A Guide to the R. V. Waters Papers

Contents

• Overview
• Biographical Note
• Scope and Content
• Index Terms
• Administrative Information
• Container List
  • Aviation
  • Aviation - Chapman Field and the Jetport
  • Aviation - Miami All American Air Maneuvers
  • World War II
  • Military Bases
  • Real Estate Business
  • Islandia and Biscayne National Monument
  • General Correspondence
  • Wendell Wilkie and J. Mark Wilcox campaigns for office
  • Miscellaneous

Overview

Biographical Note

R. V. Waters, a prominent Realtor in Miami, owned and operated Waters Realty Co. from the 1920s through the 1960s. During the 1930s Mr. Waters promoted Key Biscayne and Virginia Key as a vacation resort alternative to Miami Beach. Later on in his career he channeled his efforts into the development of Islandia (Elliott Key and environs).

Waters served as president of the Greater Miami Airport Association from 1927 through 1937, and as General Chairman of the Miami All American Air Maneuvers for 14 years. In these positions he promoted the idea of air travel and lobbied to bring an air base to Dade County, at either Virginia Key or Chapman Field. Mr. Waters was active in the management of the Air Maneuver shows during the 1920s and 1930s. Additionally, he represented the City of Miami in its aviation and air contacts.

During the 1930s, Mr. Waters actively worked on the campaign of J. Mark Wilcox, a congressman from the 4th District. The junior congressman at the time was Claude Pepper. In 1940, he worked on the Wendell Wilkie presidential campaign and on the campaign to prevent a presidential candidate from running three terms.

During World War II, he was named acting military intelligence and public relations officer of the Air Force Technical Training Command. He was stationed in France, North Carolina, and Miami, among other locations. In 1943, he married Madaline Stafford White Waters.

After the war, he reopened his real estate practice in Miami.

In the 1960s, he was active in the fight against the establishment of Biscayne National Monument. However, the area was made a monument in 1968, and was later designated a national park.

Scope and Content

Waters’s papers comprise correspondence, radio addresses, some photographic prints, newspaper clippings, ledger books and ephemera. They are organized into the following series:

• Aviation
• Aviation - Chapman Field and the Jetport
• Aviation - Miami All American Maneuvers
• World War II
• Military Bases
• Real Estate Business
• Islandia and Biscayne National Monument
• General Correspondence
• Wendell Wilkie and J. Mark Wilcox campaigns for office
• Miscellaneous

The file folder headings were designated by Waters. The files have been rearranged into series by Historical Museum staff.

Index Terms

Aeronautics -- Florida -- Miami-Dade County
Biscayne National Park (Fla.)
Chapman Field (Fla.)
Elliott Key (Fla.)
Greater Miami Airport Association
Islandia (Fla.)
Miami All American Air Maneuvers
Real estate business -- Florida -- Miami-Dade County
Waters, Reginald Van
Wilcox, J. Mark
Wilkie, Wendell
World War, 1939-1945 -- Florida -- Miami-Dade County

Administrative Information

Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.

Related Material:
Additional, related photographic prints are in the South Florida Historic Photographs Collection, under Waters, R. V.

Cite as:
R. V. Waters Papers, Historical Museum of Southern Florida

Provenance:
Gift of R. V. Waters, between 1971 and 1974.

Container List

Series: Aviation

Waters retained records from 1927 through 1937 while he was president of the Greater Miami Airport Association. Also included are the files maintained while he was General Chairman of the Miami All American Air Maneuvers from the late 1920s through the early 1940s. The files consist of correspondence and plans pertaining to the air races, and to Mr. Waters's attempts to bring an air base to Dade County.

Series: Aviation — Chapman Field and the Jetport

Series: Aviation — Miami All American Air Maneuvers

Series: World War II, 1941-1945

Waters retained quite a few correspondence files during the war. Some letters are personal and offer the reader a glimpse of life at the time. Some personal memorabilia are among the files.

Series: Military Bases

Series: Real Estate Business

Series: Islandia and Biscayne National Monument

These correspondence files concern the proposed development of Islandia (Elliott Key) and Mr. Waters’s attempts to prevent Islandia from being included in the designation of Biscayne National Monument, now Biscayne National Park.

Series: General Correspondence

Series: Wendell Wilkie and J. Mark Wilcox Campaigns for Office

Mr. Waters retained these files from his work on the campaigns of Wendall Wilkie and J. Mark Wilcox. Correspondence files comprise the bulk of the files. Some radio addresses are included.

Series: Miscellaneous