Conditions on Access
Conditions on Use and Reproduction
Preferred Citation
Acquisition Information
Processing History
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Biography/History
Scope and Content
Organization and Arrangement
Title: Jean Miller papers
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.2139
Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
0.8 linear feet
(2 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1964-1980
Abstract: 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 The collection also contains suffragist literature, unpublished manuscripts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.
Language of Materials: Materials are in English.
Physical Location: Stored off-site at SRLF. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button
located on this page.
Creator:
Miller, Jean Lewis
Conditions on Access
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.
Conditions on Use and Reproduction
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.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Jean Miller Papers (Collection 2139). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Acquisition Information
Processing History
Processed by Kimberlee Granholm, 2012.
Description enhanced and further physical processing completed by Jessica Tai in 2016.
This collection is part of an outreach and collection-building partnership between the
June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives, the
UCLA Center for the Study of Women (CSW) and the
UCLA Library. These collections expand the pool of primary source materials available to researchers and to the community at large. This
partnership was initiated by CSW and is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to inventory, organize,
preserve, and digitize more than eighty Mazer collections pertaining to lesbian and feminist activism and writings.
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Biography/History
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.
Scope and Content
The Jean Miller Papers consist of documents relating to her political struggles with the city of Berkeley over affirmative
action, sexual, and racial discrimination. Included are legal documents, suffragist literature, college research papers, letters
to her son, materials relating to Inez Garcia, and unpublished manuscripts on motherhood and women's sexuality.
Organization and Arrangement
This collection has been organized chronologically.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
June L. Mazer Lesbian Archive at UCLA.
June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives.
Miller, Jean Lewis
Lesbian activists--United States--Archives.
Lesbian librarians--United States--Archives.