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Miller (Adam David) papers
M2822
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Adam David Miller papers
Creator:
Miller, Adam David
Identifier/Call Number: M2822
Physical Description:
42 Linear Feet
(59 manuscript boxes, 5 half-manuscript boxes, 11 cartons, 5 standard flat-boxes, 2 oversize flat-boxes, 1 map-folder)
Physical Description:
10.9 gigabyte(s)
(80 3.5" floppy disks, 17 5.25" floppy disks, 26 CDs, 1 DVD)
Date (inclusive): 1940s-2010s
Abstract: Correspondence, writing, research materials, and recordings from Bay Area writer and activist Adam David Miller spanning the
latter half of the twentieth century.
Physical Location: Special Collections and University Archives materials are stored offsite and must be paged 36 hours in advance.
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.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This collection was purchased by Stanford University, Special Collections in October 2016 and November 2017.
The collection is arranged into eight series. 1. Personal Materials (contains sub-series on correspondence, journals and planners,
and biographical papers and photographs); 2. Academia (contains sub-series on undergraduate education, graduate work, teaching,
professional activities, and African literature research); 3. Writing (contains sub-series on
Dices, or Black Bones: Black Voices of the Seventies anthology, poetry, plays, memoirs, prose, misc. writing, and notes); 4. Literary Activities; 5. Theater and Performance (including
Aldridge Players - West); 6. Civic Arts and Activism; 7. Radio and Broadcasting Materials; 8. Media and Recordings
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.
[identification of item], Adam David Miller papers (M2822). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford
Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
The collection covers Adam David Miller's personal life and professional career, as well as his involvement with numerous
arts and activism organizations around the Bay Area. The bulk of the manuscript collection is made up of Miller's correspondence,
spanning from the 1940s through 2000s; his writing, including poetry, prose, short plays, and memoirs; and materials from
his academic career as a professor of English at Laney College in Oakland, California. The collection also includes a substantial
number of open-reel recordings from Miller's involvement with KPFA Pacifica Radio, including interviews with Bay Area artists,
literary readings, and recordings of Civil Rights events around Berkeley. Additional materials in the collection cover the
Aldridge Players - West, a 1960s Black theater group; Miller's research on African literature; the Berkeley Civic Arts Commission;
and pamphlets, advertisements, and flyers from various literary and arts events around the Bay Area.
Miller's collection of pamphlets and publications is available through the Stanford Libraries SearchWorks catalog.
Copyright © Estate of Adam David Miller. All Rights Reserved.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Laney College
University of California, Berkeley -- Students.
College teachers.
African literature
African American poets
African American authors
Small presses
Aldridge Players/West (Theater group)
African American theater
San Francisco Bay Area (Calif.)
Berkeley (Calif.)
African Americans -- Civil rights -- San Francisco Bay Area (Calif.)
Radio broadcasting
African Americans in radio broadcasting
KPFA (Radio station : Berkeley, Calif.)