Guide to the Horace James McMillan Papers CEMA 7

Finding aid prepared by 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
University of California, Santa Barbara, Davidson Library, Department of Special Collections
Santa Barbara, California, 93106-9010
(805) 893-5444
special@library.ucsb.edu
1997


Title: Horace James McMillan Papers
Identifier/Call Number: CEMA 7
Contributing Institution: University of California, Santa Barbara, Davidson Library, Department of Special Collections
Language of Material: English
Physical Description: 7.0 boxes
Date (inclusive): 1946-1988
Shelf location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
General Physical Description note: Three linear feet; six Hollinger boxes

Provenance

Donated by Horace James McMillan, November 1993

Restrictions

None.

Publication Rights

Copyright resides with UC Regents

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Horace James McMillan Papers, CEMA 7, Special Collections, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Biographical Sketch

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 has made indelible marks in the community. As a local political activist at the front-line of the struggle for civil rights, McMillan's experience provides 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.

SCOPE NOTE

The Horace J. McMillan Papers consists of nine series distributed in six 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.
The Biographical and Personal Information series consists of two folders and a scrapbook. They contain a family tree of the McMillans, newspaper articles about him and his family, typed notes of incidents of discrimination when he applied to medical school, and other materials related to him. The scrapbook, which was donated by McMillan’s daughter, Yvonne Sawyer, includes photos, memorabilia, booklets, events and correspondence of family and friends.
The Civil Rights and Civic Activities series is the largest and perhaps most important of all the series. In it one finds the proposals McMillan wrote to the city government on the establishment of various public agencies to deal with discrimination and poverty, letters and speeches on civil rights, and materials related to his various civic activities.
The Letters to Editors series consists of drafts and published versions of McMillan's many letters to newspapers regarding civil rights issues.
The Newspaper Clippings series is a compilation of the extensive, though not systematic, collection of newspaper articles, especially from the Los Angeles Times and Santa Barbara News-Press, on civil rights-related issues.
The Writings and Speeches series includes drafts of unpublished writings and speeches.
The Subject Files series contains brochures, directories and other materials that McMillan collected for reference.
The Photographs series consists of original and reproduced photographs of McMillan and family.
The Correspondence series contains letters to and from McMillan on various topics not covered elsewhere in the collection.
The Audio/Video Material series has only one item, a film of super 8mm format on Santa Barbara.

Related Collections

Santa Barbara African American Oral History Project (including a transcribed oral history interview with McMillan by Ranford Hopkins in 1988-1989); Anita J. Mackey Papers (African American social worker and civic leader in Santa Barbara).

 

Biographical and Personal Information

Box 1, Folder 1

Biographical Information 1946-1988

Box 1, Folder 2

Martin Luther King Award 1986

Box 7, Volume Binder Box

Scrapbook 1940-2005

 

Civil Rights and Civic Activities

Box 1, Folder 3

Health Maintenance Organization Proposal 1973

Box 1, Folder 4

Housing 1966-1968

Box 1, Folder 5

Information Center Material 1967

Box 1, Folder 6

Letters and Reports 1965-1968

Box 1, Folder 7

Proposal for a Human Resource Center for Santa Barbara 1968

Box 2, Folder 1

Santa Barbara Citizens' Advisory Committee on Housing and Urban Improvement 1967-1968

Box 2, Folder 2-4

Santa Barbara Citizens' Information Committee on Economic Opportunity 1966

Box 2, Folder 5

Santa Barbara City Housing Authority 1969

Box 2, Folder 6

Santa Barbara Community Health Task Force 1974

Box 2, Folder 7-12

Santa Barbara Mayor's Advisory Committee on Human Relations 1967-68

Box 3, Folder 1

Santa Barbara Mayor's Advisory Committee on Human Relations 1967-68

Box 3, Folder 2

Santa Barbara Westside Neighborhood Council 1969

Box 3, Folder 3

UCSB Chancellor's Special Committee On Social-Political Grievances 1969

Box 3, Folder 4

Urban Renewal 1958-1967

Box 3, Folder 5

Workable Program for Community Improvement 1967

 

