http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8dr32b8 No online items Finding Aid to the Mike Miller Papers, MS 4139 Isaac R. Fellman, Lynda Letona, and Marie Silva Funding for processing this collection was provided by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. California Historical Society June 2019 678 Mission Street San Francisco, CA 94105 [email protected] URL: http://californiahistoricalsociety.org/ Finding Aid to the Mike Miller MS 4139 1 Papers, MS 4139 Contributing Institution: California Historical Society Title: Mike Miller papers Creator: Miller, Mike, 1937- Identifier/Call Number: MS 4139 Physical Description: 147 linear feet(133 record storage cartons) Date (inclusive): circa 1958-2012 Abstract: The Mike Miller papers document Miller's six decades as a community organizer, comprising institutional records, writings, and extensive subject files of the donor's research into the history and practice of organizing. Topics are wide-ranging and include the civil rights movements of the 1960s; the anti-urban renewal struggles of the 1960s and '70s; labor and left-wing movements from the 1970s to the present; the religious left; and community organizing as a grassroots model for civic engagement. The collection includes correspondence, research and position papers, outreach and training materials, drafts of Miller's work, public documents, and books. Language of Material: Materials primarily in English, with a limited amount in Spanish and Portuguese. Conditions Governing Access Collection is open for research. Immediate Source of Acquisition Purchased from Mike Miller, 2011. Arrangement The collection is divided into five series, roughly following Mike Miller's original filing scheme: 1) Organizational records; 2) Subject files; 3) Manuscripts and personal papers; 4) Audiovisual materials; and 5) Publications and ephemera. The Organizational records series is broken down into a number of subseries containing materials from various organizations with which Miller has worked. The Subject files series is likewise separated into many subseries, most of them reflecting Miller's own arrangement and labeling of his voluminous subject files. The Manuscripts series is broken down into four subseries, comprising Mike Miller's college papers, his manuscripts and articles, the materials he used as a university instructor, and his correspondence. Materials in the Audiovisual materials and Publications and ephemera series are unarranged. Biographical History Mike Miller was born in 1937 and first became involved in activism as a student at the University of California, Berkeley, where he majored in political science and sociology and acted as a founding member of the leftist student government faction SLATE. After 1962, Miller worked full-time for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, registering voters in Mississippi, among other accomplishments. In 1966, he accepted a job working for Saul Alinsky at the Industrial Areas Foundation, and in 1972 he returned to the Bay Area to begin the neighborhood organization and training work that has constituted the bulk of his career. With the Mission Coalition Organization (MCO), he worked to avert so-called urban renewal efforts, which in practice tended to break down neighborhoods that had historically been home to marginalized people. At the same time, the MCO participated in a Lyndon Johnson program called Model Cities, which was intended to fund and strengthen local, grassroots political power. As founder of the ORGANIZE! Training Center, Miller also began to train residents and union members in the organization techniques he had learned both from experience and from his work with Alinsky, going on to a sixty-year organizing career. Custodial History Materials were compiled by Mike Miller and stored in his home until they were purchased in 2011 by the California Historical Society. Preferred Citation [Identification of item, date]; Mike Miller papers, MS 4139; [box number, folder number]; California Historical Society. Processing Information Materials were left in their original folders when those folders were in good condition; folders that had deteriorated were replaced. Most folders were left undated, and their dates in the finding aid represent the broad circa dates of the entire collection; in a few cases, folders whose original date ranges were on their original labels have been assigned these narrower dates. A few subseries, all in the Organizational records series, were processed at a higher level due to their likely interest to researchers: Mission Coalition Organization, La Guardia Tenants' Association and other housing organizations, All Peoples' Coalition, and San Francisco Organizing Project. These subseries have been precisely dated and refoldered in legal-sized Finding Aid to the Mike Miller MS 4139 2 Papers, MS 4139 folders. Related Materials Although this series contains a subseries on the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the materials in it are limited and largely consist of photocopies. The bulk of Miller's records from his time with SNCC were donated to the University of Southern Mississippi . Scope and Contents The Mike Miller papers document Miller's six decades as a community organizer, comprising institutional records, writings, and extensive subject files of the donor's research into the history and practice of organizing. Topics are wide-ranging and include the civil rights movements of the 1960s; the anti-urban renewal struggles of the 1960s and '70s; labor and left-wing movements from the 1970s to the present; the religious left; and community organizing as a grassroots model for civic engagement. The collection includes correspondence, research and position papers, outreach and training materials, drafts of Miller's work, public documents, and books. The content of Miller's papers reflects his early involvement with the student civil rights organizations SLATE and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC); his work as the principal organizer for the Mission Coalition Organization (MCO), a grassroots coalition of approximately twenty-five community organizations that resisted top-down urban renewal efforts in San Francisco's predominantly Latino Mission District in the late '60s and early '70s; and his decades-long community organizing work as director of the San Francisco nonprofit ORGANIZE! Training Center (OTC), which he founded in 1972. The collection spans the years circa 1958 to 2012. Conditions Governing Use Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by Mike Miller were transferred to the California Historical Society (CHS) in 2011 by donor. Reproduction or publication of materials in this collection beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of CHS. Please contact [email protected]. Subjects and Indexing Terms Community organization -- United States Labor movement -- United States Urban renewal -- California -- San Francisco Civil rights movements -- United States Landlord and tenant -- United States Religion and politics -- United States Miller, Mike, 1937- Mission Coalition Organization (San Francisco, Calif.) Organize Training Center Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (U.S.) Finding Aid to the Mike Miller MS 4139 3 Papers, MS 4139 Organizational records circa 1958-2012 Mission Coalition Organization (MCO) circa 1958-2012 Organizational records circa 1958-2012 Physical Description: 56.5 linear feet (51 record storage cartons) Scope and Contents The Organizational records series contains primary source materials from Mike Miller's entire career as a community organizer. Of particular interest are the subseries for the Mission Coalition Organization (MCO), La Guardia Tenants' Association (LGTA) and other housing organizations, All Peoples' Coalition (APC), and San Francisco Organizing Project (SFOP), which contain large concentrations of correspondence, bylaws, petitions, polls, newsletters, fliers, meeting minutes, tenant interviews, and ephemera. These subseries present an unusually complete snapshot of community self-definition and advocacy. The subseries "Christians Supporting Community Organizing (CSCO) and other Marilyn Stranske projects" collects extensive materials related to Miller's colleague, the Evangelical organizer Marilyn Stranske, and her lifelong mission of faith-based advocacy. The ORGANIZE! Training Center (OTC) subseries is the largest of the group, and collects materials pertaining to Miller's organizing workshops and other training activities, as well as various administrative files. General Although this series contains a subseries on the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the materials in it are limited and largely consist of photocopies. The bulk of Miller's records from his time with SNCC were donated to the University of Southern Mississippi . Mission Coalition Organization (MCO) circa 1958-2012 Box 8, Folder 37 Recreation Committee 1972 Box 8, Folder 38 Health Committee 1972 Box 8, Folder 39 Consumer Affairs Committee 1971-1973 Box 8, Folder 40 Community Maintenance Committee 1972-1973 Box 8, Folder 41 Childcare Committee 1972-1973 Box 8, Folder 43 Employment Committee 1971-1973 Box 8, Folder 44 Mission Coalition Organization 1971-1973 Box 9, Folder 13 Mission Coalition Organization 1973, undated Box 9, Folder 14 Steering Committee 1972, undated Box 9, Folder 15 Education Committee 1972, undated Box 9, Folder 16 Delegates Council 1971-1973, undated Box 9, Folder 17 Steering Committee 1971-1972