Smoker29
30 Jan 2007, 02:28 PM
I think Arthur's passing deserves a post. Especially since this message board has serious roots to Oxford, Ohio.
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070127/NEWS0104/701270428/1060/NEWS01
Arthur Miller was civil rights activist
Ex-NAACP head helped make history
BY REBECCA GOODMAN | RGOODMAN@ENQUIRER.COM
OXFORD - Arthur F. Miller, president emeritus of the NAACP here, died Monday at McCullough-Hyde Hospital. He was 85.
A dedicated civil rights worker, Mr. Miller became president of the Oxford NAACP in 1963. He participated in the march on Washington in August that year.
The following summer, he helped organize the training of civil rights workers on the campus of the Western College for Women in Oxford. It was a staging area for volunteers to receive training in non-violence before being sent to the South to register black voters.
Mr. Miller also raised money to pay for the trips - kicking in much of his own money - and lent moral support to the workers. Among them were James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, who were beaten, shot and buried in Mississippi a few days after leaving Oxford in June 1964.
Born in Oxford on Dec. 25, 1921, Mr. Miller was drafted during World War II and served as an Army sergeant in Birmingham, Ala.
Upon his return, he enrolled at Miami University and received a degree in 1949.
Despite opposition from the president and dean of the School of Education, he was the first black person to be a student teacher at McGuffey School. In 1969, he became the first African-American to join the managerial ranks when he was named the university's food-service manager.
Blacks and whites didn't socialize much in Oxford and Mr. Miller consciously worked to end such de facto segregation, according to his daughter-in-law, Connie Miller of Evendale.
"There were no 'whites only' signs, but it was a given," she said. He took his sons to white barbers, restaurants and pools and entered them into all-white Boy Scout troops.
Oxford named Mr. Miller its Man of the Year in 1956 and he served as the city's vice mayor during the 1960s.
He was a member of the Kiwanis and a 32nd degree Mason of the Richmond, Ind., Lodge.
Survivors include his wife, Alice Miller; five sons, Richard and Anthony Miller, both of Oxford , Michael Miller of Evendale, Adrian Miller of San Jose, Calif., and Christopher Miller of Glendale; nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Visitation is 10 a.m.-1 p.m. today followed by the funeral service at Oxford United Methodist Church, 14 North Street.
Burial will be in the Oxford Cemetery.
Memorials are suggested to the Oxford Branch of the NAACP or the Arthur F. Miller Educational Scholarship Fund, Miami University.
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070127/NEWS0104/701270428/1060/NEWS01
Arthur Miller was civil rights activist
Ex-NAACP head helped make history
BY REBECCA GOODMAN | RGOODMAN@ENQUIRER.COM
OXFORD - Arthur F. Miller, president emeritus of the NAACP here, died Monday at McCullough-Hyde Hospital. He was 85.
A dedicated civil rights worker, Mr. Miller became president of the Oxford NAACP in 1963. He participated in the march on Washington in August that year.
The following summer, he helped organize the training of civil rights workers on the campus of the Western College for Women in Oxford. It was a staging area for volunteers to receive training in non-violence before being sent to the South to register black voters.
Mr. Miller also raised money to pay for the trips - kicking in much of his own money - and lent moral support to the workers. Among them were James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, who were beaten, shot and buried in Mississippi a few days after leaving Oxford in June 1964.
Born in Oxford on Dec. 25, 1921, Mr. Miller was drafted during World War II and served as an Army sergeant in Birmingham, Ala.
Upon his return, he enrolled at Miami University and received a degree in 1949.
Despite opposition from the president and dean of the School of Education, he was the first black person to be a student teacher at McGuffey School. In 1969, he became the first African-American to join the managerial ranks when he was named the university's food-service manager.
Blacks and whites didn't socialize much in Oxford and Mr. Miller consciously worked to end such de facto segregation, according to his daughter-in-law, Connie Miller of Evendale.
"There were no 'whites only' signs, but it was a given," she said. He took his sons to white barbers, restaurants and pools and entered them into all-white Boy Scout troops.
Oxford named Mr. Miller its Man of the Year in 1956 and he served as the city's vice mayor during the 1960s.
He was a member of the Kiwanis and a 32nd degree Mason of the Richmond, Ind., Lodge.
Survivors include his wife, Alice Miller; five sons, Richard and Anthony Miller, both of Oxford , Michael Miller of Evendale, Adrian Miller of San Jose, Calif., and Christopher Miller of Glendale; nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Visitation is 10 a.m.-1 p.m. today followed by the funeral service at Oxford United Methodist Church, 14 North Street.
Burial will be in the Oxford Cemetery.
Memorials are suggested to the Oxford Branch of the NAACP or the Arthur F. Miller Educational Scholarship Fund, Miami University.