This collection consist of .5 linear feet of records relating to the civic and religious work of Father John E. Culmer.  The records were created between 1915-2003.The collection contains photographs, programs, certificates, awards, newspaper articles, correspondence, resumes and sermons. They document his public speaking engagements, appointments on several committees and in the Episcopal Church.  There are newspaper articles about Liberty Square Project, Urban Renewal and integration.  Also, recorded are recommendation letters, letters to the media, communication among civic and religious organizations. The collection describes his many contributions to Miami.

Father John Edwin Culmer was born on May 22, 1891 in Eleuthera, Bahamas. In 1911, at the age of 19 he migrated to the United States and settled in Coconut Grove. He received a bachelor's degree in Music Theory at Oskaloosa College in Iowa and a bachelor's Divinity degree at Bishop Payne Divinity School in Petersburg, Virginia. He was ordained to the Episcopal diaconate in 1919 and as an Episcopal priest in 1920.  He was the priest and rector at St. Agnes Episcopal Church for 34 years.

Father Culmer was a local, state and national leader recognized for advocating on behalf of Black citizens during segregation and desegregation periods in Miami. He led the fight for better housing, sanitation and safe conditions for residents in Overtown. As a result, Liberty Square Housing Project was built and opened February 1937. He served on several local and national boards and councils to improve race relations such as Liberty Square Advisory Board, Negro Division of the Dade County Defense Council, National Emergency Advisory Council, Inter-Racial Lunch Counter Mixing Committee,  and Colored Advisory Board to the City Commission.  In 1960, the Virginia Theological Seminary awarded him an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree, recognizing him as "one of the nation's greatest humanitarians".