Collection context
Summary
- Abstract:
- This collection consists of correspondence, reports, and clippings which document Horace J. McMillan's education and career as a physician, and his fights against racism and for civil rights.
- Extent:
- 5 Linear Feet (6 document boxes, 1 oversize flat box, 1 photo album)
- Language:
- English .
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Horace James McMillan Papers, CEMA 7, Special Research Collections, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The Horace J. McMillan Papers consists of nine series distributed in eight archival boxes. Correspondence, reports, and newspaper clippings make up the bulk of the collection. Together with the McMillan oral history interview in CEMA's Santa Barbara African American Oral History Collections, these papers document McMillan's education and career as a physician, and his fights against racism and for civil rights.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Horace James McMillan was the first African American physician practicing in the Santa Barbara, California area in 1952. A tireless leader in the fight for civil rights, McMillan made indelible marks in the community. As a local political activist at the front-line of the struggle for civil rights, McMillan's experiences provide an invaluable and fascinating window to examine the evolution of American race relations, the tactics and strategies employed in the civil rights movement, and the real effects of federal civil rights policies at the level of local implementation.
McMillan was born on October 30, 1919 in Dallas, Texas. He served in the US Coast Guard from 1942-46 as the first African American pharmacist mate in the history of the Coast Guard. McMillan received his medical credentials from Maharry Medical College in 1950 and he did his postgraduate work at St. Louis University and at UCLA. He practiced medicine in Santa Barbara since 1952 as a physician and a cofounder of the Family Medical Center. McMillan encountered and fought against racism throughout his career. His commitment to racial justice and equality pre-dated the Civil Rights Movement. In 1953, for example, he confronted racism at St. Francis Hospital of Santa Barbara, and was responsible for the discontinuance of segregating African American and Anglo patients.
McMillan was instrumental in establishing various community institutions and programs which have contributed to a better quality of life for all residents; among these are the Goleta Valley Community Hospital (GVCH) and Professional Building (he was one of a group of eight physicians forming the Physicians' Investment Corporation that founded GVCH and for which he served as Vice President and later was Founding Director of the GVCH), the Franklin Neighborhood Service Center, the Community Health Task Force's Zona Seca, the Human Relations Commission, as well as the Urban Renewal and Redevelopment Commission.
As a community leader and civil rights advocate, he was a champion for affordable housing for low income and minority people and was a primary mover in improving the quality of life in health services, housing, employment and education in the Santa Barbara community.
He held various offices where he made a major impact, including serving as the first Chair of the Mayor's Advisory Committee on Human Relations (1967), Chair of the Community Health Task Force (1973-81), Chair of the Housing Committee for the Santa Barbara branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (1961), and as a member of the Santa Barbara Committee for Due Process (1969).
McMillan has garnered much recognition for his many contributions, for example, he was honored in 1971 by the Goleta Valley Chamber of Commerce for distinguished service in helping to provide the community with an outstanding health resource--the Goleta Valley Community Hospital. In 1991 he was the recipient of the Santa Barbara News Press Lifetime Achievement Award; in 1988 he received a certificate of recognition from the California Legislative Assembly for 35 years of service to the community of Santa Barbara. In 1986 he received the African American Community Center award "for helping us to realize the dream of Martin Luther King, Jr."
The McMillan Papers in CEMA consists of correspondence files, notes, addresses and speeches to the Santa Barbara City Council, meeting agendas and minutes, motion picture film and newspaper clippings that cover the issues of racism, housing, and urban social problems. A fairly detailed and useful oral history interview with McMillan, with transcripts, is in CEMA's Santa Barbara African American Oral History Collections. The interview was conducted by Ranford Hopkins in 1988-1989.
- Acquisition information:
- Donated by Horace James McMillan, November 1993.
- Processing information:
-
Finding aid prepared by Project archivist: Salvador Güereña; principal processors: Zuoyue Wang; student assistants: Brenda L. Márquez, Edwin López, Mirna Velásquez, Tara Angioletti; machine-readable finding aid created by Brooke Dykman Dockter. Additional material processed by Jennifer Thompson, 2015.
- Arrangement:
-
This collection is arranged topically and by material type:
- Series 1, Biographical and personal information
- Series 2, Civil Rights and civic activities
- Series 3, Letters to editors
- Series 4, Clippings
- Series 5, Writings and speeches
- Series 6, Subject files
- Series 7, Photographs
- Series 8, Correspondence
- Series 9, Audio recordings
- Series 10, Moving images
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
This collection is open for research.
- Terms of access:
-
Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Department of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Horace James McMillan Papers, CEMA 7, Special Research Collections, University of California, Santa Barbara.
- Location of this collection:
-
UC Santa Barbara LibrarySanta Barbara, CA 93106-9010, US
- Contact:
- (805) 893-3062