Museum's Books

SCULPTRESS FORGOTTEN

One of the many iconic images of Coral Gables, America's 'City Beautiful', are the heads of two firefighters sculpted in stone above the old city fire station. It was known that the heads were carved by a young sculptress named Joan Keller, but who she was and what happened to her, has always remained a mystery.When the old fire station was eventually converted into the Coral Gables Museum, the Museum Director, John Allen and his assistant, Orestes Gonzalez were determined to solve the mystery. This book chronicles their discovery of the sad but fascinating life of this beautiful, forgotten young sculptress.In many ways it also traces the history of America in the twentieth century.

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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, ...

THE DREAM SCREEN AT THE THEATER BEAUTIFUL The History of Coral Gable’s First Movie Theater; The Dream Theater

There are few things in life that are more distressing than opening your eyes to realize that the wonderful dream you were having only a few moments ago was, well, nothing more than a dream. Thus is the story of the Coral Gables Dream Theater, the massive open-air movie theater that graced the corner of Ponce de Leon Blvd and Giralda Ave from 1926 to c.1928. In May of 1926 it was announced by J. Gordon Hussey, a developer who had built his fair share of Coral Gables homes, that plans had been finalized and construction was commencing on Miami’s newest movie theater. Hussey dubbed it “The Dream Theater” and announced that the building would be two stories high and would contain 29 shops and offices, yielding a capacity of 1,500. In keeping with the architectural themes found within Coral Gables, John and Coulton Skinner were hired as architects and fashioned the building to replicate a famous bull ring in Seville, Spain. The excitement surrounding the announcement of this theate...

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