first-hand reports, not filtered through the perspective of authors or historians, impress the students in ways textbooks cannot,” says Spivey, who teaches African American and American history. “Having access to collections where they can do research with primary sources is fantastic. It really develops the students’ analytical skills.” The resources available to students in the Libraries’ Special Collections department have increased substantially in the last few years through the acquisition of several significant collections from Miami’s African American pioneers and activists. “Most people don’t realize the importance of what they have, especially when they live through significant periods of history,” says Deputy University Librarian Yolanda Cooper. “Members of the African American community may want to consider the University of Miami as a repository for their archives where they will be preserved and made available to future generations.” 13
Page 1 and 2: esearch University Libraries digita
Page 3 and 4: A Message from the Dean The last fo
Page 5 and 6: Digital Library Fellows In March 20
Page 7 and 8: Lecturer Zachary Hickman’s Englis
Page 9 and 10: Building the University of Miami Vi
Page 11: Service Learning Partnership with t
Page 15 and 16: Digitized items from the Cuban Heri
Page 17 and 18: Notable Acquisitions In 2006, the c
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Page 21 and 22: Chronicling the Black Experience Th
Page 23 and 24: Gifts that Ensure the Libraries’
Page 25 and 26: Honor Roll We gratefully acknowledg
Page 27 and 28: Our Mission: To serve, support, and

Progress Report - University of Miami Libraries

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