Miller, Kelly, 1863-1939

Kelly Miller (1863-1939), an African American intellectual and professor, was born in South Carolina in 1863, just a few months after the Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in the South. As a child Miller expressed a penchant for mathematics, and he was sent for special education in a Presbyterian-sponsored school. After secondary school, he received a scholarship to study at Howard University. He graduated from Howard in 1886 and became the first African American student to enroll at John Hopkins University in Baltimore. There he studied mathematics, physics, and astronomy. Although unable to complete his education due to financial constraints, he taught mathematics in high school and eventually became a professor of mathematics at Howard University. Miller was an educator and administrator, a commentator on race in America, and a widely published journalist. He is recognized as a prolific African American pamphleteer, producing dozens of essays published by him or by other African American publishers. He edited Kelly Miller's Monographic Magazine, and he wrote a half dozen books. Miller served Howard University in multiple capacities from 1890-1934, teaching both mathematics and sociology. He was dean of the College of Arts and Sciences for more than a dozen years, during a period of dramatic expansion of the University. He married Annie Mae Miller (1869-1950) of Baltimore, Maryland in 1894, and they had five children: Kelly Miller, Jr. (a graduate of Howard University medical school), Isaac Newton Miller, Paul Butler Miller, May Miller, and Irene Miller. Kelly Miller died December 29, 1939.