Collections

These photographs document the construction of the buildings and the Breezeway of the Boca Raton Campus from 1962 to 1969. In 2010 Algonquin was renamed to Nations North Residence Hall, Modoc is gone, Humanities Building was renamed to the Arts and Letters Building, Biological Science was renamed to Behavioral Sciences Building.

This collection consists of 224 photographs used by Dr. Donald W. Curl when writing his book, "Florida Atlantic University," Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Press, 2000.  This collection of photographs were gathered by Dr. Curl from the University Archives Photograph Collections. The selected photographs represent the period from 1960's through the FAU administration of Dr. Anthony James Catanese. Most photographs have information written by an unknown person on the protective sleeve, and, in some cases, the information was identified by the archivist as incorrect. Other information on the protective sleeve may also be incorrect.

John D. Early is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Florida Atlantic University. Dr. Early joined the faculty of the Anthropology Department in 1969. He was chair of the department for several years and retired in 1993. His educational background includes a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Master of Arts in Social Philosophy from St. Louis University, a Master of Arts in Theology from Woodstock College (a Jesuit Seminary), a Master of Arts in Sociology from Fordham University, and a PhD in Anthropology-Sociology from Harvard University (1965). Dr. Early began his career as a Jesuit priest, although he resigned from the priesthood in 1969. As a member of the Harvard-Chiapas Research Project, he went to Zinacantán to study Maya worldview and its Catholic elements. Later, his interest turned to demographic research as a planning basis for the literacy, cooperative and health programs in which he was involved among the Maya in Guatemala. It was also intended to bring to national and international attention to the severe malnutrition and high mortality among the Maya primarily as a result of social injustice. This interest then turned into fulltime research on the evolution of human population dynamics: for hunter-gathering groups as exemplified by the Agta in the Philippines, for tribal groups as exemplified by the Yanomami in Brazil, for peasants by the Maya in Mexico and Guatemala.

John O'Sullivan (1939-2000) was a professor of history at Florida Atlantic University. Dr. O'Sullivan attended Fordham University for his undergraduate studies and then Columbia University where he attained a M.A. and Ph.D. After graduating in 1971, he came to Florida Atlantic University where he served as chair of the History Department (1975-1978) and devoted his entire academic career. Dr. O'Sullivan received numerous research fellowships including the American Philosophical Society, the American Historical Association, and the Sloan Foundation.

Samuel A. Portnoy (1920 - 2004) was a professor of History at Florida Atlantic University (1963-1991) in Boca Raton, Florida.  Dr. Portnoy was a native New Yorker and received his bachelor's degree and Ph.D.  from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and his master's from the University of Chicago. In 1963, he began teaching history at Florida Atlantic University where he was actively involved in the planning of the University's academic program.  He was also first chairman of the Department of History at FAU.  His areas of specialization include Russian and Soviet history, 19th and 20th century European history, and Modern Jewish history. Dr. Portnoy was also a prominent lecturer, speaking on subjects of current and historic importance.  These subjects included the Middle East, the Gorbachev revolution, German unification, and select topics in modern Jewish history (Hasidism, Zionism, Jewish labor and social movements in Europe and the United States), and various aspects of Yiddish culture.  Much of his research was focused on the Jewish Labor Bund and the life of Vladimir Medem, a Russian Jewish political leader.  Portnoy's publications include articles in both Yiddish and English for the journals Labor History, Dissent, and Yiddish. He is also the editor-translator of Vladimir Medem's memoirs entitled: The Life and Soul of a Legendary Jewish Socialist and Henryk Erlich and Victor Alter – Two Heroes and Martyrs for Jewish Socialism.

Dr. Walter Wadepuhl (1895-1989) is well-known for his scholarship on German poets Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Heinrich Heine. Born in Germany in 1895, he immigrated to the United States at the age of twelve. He held a Master of Arts degree from Columbia University and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Wadepuhl was head of the Department of Languages and Comparative Literature at Elmhurst College where he also taught German for nineteen years. In 1964, he was appointed Distinguished Visiting Professor of German at Florida Atlantic University. Dr. Wadepuhl authored many articles and several books on Goethe and Heine, including Goethe's Interest in the New World (1934) and Heine: Sein Leben und seine Werke (1974). The collection also includes correspondence, research notes, manuscripts, publications, photographs and letters with other German scholars.

The aerial photographs in this collection document the construction of buildings and the changing landscape on FAU Campuses and surrounding Boca Raton area. The aerials photographs show the overall growth of the campus of Florida Atlantic University. In 2010 Algonquin Hall was renamed to Nations North Residence Hall, Modoc no longer exists, Humanities Building was renamed to  the Arts and Letters Building, Biological Science was renamed to  the Behavioral Sciences Building.

This collection contains photographs from the FAU College of Business. To provide a sample of each box, a selection of photographs were described. If you would like to see more photographs, please contact lysca@fau.edu and make an appointment.

Photographs of FAU's Fencing Team.

The Founding Documents collection span the years 1959-1965, with the bulk of the material dating from 1960 to 1964.  The collection highlights the planning and development of Florida Atlantic University and it is organized in six series: Early Planning, Planning, Groundbreaking, Media Relations, Dedication, and Inauguration.