Skip to main content

John Allen

Allen is a third-generation Miamian, being born At Doctors' Hospital in Coral Gables. Although he was raised in Pinecrest, his parents continued to be active in the Coral Gables community. He is an avid reader and collector of books, primarily on European history, Florida history and cinema, and is proud of his collection which currently comprises in excess of 4,500 volumes collected over a period of more than 45 years.

An avid lover of the Miami-Coral Gables area, Allen has lived his entire life in the area where he was born. He earned his under-graduate degrees in Political Science and History at the University of Miami, where he also pursued his post-graduate studies.

In 1992, while working as regional director for a large personnel management company, Allen became a member of the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce. From 1994 until 2017, he held several management and executive roles for a regional financial institution headquartered in Coral Gables, becoming Vice President of Operations in 2010. Since his retirement in 2017 he has served as the Executive Director of the Coral Gables Museum.

In August 2018 he was an honoree of the George E. Merrick Award for Leadership & Community Service, and in October 2018 was honored the D.A.R. for Outstanding Community Service.

Published Works:

"The Ouzts Family in America", 2004
"Ross Alexander, Fleeting Star", Classic Images, 1998
"Annabella", Films of the Golden Age, 1999
"Sculptress Forgotten", Coral Gables Museum, 2018

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

History of the Museum

In 2003, the non-profit Coral Gables Museum Corp. was formed under the leadership of the City of Coral Gables to direct and operate a museum in the Old Police and Fire Station. In 2008, work began in earnest on the restoration, renovation and expansion of the 1939 WPA building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The architect Jorge Hernandez together with Dooley Mack Constructors led the historic preservation project. On October 10, 2010 (10-10-10), Museum staff occupied the building and reopened it to the public. In November 2011, the Coral Gables Museum unveiled the inaugural exhibits and began its first year of full operation. In 2013, the Coral Gables Museum became the Official Visitor Center for the City Beautiful.  The Museum is a true public/private partnership between the City of Coral Gables and the Coral Gables Museum Corp., a private, not for profit 501.c.3 corporation operating an educational cultural institution within a City owned facility.  ...

A SPANISH ROYAL IN THE GABLES

In 1985 an elderly lady of nearly 80, living with her sister in a modest home at 722 Cadima Ave. in Coral Gables, received an unexpected invitation. The invitation, which came from King Juan Carlos of Spain, invited her to a royal funeral at the El Escorial Monastery. The ceremony was for the entombment of His Royal Highness Alfonso of Borbon, Prince of the Asturias, the heir to the Spanish throne, and later styled the Count of Covadonga.  What made the royal invitation unusual was that Edelmira Sampedro-Robato, the lady in question, was not only that that she had once been wed to Alfonso, or that in 1933 the prince had renounced his rights to the abolished Spanish throne in 1933 to marry her, that the couple had divorced in 1937 after a tempestuous marriage of four years, but that Alfonso had, by 1985, been dead for nearly 40 years. If those reasons were not enough for her surprise, Alfonso, shortly before his untimely death had remarried, and divorced. Edelmira respectfully dec...

The First Wife of Richard Merrick

When thinking of Richard Merrick’s wife, most people today recall only the universally beloved Mildred Heath Selles, a widow and the respected UM Reference Librarian, whom he wed in 1969, when he was 66 and to whom he was happily married for 17 years until his death in 1986. Not so. Two women bearing the name Mrs. Richard Merrick preceded her. Emerging artist Merrick had worked for elder brother George in advertising and had lived in New York from 1927 where he lived intermittently, plying his art, but by 1930, he was back in Coral Gables. It was in his hometown where he married Marion Wallace, the 22-year-old daughter of Beatrice Wallace and the late Griffith Wallace of 6704 LeJeune Road, on the evening of October 13, 1932. Marion had attended the University of Miami where she was a member of the Alpha Delta Sorority. Beatrice owned and operated Beatrice Wallace Hostess Bureau. The quiet nuptials took place at 912 Velencia Avenue, the home of Otis Spencer, Justice of the Peace, ...