Correspondence, writing, research materials, and recordings from Bay Area writer and activist Adam David Miller spanning the latter half of the twentieth century.

Adam David Miller (1922-2020) was an African American teacher, writer, editor, publisher, poet, playwright and director, and radio producer working primarily out of Berkeley, California. Born in Orangeburg, South Carolina, Miller left the Jim Crow South after being arrested for passing a note to a white girl. He participated in the Naval Officer training program during World War II at Whitman College, Doane College, and University of Colorado at Boulder before graduating from the University of California at Berkeley. He returned to UC Berkeley as a graduate student in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Miller went on to teach at San Francisco State College during the 1960s, before beginning at Laney College in Oakland where he taught English from 1967 until his retirement in 1988. He also taught courses on African literature and creative writing through the UC Berkeley extension program. He was a founding member of the African Literature Association and a lifelong member of the College Language Association. In addition to his teaching, Miller was an active participant in the Bay Area literary scene. He was a founding editor of the UC Graduate Student Journal, Mina Press, Eshu House Publishing, and the Laney College Faculty magazine Good News. He also served as editor of Dices, or Black Bones (1970), an anthology of Black poets, and published a number of poetry books including Apocalypse is My Garden (1997), Forever Afternoon (1994), and Neighborhood and Other Poems (1992). In his later life, Miller wrote two memoirs of his life: Ticket to Exile (2007) and Fall Rising: Exile to Odyssey (2015). In addition to his published works, Miller wrote numerous short prose pieces and plays. He served on Berkeley's Civic Arts Commission during the late 1990s and was involved in the installation of the Berkeley Poetry Walk along Addison Street. He was an active contributor to KPFA Pacifica Radio throughout his life, hosting readings of works, primarily by minority writers; producing programs, such as "The Imaged Word" and "Small Press Review"; and interviewing writers and artists such as Maya Angelou, Al Young, Victor Hernanez Cruz, Joe Overstreet, and Yoshiko Uchida. His involvement with KPFA also gave him a first-hand view into the activism of the Black Panther Party in Oakland during the 1960s. Miller was also one of the founding members of the Aldridge Players - West, an African American theater group operating in San Francisco during the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 2011, Miller was honored by the City of Berkeley who proclaimed a day in his honor.

42 Linear Feet (59 manuscript boxes, 5 half-manuscript boxes, 11 cartons, 5 standard flat-boxes, 2 oversize flat-boxes, 1 map-folder)

Copyright © Estate of Adam David Miller. All Rights Reserved.

Open for research, with the exception of the born-digital materials, which are closed until processed. Note that material must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use. Audiovisual materials are not available in original format, and must be reformatted to a digital use copy.