Guide to the Reverend Wendell L. Miller Collection
Special Collections & Archives
University Library
California State University, Northridge
18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, CA 91330-8326
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives
Title: Reverend Wendell L. Miller Collection
Creator:
Miller, Wendell L., 1902-1999
Identifier/Call Number: URB.WLM
Extent:
1.06 linear feet
Date (inclusive): 1928-1988
Abstract: Reverend Wendell L. Miller was pastor
of the University Methodist Church, Los Angeles. He became involved in local politics when
gambling and prostitution began edging toward the area surrounding the University of
Southern California (USC) campus. Miller founded the Citizens Independent Vice Investigating
Committee (C.I.V.I.C.), which also campaigned against crime and corruption in City Hall,
ultimately resulting in the recall of Mayor Frank L. Shaw. The collection documents Miller's
involvement with C.I.V.I.C., and includes announcements, bulletins, correspondence,
newspaper clippings, news releases, pamphlets, radio addresses, speeches, statements, and
related items. There is also a small amount of material documenting Rev. Miller's anti-war
activities including letters from Japanese Americans sent to internment camps during World
War II.
Language of Material: English
Biographical Information:
Reverend Wendell L. Miller, pastor of the University Methodist Church, Los Angeles, was
born in Albian, Nebraska on April 16, 1902. After graduating from Albian High School, Miller
attended Nebraska Wesleyan University, graduating in 1927, with an A.B. degree in
Psychology. Miller and his wife, Thelma, moved to Los Angeles when Miller enrolled in an
M.A. program at the University of Southern California. He graduated in 1932, and his first
ministry was in Los Angeles Harbor where he worked to serve the needs of unemployed dock
workers.
In 1937, Miller became involved in Los Angeles politics as gambling and prostitution began
edging toward the USC campus community. At the behest of several parishioners, Miller began
holding community-wide meetings, and founded the Citizens Independent Vice Investigating
Committee (C.I.V.I.C.). Clifford Clinton, owner of Clifton's Cafeteria, became the financial
backer and first chairman of the Committee.
Gaining major attention from the mayor's office, the police department, and organized
crime, the organization stepped up its publicity campaign against crime and corruption in
City Hall. When Mayor Frank L. Shaw denied publicly that houses of prostitution and gambling
were a major problem in the city, the organization quickly began a recall campaign to oust
the mayor and his friends. The recall was successful and several members of C.I.V.I.C.,
including Miller, convinced Judge Fletcher Bowron to run for mayor. Shortly after Bowron's
successful mayoral campaign, C.I.V.I.C. ended its activities.
In 1954, Miller left University Church to begin a lecturing career in adult education, and
a new ministry at Manhattan Beach Community Church which lasted twelve years. During his
ministry at Community Church, Miller caught the attention of local members of the John Birch
Society. In the early 1960s, the Birch Society published a pamphlet listing Miller as a
communist along with such notable figures as Eleanor Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and
Margaret Mead.
Miller left Manhattan Beach in 1967, and settled in Palos Verdes. He became the Minister
of Visitation of his local church until his retirement. Reverend Wendell L. Miller died at
the age of 97 on November 9, 1999.
Scope and Contents
The
Reverend Wendell L. Miller Collection documents Miller's
career, including his early days as a minister in Harbor City, his time as minister of the
University Methodist Church at the University of Southern California, and his work at the
Manhattan Beach Community Church. The collection also documents Miller's involvement with
the Citizens Independent Vice Investigating Committee (C.I.V.I.C.), founded in the late
1930s to prevent the spread of gambling and prostitution in Los Angeles. Miller's anti-war
activities are also documented. The collection includes announcements, bulletins,
correspondence, newspaper clippings, news releases, pamphlets, radio addresses, speeches,
statements, and related items. It consists of four series:
Citizens
Independent Vice Investigating Committee Files
(1936-1967),
Japanese Internment Files (1942-1943),
Political and Religious
Activity Files
(1937-1961), and
Non-Manuscript Material
(1928-1988).
