Editors Note: The Barbara Baer Capitman archives “Historic Threads” project is partly sponsored by the Department of State, Division of Historical Resources and the State of Florida.
Founded in 1986 by Mitchell (Micky) Wolfson, Jr., the Wolfsonian Foundation supports the study of European and American cultural history from 1885 to 1945. The Wolfsonian Museum, located at 1001 Washington Avenue in the heart of the historic Art Deco District, opened in 1992. The Wolfsonian has museums and research centers in Miami Beach, Florida, and Genoa, Italy.
After Micky’s parents passed away in the 1980s, he became the heir to Wometco, a movie theater chain founded by his father, Mitchell Wolfson Sr., and his brother-in-law, Sidney Meyer. Founded in 1925 as the Wolfson-Meyer Theater Company, Wometco was a movie theater chain based in Miami, Florida. Micky received $84.5 million from the sale of Wometco in 1984.
Mitchell Wolfson, Jr. is anything but an ordinary, affluent gentleman. His eccentricity was well-known in the 1980s. Micky approached all of his endeavors with a sense of curiosity and optimism. He was a millionaire on a mission. He amassed a 40,000-item collection of industrial-age objects, artifacts, and posters, which he called “The Collection.” He began amassing art and historical artifacts as a young boy, and with The Collection, he established the Wolfsonian Museum.
“I collect, therefore I create.” Mitchell Wolfson Jr. ‘Living Today’ Miami Herald, Sunday, April 17th, 1988, ‘Millionaire on a Mission by Jane Wooldridge
Today, the Wolfsonian FIU is one of South Florida’s most visited museums and a time capsule filled with rare treasures from our past; and to think it all started with a child’s fascination in collecting art.
“Florida has always had indefinable allure. It means something different to everyone who has found their way here. I just read in my WPA guide to Florida that, even before the war, the ambition of many of the people who came to Florida was to create museums and private collections and establish cultural monuments. That spirit has been with us since the state was founded. It’s very reassuring to see that people, whether from other parts of the country or from abroad, seem to bring the same ambition to mark their passing, to express themselves. Florida has always had a great creative spirit and that’s always been with us —the desire to make new, and record old, history.” —Micky Wolfson, MDPL Archives, Miami Herald interview, editor Kathryn Howard
