Talking with Earl Welbaum is akin to flipping through the history pages of Miami-Dade County and the University of Miami for the past two-thirds of the century.

Welbaum, 67, is a respected construction and surety litigation attorney and partner in the highly regarded law firm of Welbaum, Guernsey, Hingston, Greenleaf & Gregory. He is a native Miamian, born in the old Edgewater Hospital in Northeast Miami’s Buena Vista neighborhood, a lifetime resident and looks as if he could run a mile without breaking a sweat.

He grew up in the 1940s in historic Lemon City, attended Morningside Elementary, Miami Edison and Shenandoah Junior High Schools. He recalls the dredging of Biscayne Bay to create Morningside Park and fishing in the bay without fear of being run over by a Cigarette. He’s a 1950 graduate of Miami High School — his parents moved to Miami’s south side — and a 1954 graduate of the University of Miami, where he also earned his law degree in 1959. And therein lies his greatest interest these days — the UM Athletic Department’s Hall of Fame.

"I’m active in the University at the Athletic Department," Welbaum said. "I went into the Hall of Fame eight or nine years ago. This year, I’m the president of the Hall of Fame Committee, which is comprised of athletes, former athletes, and people who are interested in athletics at the University of Miami."

Welbaum made it into the Hall because of his running prowess in the days of cinder tracks and steel-spiked running shoes. He attended UM on a track scholarship for four years, was captain of the track team in 1954 and held virtually every running record at UM field.

"Of course it was a new track, but I held all the records when I left," he said with a smile. "I think I even held the record in the mile and I only ran it one time.

"But, that’s a sport that’s changed dramatically. You used to run on cinders with spikes. Today, they run on a composite rubber track without any spikes at all, though some might have those pin spikes."

As you talk with Welbaum, he tells stories and reels off names that are legendary in UM athletics — names like Jack Harding, Andy Gustafson, Walt Kichefski, tennis coach Dale Lewis, swimming coach Bill Diaz and track coach Lloyd Bennet. And, when the subject turns to the 1954 UM football team that was the first to crack the Associated Press Top 10, he rattles off the team members without hesitation.

"That was the era of Andy Gustafson’s ‘belly series,’" he said. "The days of Don Bosseler, Stitch Vari, Bill Diamond, Jack Hackett, Sam Scarnechia, Tony Chickilo and Whitey Rouvere. Had a quarterback by the name of Mario Bonofiglio. Great little ball handler; just couldn’t throw the ball worth a damn."

Welbaum acknowledges that there have been significant changes at UM from the days he started at the school when it was affectionately know as the "cardboard university" and headquartered in the Anastasia Building in downtown Coral Gables.

"The athletic facility was down in the basement," he recalled. "It had chicken wire that separated the stalls where you changed clothes and chicken wire around the equipment room. You’d jog down the street a block-and-a-half to what used to be Quarterback Field and train there. My second year, they moved down to what is now the main campus and they built that track down there. And, even that’s changed dramatically."

Welbaum urges everyone to come visit the UM Hall of Fame, located on the UM campus adjacent to the Hecht Athletic Center.

"It’s a hidden gem, full of memorabilia," he said. "We’d like to have the community become more aware of the Hall and understand that it is a very active organization. We have a banquet every year and we get 800-1,000 people attending. It’s maybe the best athletic banquet in [Miami-]Dade County."

Welbaum said the Hall of Fame also holds a career day every year and invites adults from all professions to speak to youngsters about the need to get an education.

"We bring in judges, people from law enforcement, DEA people, coaches, stockbrokers, insurance people — people from various areas of society — to talk to the kids about the need to keep their nose to the grindstone and not only become athletes, but to get an education."

Welbaum and his wife, Joan, have been married 40 years. They have two sons — one in the construction business, the other a firefighter-paramedic who’s graduating from nursing school — and a daughter who is a retiring lawyer after clerking for the First U.S. District Court of Appeals for the past 10 years. The Welbaums live in Royal Yacht Harbour on Paradise Point Drive, which once was SW 152nd Street.

"We decided to simplify our lives and moved into a townhouse," he said. "No grass to cut, bars on the gate, so whenever we want to go, we just leave."

Welbaum agrees that there have been a lot of changes in Miami-Dade County over the past half-century.