Series I,
Citizens Independent Vice Investigating Committee
(C.I.V.I.C.) Files,
documents C.I.V.I.C.'s campaign to end political corruption,
gambling, and prostitution in Los Angeles in the late 1930s and early 1940s, and includes
documentation of charges of communism leveled against Clifford Clinton, C.I.V.I.C. Chairman
and an outspoken reformist with whom Miller worked closely. The series also documents the
1938 recall campaign against Mayor Frank L. Shaw, and the campaign of Mayor Fletcher Bowron.
It consists of advertisements, correspondence, editorials, flyers, lists of prostitution
houses, newspaper clippings, news releases, pamphlets, radio addresses, and statements, and
is arranged alphabetically.
Series II,
Japanese Internment Files, contains correspondence
and newspaper clippings documenting Miller's involvement with relocated Japanese Americans
during World War II. It includes letters condemning Miller and other members of his church
for assisting Japanese Americans en route to various internment camps, as well as letters
from Japanese Americans thanking Miller for his support and camp visits . The series is
arranged chronologically.
Series III,
Political and Religious Activity Files, documents
Miller's political work, labor reform efforts, anti-war interests, and church activities. It
includes a pamphlet from 1950 in which Miller and five other religious leaders wrote about
the hydrogen bomb's implications, and a 1961 document titled "A Report on the Manhattan
Beach Community Church" that accuses Miller and others of being radical communists. The
series includes bulletins, correspondence, pamphlets, reports, and propositions, and is
arranged alphabetically.
Series IV,
Non-Manuscript Material, includes Miller's scrapbook
of news articles, correspondence, pamphlets, portraits, advertisements, and religious work
from throughout his life and career. The series also contains several photos from anti-war
campaigns during World War II, and some oversized posters and news articles.
Arrangement of Materials:
Series I: Citizens Independent Vice Investigating Committee (C.I.V.I.C) Files,
1936-1967
Series II: Japanese Internment Files, 1942-1943
Series III: Political and Religious Activity Files, 1937-1961
Series IV: Non-Manuscript Material, 1928-1988
Electronic Format:
Related Material
Conditions Governing Access:
The collection is open for research use.
Conditions Governing Use:
Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of
this collection has been transferred to California State University, Northridge. Copyright
status for other materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected
by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the
written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any
use rests exclusively with the user.
Preferred Citation:
For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style
manual, or see the
Citing Archival Materials
guide.
Processing Information:
Robert. G. Marshall and Thomas L. Davis, 1996
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Documents
Photographs
Scrapbooks
Audiovisual materials
Series I: Citizens Independent Vice Investigating Committee (C.I.V.I.C) Files,
1936-1967
Box 1, Folder 1
American Legion, 17th District, Los Angeles: address, "Stalin and Clinton
Over Los Angeles,"
1940 July 19
Box 1, Folder 2
Bowron, Fletcher (Mayor): correspondence,
1937-1967
Box 1, Folder 3
Bowron for Mayor Committee (Carl C. Hoskin, Chairman):
correspondence,
September 1935, November-December
1939
Box 1, Folder 4
Briegleb, Gustav A. (
Seen' Things, Radio
Broadcast): correspondence,
April-May 1939
Box 1, Folder 5
Briegleb, Gustav A. (
Seen' Things, Radio
Broadcast): KGER radio address,
1937 May 1
Box 1, Folder 6
The Church Layman's Committee for Good Government: correspondence,
1937 April 29, September 1938
Box 1, Folder 7
C.I.V.I.V.: "Big Shots of C.I.V.I.C.,"
Los Angeles
Equalizeri,
(reprint),
September 1937
Box 1, Folder 8
C.I.V.I.C.: "Face the Facts," pamphlet
Box 1, Folder 9
C.I.V.I.C. - Clearing House Committee: Report #5 - Anti-vice
Strategy!
