Other Information
Accession:
1985-040
2012-227
For further biographical information and reproductions of about 200 of the images, see The Forgotten Frontier, by Arva Moore Parks (Miami: Banyan Books, 1977).
See also Munroe's autobiography, The Commodore's Story (Miami: Historical Association of Southern Florida, 1985), originally published 1930.
After spending several winters in in the Miami area, Ralph Munroe took up permanent residence in the settlement that would become Coconut Grove in 1884. A renowed designer of sailboats, an nventor and photographer, he also made a living salvaging shipwrecks on the Florida reefs for the Coastal Wrecking Company.
Munroe was one of the founders of Coconut Grove and helped organize the Biscayne Bay Yacht Club. Installed as club's first commodore, he was thereafter affectionately known as "The Commodore". A widower, he married Jessie Wirth in 1895, and with their children, Wirth and Patty, lived at The Barnacle which he had built in 1891. The family occupied the house until 1968 when it was sold at a nominal price to the Sate of Florida for use as a historic site and museum.
Published
Correspondence, school reports, Miami High School yearbooks, the Adirondack-Florida School Christmas letters, club membership directories, photographs, newspaper clippings, Eleventh Judical Circuit grand jury report and other ephemera mostly pertaining to the interests and pursuits of Ralph Munroe and his son, Wirth. Of interest are two letters from an Associate at the American Museum of Natural History asking Ralph to provide data on the capture of a Whale Shark in off the Florida Keys.
Tea Chest correspondence, invoices and guest book. The Tea Chest was a Coconut Grove tea room and gift shop. Material reflects a wide variety of items for the shop, many handcrafted, and includes letters from the United Society of Shakers, Cowan Pottery, and enterprises run by women across the country, as well as invoices from Miami area businesses.
Ralph M. Munroe photographs, 1883-1915: Views reflect Munroe's nautical and family interests.
Glass negative originals not available due to fragility.
As a preservation measure, researchers must view the reference set of printed reproductions.
Gift of Patty Munroe Catlow, 1985
Photographic prints accession number: 2012-228
© Copyright 2019 HistoryMiami Archives & Research Center. All rights reserved.
HistoryMiami Museum's objects collections contain one of Munroe's cameras, as well as other Munroe family memorabilia.
Please reach out to objects@historymiami.org for inquiries.
The collection is open for research.
Permission from HistoryMiami staff is required prior to reproduction of drawings and photographs in a publication. Please contact archives staff for more information.
Published
Views captured in photographs reflect Munroe's nautical and family interests. Most are of Coconut Grove; the Barnacle (his home); people (his family, friends, winter tourists, Blacks, and Seminoles); water-oriented places (Miami River, Florida Keys, Bahamas, lighthouses, etc.), and maritime activities on Biscayne Bay (boat-building, his sailboats, wrecking, Biscayne Bay Yacht Club, etc.). A few of the images were taken in the north, most likely Staten Island.
The 637 photographic prints are contact prints of the dry-plate (glass) negatives and copy negatives. They are arranged by topic.
Of the dry-plate negatives, 285 are 4x5" and 354 are between 4x5" and 8x10." Direct-duplicate negatives have been made from the glass negatives, to protect the originals. The negatives are arranged by kind and size, using an alpha-numeric system devised by Patty Munroe Catlow and Arva Moore Parks.
Glass negative originals not available due to fragility.
As a preservation measure, researchers must view the reference set of printed reproductions.
Published
1-2 Miscellaneous
3 Bahamas
4-5 Barnacle
6 Camp Biscayne
7 Coconut Grove
8 Florida Keys
9 Lighthouses
10 Miami River and environs
Published
11 Natural features (landscapes, plants, animals, etc.)
12 Portraits
13 Portraits--Munroe family
14 Seminole Indians
15-16 Ships and boats
17 Photographic prints from sources other than the Munroe family
18 Photographic prints used in exhibitions
Published