The Wolfsonian Library Unwrapped
Located in South Beach, The Wolfsonian–FIU museum is housed in a historic edifice erected in 1927. It faces Washington Avenue with a decorated exterior inspired by the plateresque façade of the University of Salamanca, a Spanish-influenced architectural style popular on the beach before the transition to Art Deco in the 1930s.
Courtesy of: CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39607
The Wolfsonian–FIU, Washington Storage Company Archive
The original structure was built after the Great Hurricane of 1926 made a direct hit on the barrier island and Miami mainland, claiming hundreds of lives and destroying much of the region’s infrastructure.
The Wolfsonian–FIU, Mitchell Wolfson, Jr. Collection
The Wolfsonian–FIU, gift of Michael Hughes
The Wolfsonian–FIU, Mitchell Wolfson, Jr. Collection
The Matthew’s family recognized a business opportunity in the wake of the devastating storm and laid the groundwork for a three-story, high-end storage facility.
The Wolfsonian–FIU, Washington Storage Company Archive
A company brochure boasted that forty per cent more steel was used in the construction of the fortress-like facility than was required by the strict building codes that went into effect in the aftermath of the hurricane. Mr. Matthews aimed to cater to the well-to-do families occupying mansions on the beach during the winter season, but who returned to the northern climes when the weather grew too warm and inhospitable before the advent of air conditioning. Company trucks would drive out to their clients’ mansions and transport all their worldly possessions to the facility for safe keeping: wrapping and crating paintings, carpets, and furniture, and storing silver, books, and other valuables in vaults.
The Wolfsonian–FIU, Washington Storage Company Archive
The storage company even provided storage space for automobiles, bringing them up to the third floor by way of an industrial elevator still in service today.
The Wolfsonian–FIU, Washington Storage Company Archive
When patrons returned for the next winter season, the Washington Storage staff offered such extra services such as vacuuming and steam-cleaning carpets, polishing silverware, and even reupholstering furniture before bringing their furnishings back to their clients’ homes.
The Wolfsonian–FIU, Washington Storage Company Archive
Business was booming in the 1930s, as Miami Beach’s economy rebounded after the land bust that followed the Great Hurricane and new hotels, apartments, and entertainment venues sprang up even as the rest of the country suffered through the doldrums of the Great Depression. To meet the demand for storage, the Matthews family added two more stories to the original Washington Storage Company building.
The Wolfsonian–FIU, Washington Storage Company Archive
By the 1980s, Mitchell Wolfson, Jr., a Miami native and avid collector, had squeezed out virtually all the storage company’s other clients till Mr. Matthews hit him with an ultimatum: either take over the establishment and the building holding his collection, or get out. Mr. Wolfson rose to the challenge. Moving the collection to another building, he hired architect Mark Hampton to renovate and transform the storage facility into a state-of-the-art museum and research center. Two more gallery floors were added to the top of the building.
Within two years of opening The Wolfsonian to the public on Armistice Day, 1995, Mitchell Wolfson, Jr. donated the museum building and its collection to the state of Florida, and it became part of Florida International University. While the museum’s collection has continued to grow under the continued generosity of Mr. Wolfson and other enthusiastic donors and supporters, the aging structure and limited space of the original building has required more renovation and plans for expansion.
The Wolfsonian Library has not been immune from such growing pains. Housing a collection of some 75,000 rare and reference books, 50,000 printed ephemeral items, and more than 2,600 rare periodical titles, the library had begun to run out of shelving and space. A successful IMLS grant will permit us to install space-saving compact shelving units to make better use of our back stacks. But such good tidings also came with the knowledge that construction noise and dust would soon be heading our way.
Occasionally, the librarians, interns, residential fellows, and visiting scholars and researchers had to put on noise cancelling headphones while jackhammers rang out above our heads. When construction and renovation work came to our own floor, we continued to catalog and provide reference services for staff and patrons even as much of the library was temporarily shrouded in cardboard and plastic curtain barriers.
With the concrete repair and restoration work completed, the library staff is now gearing up to temporarily move the library collection to another floor to prepare for the installation of compact shelving.
We plan to continue to curate installations in our foyer, to provide reference services to museum staff and researchers, and to remain open to the FIU faculty, students, and the public (by appointment) throughout this process. We hope that those of you living in or visiting South Florida will stop by to see us next month when our next library exhibition opens, highlighting the sketchbooks, costumes, and theatrical set designs of Albert Wainwright.
The Wolfsonian–FIU, Mitchell Wolfson, Jr. Collection
Wolfsonian-FIU Library 