Box 1, Folder 10
The CIVIC Committee: news release regarding Mayor Fletcher Bowron
Box 1, Folder 11
"The CIVIC Committee Looks Ahead: A New Five Year Program,"
pamphlet,
April 1942
Box 1, Folder 12
The CIVIC Committee: news release regarding CIVIC Supports Clifford E.
Clinton for Mayor of Los Angeles,
1945 March 20
Box 1, Folder 13
Clinton, Clifford E., (CIVIC Chairman): correspondence,
1938 December 15
Box 1, Folder 14
Clinton, Clifford E.: "Bombing the Lid Off Los Angeles!" Parts 1 and 2,
Official Detective Stories,
1938 May 25
Box 1, Folder 15
Clinton, Clifford E.: "Clifton' Food Poison Probe Believed Recall Motive,"
Los Angeles Progressive Digest,
1938 April 4
Box 1, Folder 16
Clinton, Clifford E.: "Reasons for Recall of Mayor Frank L. Shaw," flyer;
pamphlet,
February 1938
Box 1, Folder 17
Clinton, Clifford E.: "The Truth Will Set You Free," flyer
Box 1, Folder 18
Clinton, Clifford E. - Organizing Committee of Workers in Clifton Cafeterias:
"An Appeal From the Workers in Clifton's Cafeterias to the Liberals of Los
Angeles,"
1938 March 29
Box 1, Folder 19
Ferguson, Harry L. (CIVIC, Secretary/Treasurer.): correspondence,
March-June 1942
Box 1, Folder 20
Fitts, Buron (District Attorney): campaign pamphlets,
ca. 1938
Box 1, Folder 21
Fitts, Buron (District Attorney): correspondence,
1936 October 24
Box 1, Folder 22
The Friends of the Truth League: "Frank L. Shaw for Mayor of Los Angeles,"
editorial
Box 1, Folder 23
Gambling and Vice: newspaper clippings,
1938
Box 1, Folder 24
Grand Jury-County of Los Angeles: correspondence,
January 1937-August 1940
Box 1, Folder 25
Grand Jury-County of Los Angeles: membership list; Minority Reports
(summary)
Box 1, Folder 26
Grand Jury-County of Los Angeles: resolution
Box 1, Folder 27
Grand Juries Are Grand: reprint,
1937
Box 1, Folder 28
Houses of Gambling and Prostitution: address lists
Box 1, Folder 29
Houses of Gambling and Prostitution: complaint letters,
September 1935-January 1937
Box 1, Folder 30
Houses of Gambling and Prostitution: complaint letters,
July 1937-August 1938
Box 1, Folder 31
Houses of Gambling and Prostitution: "Los Angeles Americas Wickedest City,"
Look Magazine,
1936 September 26
Box 1, Folder 32
Houses of Gambling and Prostitution: "Santa Anita Handicap Days,"
Los Angeles Times advertisement,
1938 February 7
Box 1, Folder 33
KFWB Radio: address,
1937 October 17
Box 1, Folder 34
KFVD Radio: address,
1937 December 8
Box 1, Folder 35
Miller, Rev. Wendell: correspondence (outgoing),
November-December 1937
Box 1, Folder 36
Miller, Rev. Wendell: correspondence,
1938 December 8
Box 1, Folder 37
Miller, Rev. Wendell: notes
Box 1, Folder 38
SB 878 - dog Racing Measure: analysis,
ca. 1939
Box 1, Folder 39
Shaw, Frank L. (Mayor): "Bowron's Backers Exposed,"
Los
Angeles Club Reporter ,
1938 September 15
Box 1, Folder 40
Shaw, Frank L. (Mayor): "Fundamentally,"
Hollywood
Citizen news
(reprint),
1937 July 10
Box 1, Folder 41
Shaw, Frank L. (Mayor): DFWB Radio address,
1938 September 7
Box 1, Folder 42
Shaw, Frank L., (Mayor): "Recall of Recovery,"
Highland
Park Post Dispatch,
1938 December 8
Box 1, Folder 43
Vigilantes of America: correspondence,
1937 June 24