Letters to Editors

Box 3, Folder 6-7

General 1966-1990

Box 4, Folder 1

General 1966-1990

Box 4, Folder 2

Race and Housing 1961-63

Box 4, Folder 3

Casandra Young Story 1968

 

Newspaper Clippings

Box 4, Folder 4

Anti-Poverty 1966-1969

Box 4, Folder 5-7

Civil Rights 1966-1992

Box 4, Folder 8

Elks Lodge Controversy 1989-1990

Box 5, Folder 1

Ethnic Issues 1989

Box 5, Folder 2

General 1984-1988

Box 5, Folder 3

Hope Ranch Racial Query 1968

Box 5, Folder 4

Housing 1963-1968

Box 5, Folder 5

Reagan Administration 1981-1988

Box 5, Folder 6

Santa Barbara City Governmental Offices 1966-1974

 

Writings & Speeches

Box 5, Folder 7

Drafts of Letters and Speeches 1968-1989

Box 6, Folder 1

Martin Luther King Day Speech 1986

Box 6, Folder 2

Notes on Watergate 1970

Box 6, Folder 3

Trinity Lutheran Church Speech 1968

Box 6, Folder 4

"What One Should Know," 1968

 

Subject File

Box 6, Folder 5

Directory of Santa Barbara Health, Education, and Welfare Resources 1967

Box 6, Folder 6

Goleta Valley Community Hospital 1991

Box 6, Folder 7

Health Maintenance Organization 1967

Box 6, Folder 8

Human Resources Names 1968

Box 6, Folder 9

Resume of Lemmon McMillan, Jr. 1968

Box 6, Folder 10

Santa Barbara City Government & Social Services Directories 1967

Box 6, Folder 11

Santa Barbara Community Service Center 1966-69

Box 6, Folder 12

UCSB Educational Opportunity Program 1988

 

Correspondence

Box 6, Folder 13

Miscellaneous 1967-1982

Box 6, Folder 14

Outgoing 1967-1990

Box 6, Folder 15

Santa Barbara Health Services 1975-1976

 

Photographs

Box 6, Folder 16

Photographs and Negatives n.d.

 

Audio and Video Material

 

Audio

Cassette A4604/CS

Horace McMillan Tape 1 Session 1 11-29-1988

Cassette A4605/CS

Horace McMillan Tape 2 Session 2

Cassette A4606/CS

SBAACOHP Dorothy Wright & Eugenia Thomas w/ R. B. Hopkins 09-08-1983

Cassette A4607/CS

SBAACOHP Dorothy Wright & Eugenia Thomas w/ R. B. Hopkins, Copy 2 09-18-1983

Cassette A4608/CS

McMillan, End sess. 2 & all session 3 undated

Cassette A4609/CS

SBAACOHP Dorothy Wright & Eugenia Thomas w/ R.B. Hopkins

Cassette A4610/CS

SBAACOHP Dorothy Wright & Eugenia Thomas w/ R.B. Hopkins, Copy 2 09-29-1983

Cassette A4611/CS

Horace McMillan session 4 undated

Cassette A4612/CS

Horace McMillan session 5 02-21-1983

Cassette A4613/CS

Horace McMillan session 7 04-04-1989

Cassette A4614/CS

Horace McMillan session 9 04-11-1989

 

Video

Box 6, Folder 17

Super 8 mm film "Santa Barbara...," 1957-1958

Film V0545

Santa Barbara the Beautiful ... the Nonbeautiful Homes in Santa Barbara owned by Negroes 1957-1958 ?

Film V2222

St. Paul A.M.E. Church Bishop Frank Cummings ca 1960s

Film V2223

NAACP Protest of Birmingham 1963

DVD V4638

Standing up by sitting down 09-21-2009