University of Miami - Ibis Yearbook (Coral Gables, FL)

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1916 A scattered, rural populace inhabited South Florida. One of the final American frontiers, Dade County was unin- corporated until 1896. Possessed with a unique climate cool, dry winters, and tropical, balmy summers, the South Florida area had something about it that the res- idents appreciated. Others would grow to appreciate it, too. In February, 1916, in this brand new area, William Jennings Bryan espoused the idea of a Pan-American university for the first time. Bryan envisioned a string of six such schools stretched along the south- ern border of the U.S. He sought a method of bringing together the peoples of the western hemisphere through educational and intellectual interaction. The idea won immediate support from the residents. While no financial base existed for such a project, its concept stuck in the minds of Miamians as some- thing that was totally necessary for the growth and development of the region. Nothing happened for a few years, until the next important person voiced the proposal again. George Merrick, plunging into the booming Florida real estate bus- iness for good in 1921, had control of the Coral Gables subdivision, not yet incor- porated as a municipality. One of his selling points to attract new residents to the area was that a university would some day be located here. He intended the in- stitution to be a university center for the entire Miami area, which had no comparable schools at the time. The Miami Chamber of Commerce ap- pointed a committee in 1923 to devise a general plan of growth for Dade County, and the university became part of the plan. Here was an active and ambitious community

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I . EDITOR AVRAM H. GOLDSTEIN ASSOCIATE EDITOR HARLAN M. GLADSTEIN ART DIRECTOR BRUCE C. POSNER

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Richard Veranes, the first Cuban student to attend UM, c. 1930.