Collections : [FIU Special Collections]

The Ramiro Casanas Collection provides a look into the Casanas Family's longtime passion for collecting. The collection's primary focus is on pieces that document Cuban history during the nineteenth and twentieth century. It features Cuban artwork, handwritten poetry, cigar boxes, periodicals, and sports paraphernalia. Also included are artifacts from around the world, such as international banknotes, political ephemera, maps, and photographs.

The Rob Boyte Collection contains photographs and photographic negatives created by photographer Rob Boyte during his time in Miami, Florida. The materials document individuals, neighborhoods, daily life, and the social and cultural landscape of Miami, including residential areas, streets, vehicles, and local animal life. The photographs also document events and social issues in Miami during the 1980s and later, including race relations and the local impact of international events such as the Iraq War. The collection also contains movie reviews reflecting Boyte's interest in film and cinema. In addition, the collection includes photographs and drawings depicting nudity and nude imagery. The materials provide visual and documentary evidence of people, places, everyday life, social and historical events, and cultural interests in Miami and their broader context.

This collection contains articles, both personal and from newspapers such as the El Nuevo Herald and ABC Madrid reflecting the local life of both Cuban and Hispanic cultures as well as personal documents detailing the life of Severo Sarduy and the political and social difficulties of Cuban life and of facing discrimination for homosexuality. Such documents are "Aprendizaje de la muerte" by Ignacio Echevarría, "En la muerte de Severo Sarduy" by Jose Miguel Ullan, and "Muere en Paris el escritor Severo Sarduy, figura emblemática del exilio cubano" by Juan Pedro Quiñonero.

The Cuban Human Right Collection date from 1961 to 2004, primarily covering issues of human rights on Cuba. In addition to Cuban newspaper clippings from the 1980s to the early 2000s, published in The Miami Herald, El Nuevo Herald, and other periodicals, the collection also includes audio interviews with Cuban dissidents, which include key members of the dissident movement in Cuba. Radio programs from Cuba en vivo y en directo, the first U.S. radio program to feature the perspectives of dissidents, created by Ariel Hidalgo in 1989. Documents written by jailed dissidents in Cuba. Photographs of Cuban dissidents. Television programs from Cuba, recorded from government-run TV stations on the island during the 1980s and 90s.