Description
Jean Lewis Miller was a Bay Area feminist lesbian activist and Berkeley Public Library employee. Her papers document her political
and legal struggles with the city of Berkeley. The collection also contains suffragist literature, unpublished manuscripts
and personal documents.
Background
Jean Lewis Miller was a Bay area feminist lesbian activist. Miller was an early participant in Women's Liberation as a member
of Women of the Free Future and Women in Solidarity. She worked part-time as an employee of the Berkeley Public Library. In
1971 she was fired for writing a published article in the Berkeley Post to expose sexism and racism in the library. After
25 women marched on the Board of Directors meeting, she was reinstated, and dedicated herself to serving women's needs within
the library through her self-created Women's Project. This group was later discontinued by the library after her formation
of the Berkeley Women's Affirmative Action Union. After public protest, Miller became the first person arrested at a City
Council meeting. Thereafter, she endured a nine day hunger strike in Santa Rita, was jailed a second time, was fired and jailed
a third time; from which charges she was acquitted, but jailed for contempt of court. Jean filed a lawsuit in federal court
charging sex discrimination and political retaliation in 1974. Years later, the case was dismissed. In 1980, Miller died after
a two month battle with cancer.
Extent
0.8 linear feet
(2 boxes)
Restrictions
Property rights to the physical object belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright, are
retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright
and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where UCLA Library Special Collections does not
hold the copyright.
Availability
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in
advance using the request button located on this page.