Series II: Japanese Internment Files, 1942-1943
Box 1, Folder 44
Japanese Internment: correspondence; newspaper clippings,
April-June 1942
Box 1, Folder 45
Japanese Internment: newspaper clippings
Box 1, Folder 46
Japanese Internment: correspondence (from Japanese friends),
May-October 1942
Box 1, Folder 47
Japanese - War: "When Japan Attacks," First Congregational Church
program,
1943 June 20
Series III: Political and Religious Activity Files, 1937-1961
Box 1, Folder 48
American Committee for Peace Through Democracy: special bulletin
Box 1, Folder 49
The Fellowship of Reconciliation: "Six Churchmen Speak on the H'Bomb"
(reprint),
1950
Box 1, Folder 50
Ford, John Anson (Candidate for Mayor of Los Angeles - 1937): "Reds' Back
Anson Ford,"
Police Patrol,
1937 March 1
Box 1, Folder 51
Manhattan Beach Community Church: report,
January 1961
Box 1, Folder 52
Methodist Episcopal Church - The Board of Home Missions (Philadelphia, Pa.):
correspondence
Box 1, Folder 53
Russian War Relief, Inc.: correspondence; proclamation,
1942 June 15, 17
Box 1, Folder 54
Labor - Bricklayers and Stone Masons, Local Union No. 2: program,
1951
Box 1, Folder 55
Labor - The Christian American Crusade: announcement; bulletin regarding
Labor/Communism
Box 1, Folder 56
Labor - Communist Party - Los Angeles County Committee: "Make Los Angeles a
Union Town," pamphlet
Box 1, Folder 57
Labor - Proposition No. 1: broadside regarding anti-Picketing
measure,
1938 September 16
Box 1, Folder 58
Labor - Proposition No. 1: "Hot Cargo, Secondary Boycotts,"
pamphlets,
1942
Box 1, Folder 59
Labor - Proposition No. 9: "Let's Drive the Blues Away-Vote No," United
California Industries; pamphlet
Box 1, Folder 60
Labor - Southern Californians, Inc.: correspondence,
1940 January 8
Series IV: Non-Manuscript Material, 1928-1988
Box 2, Folder 1
Miller, Rev. Wendell: Scrapbook,
1928-1936
Box 2, Folder 2
Miller, Rev. Wendell: Scrapbook,
1937
Box 2, Folder 3
Miller- Rev. Wendell: Scrapbook,
1938
Box 2, Folder 4
Miller, Rev. Wendell: Scrapbook,
1939-1941
Box 2, Folder 5
Miller, Rev. Wendell: Scrapbook,
1942-1945
Box 2, Folder 6
Miller, Rev. Wendell: Scrapbook,
1950-1988
Box 3, Item 1
Gambling and Crime: Clover Gambling Joint-Keep Chicago Out of Hollywood,
photograph
Box 3, Item 2
Anti-War Campaign: Billions for Armaments - How Much for Peace? Peace Bench
at Florence Avenue Methodist Church, photograph
Box 3, Item 3
Anti-War Campaign: Truth is the First Casualty of War. 777 Class Kagawa
League of Florence Avenue Methodist Church, photograph,
1933
Box 3, Item 4
Anti-War Campaign: War is a Crime Against Humanity. Epworth League of
Florence Avenue Methodist Church, photograph
Box 3, Item 5
Anti-War Campaign: We Died in Vain-Unless You Fight to Abolish War? Truck
Sign, Grave and Crosses, photograph
Folder 1, Item 1
"Los Angeles, America's Wickedest City,"
Look,
1939 September 26
Folder 1, Item 2
"Bowron's Backers Exposed,"
The Los Angeles Club
Reporter,
Vol. 1 No. 8,
1938 September 15
Folder 1, Item 3
"Recall or Recovery?" Advertisement,
The Highland
Park Post Dispatch,
1938 September 9
Folder 1, Item 4
"Big Shots of The C.I.V.I.C."
The
Equalizer,
September 1937
