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Special Collections and Archives
Documenting the History of the Sunshine State and Beyond
- Main Library
- 101 West Flagler Street
- 305‑375‑5572
The Miami-Dade Public Library System's Special Collections and Archives Division oversees and maintains a wide number of collections ranging from rare books and genealogy materials to 16mm films.
The mission of the Special Collections and Archives Division is to preserve and organize all of its collections with the highest archival and library standards, continually improving intellectual control over and access to the collections, including integrating Special Collections holdings into the information systems of the library and developing new information services.
Genealogy Collection
The Genealogy Collection is housed at Main Library and consists of over 27,000 publications and 35,000 microfilm units and maintains materials on nearly all major US cities, US states and territories, as well as a growing international section. Several families have donated their self-published newsletters or family trees to the Miami-Dade Public Library System.
The Genealogy Collection maintains these unpublished archive files and they are also available through our Digital Collections. Genealogy reference librarians are available onsite and through Miami-Dade Public Library System’s electronic reference service (e-reference) to assist patrons in conducting their family research. The collection is open to the public and accessible during the Main Library’s regular hours of operation.
Free online sources, as well as organizational subscriptions to pay database services, are available to assist in family research. The Miami-Dade County Obituary Index provides publication citations for over 915,000 individuals whose obituaries or death notices were published in Miami newspapers from 1896 to 2008. This online index was digitally published from the files of Ann J. McFadden for her compilation print work, Dade County Florida Obituary Index, which included deaths in Miami-Dade County during the timeframe.
The earliest Dade County deaths featured a much larger territory than it encompasses today, and these obituary citations were included as-is in the index. The online index is available for free to everyone at obituaryindex.mdpls.org. The Genealogy Collection also maintains an organizational subscription to Ancestry Library Edition, and access is provided for free to Miami-Dade Public Library card holders for in-house use at each of its branch locations.
Helen Muir Florida Collection
The Helen Muir Florida Collection contains a broad range of information about the Sunshine State, with special emphasis on South Florida. The collection is comprised of works by Florida authors and Floridiana including rare books, documents, photographic and indexes of regional newspapers. It also includes the Gleason Waite Romer Collection of 17,500 photographic negatives and prints (available online through our Digital Collections) that show Miami's history from 1925 through the 1950s.
A variety of original manuscripts from Florida authors and poets are included within our archives which spans over 500 authors, and approximately 96 linear feet. Topics within the collection include Spanish American War, Florida Treaties, Poster Collection of Events. The Miami-Dade Public Library’s history is also recorded at length from the very beginning of the City of Miami Public Library.
The Vasari Project
The Vasari Project is a library collection dedicated to documenting, collecting and preserving Miami‑Dade County's art history from 1945 to the present. It is a living archive that grows through contributions from artists, art professionals, exhibition spaces, galleries, institutions and private donors.
The Vasari Project is a resource for ongoing research, scholarship, publications, artists' projects, exhibitions and events. The archive collects documentation rather than original works of art comprised primarily of printed matter: correspondence, press clippings, photographs, posters, books, exhibition catalogs, artists' files, oral histories and other ephemeral materials.
16mm Film Collection
The 16mm film collection has existed within the library for over 55 years. Its first films were part of the City of Miami's public library and began in the 1960s before there was a county library. When the Miami-Dade Public Library System was formed, the County supplemented its local funding for films with Federal LSCA grants (Library Services and Construction Act) which was enacted in 1964 by the U.S. Congress and ceased in 1995.
Apart from leased feature films, all films were purchased for free exhibitions for the life of the print within the collection include Experimental/avant-garde art films, non-narrated films, Children's films, African American history, Floridiana and local history. Today there are over 4,000 films within the collection.
Highlights of the collection include:
- Experimental/avant-garde art films: Ballet Mecanique, Bells of Atlantis, Len Lye's Particles in space and Tal Farlow, Kenneth Anger’s Rabbit Moon, Whitney’s Yantra or Arabesque, Maya Deren’s At Land.
- Non-narrated films: Femme Fleur, String bean.
- Children's films.
- African American history: Aretha Franklin soul singer, Black shadows on a silver screen, Eyes on the prize series, Nguzo Sava series.
- Floridiana and local history: A few things I know about Miami, Last night at the S&S Diner, Growing up with Rockets.
Cuban Collection
The Cuban Collection houses histories on the island; poetry and fiction by Cuban authors; tourism ephemera; cartography historical documents, and newsletters with information on American owned businesses and Cuban socialites. Many items from this collection are included in our Digital Collections.
Formerly available in the Spanish language section of the library, the collection's rarity and comprehension of prerevolution documentation makes the collection stand out as one of our premier collections and under-recognized collection. Associated Cuban material is the Losada Family papers, part of the Genealogy Collection.
Rare & Antiquarian Book Collection
The Rare & Antiquarian Book Collection includes a wide range of books of rare and high monetary value including a first edition of Catesby's Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands.
Please note that items from this collection are not available for check out.