Miller, Emma Guffey, 1874-1970

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Emma (Guffey) Miller, Democratic Party leader, was born Mary Emma Guffey at Guffey Station, Pa., on July 6, 1874, the daughter of Barbaretta (Hough) and John Guffey. She graduated from Bryn Mawr College with an A.B. in history and political science in 1899. While traveling in Japan (1902) she met and married Carroll Miller (1875-1949). Miller's letters to her family (see #6-8) recount their courtship and marriage and the birth of their first child, William Gardner Miller, III. Twin sons, John Guffey and Carroll Jr., were born in 1908, son Joseph F. in 1912.

Active politically since her college days, Miller campaigned for Democratic candidates in 1920; in 1924 she was elected a delegate to the national convention, where, in a seconding speech for Alfred E. Smith (see #136), she appealed for religious tolerance and denounced the Ku Klux Klan. As a result, she received one-half vote for the presidential nomination, the first woman ever to do so. She helped organize the Pennsylvania Federation of Democratic Women, and spoke out for prohibition reform; her advocacy of disarmament forced her resignation from the Daughters of the American Revolution. In 1932 she was elected Democratic National Committeewoman from Pennsylvania, a post she held until her death. During the 1930s and 40s she also served as official hostess for her brother, Joseph F. Guffey, U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania (1935-1947). Miller remained in the background of political life, never running for nor accepting public office herself, though she felt strongly about women's right to do both. She was an active member of the National Woman's Party (Chairman, 1960-1965, and Life President, 1965-1970), and an outspoken advocate of the Equal Rights Amendment.

Miller died of a heart attack on February 23, 1970, and is buried with her husband in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Va.

More biographical information is available in this collection (see Series I). See also Notable American Women: The Modern Period (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1980), which includes a list of additional sources. Miller also gave papers to the Pennsylvania Room of the Carnegie Library (Pittsburgh) and the Slippery Rock State College Archives.

From the guide to the Papers, 1833, 1884-1972, (Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Miller, Emma Guffey, 1874-1970. Papers, 1833-1975 (bulk: 1884-1972) Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Collection, 1921-1961 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Friedan, Betty, 1921-2006. Papers, 1933-1985 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
creatorOf Miller, Emma Guffey, 1874-1970. Papers: Series I-II, 1833-1975 (inclusive). Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Papers of of Alma Lutz,1921-1961 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Kitchelt, Florence Ledyard Cross, 1874-1961. Papers, 1885-1961 (inclusive). Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Marks, Jeannette Augustus, 1875-1964. Papers, 1938-1959 (inclusive). Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
creatorOf Miller, Emma Guffey, 1874-1970. Papers: Series III-IV, 1900-1972 (inclusive) [microform]. Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Stevens, Doris, 1888-1963. Papers, 1884-1983 (inclusive), 1920-1960 (bulk). Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
creatorOf Miller, Emma Guffey, 1874-1970. Papers, 1833-1975 (inclusive), 1884-1972 (bulk). Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
creatorOf papers, 1935. New York State Historical Documents Inventory
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Addams, Jane, 1860-1935 person
associatedWith Alsop, Joseph, 1910-1989. person
associatedWith Armstrong, Florence A. (Florence Arzelia), 1881-1962 person
associatedWith Avery, Nina Belle Horton person
associatedWith Avery, Nina Belle Horton. person
associatedWith Barkley, Alben William, 1877-1956 person
associatedWith Blatt, Genevieve, 1913-1996 person
associatedWith Bowles, Chester, 1901-1986. person
associatedWith Breckinridge, Sophonisba Preston, 1866-1948 person
associatedWith Bryn Mawr College corporateBody
associatedWith Burns, James MacGregor person
associatedWith Burns, James MacGregor. person
associatedWith Carpenter, Liz person
associatedWith Clark, Frank Monore, 1915- person
associatedWith Clark, Frank Monroe, 1915- person
associatedWith Clark, Joseph S. person
associatedWith Clark, Joseph S. person
associatedWith Cross, Wilbur L. (Wilbur Lucius), 1862-1948 person
associatedWith Daniels, Josephus, 1862-1948 person
associatedWith Daughters of the American Revolution corporateBody
associatedWith Democratic National Committee (U.S.) corporateBody
associatedWith Democratic National Committee (U.S.). Women's Division corporateBody
associatedWith Democratic Party. Pennsylvania corporateBody
associatedWith Democratic Party (U.S.) corporateBody
associatedWith Dewson, Molly, 1874-1962 person
associatedWith Dirksen, Everett McKinley person
associatedWith Distinguished Daughters of Pennsylvania corporateBody
associatedWith Edwards, India person
associatedWith Farley, James A. (James Aloysius), 1888-1976. person
associatedWith Forrest, Wilbur person
associatedWith Friedan, Betty, 1921-2006 person
associatedWith Furness, Betty, 1916-1994 person
associatedWith Granaham, Kathryn Elizabeth, 1896? -1979 person
associatedWith Green, Theodore Francis, 1867-1966. person
associatedWith Guffey family family
associatedWith Guffey family. family
associatedWith Guffey, Joseph F., 1870-1959 person
associatedWith Harriman, W. Averell (William Averell), 1891-1896 person
associatedWith Harriman, W. Averell (William Averell), 1891-1986. person
associatedWith Hayden, Carl Trumbull, 1877-1972 person
associatedWith Hill, Lister, 1894-1984 person
associatedWith Humphrey, Hubert H. (Hubert Horatio), 1911-1978 person
associatedWith Johnson, Lady Bird, 1912- person
associatedWith Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973 person
associatedWith Johnson, Mordecai Wyatt, 1890- person
associatedWith Kefauver, Estes, 1903-1963 person
associatedWith Kennedy, Ethel, 1928- person
associatedWith Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 person
associatedWith Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963. person
associatedWith Kennedy, Robert F., 1925-1968 person
associatedWith Keyes, Frances Parkinson, 1885-1970 person
associatedWith Keyserling, Mary Dublin person
associatedWith Kitchelt, Florence Ledyard Cross, 1874-1961. person
associatedWith Krock, Arthur, 1886-1974. person
associatedWith Lausche, Frank John, 1895- person
associatedWith Loines, Hilda person
associatedWith Loines, Hilda. person
associatedWith Louchheim, Katie, 1903- person
associatedWith Lucy Stone League, Inc. corporateBody
associatedWith Lutz, Alma, 1890-1973 person
associatedWith Mann, Alexander, 1860-1948 person
associatedWith Marks, Jeannette Augustus, 1875-1964 person
associatedWith Matthews, Burnita Shelton, 1894-1988. person
associatedWith McAllister, Dorothy Smith, 1899-1983 person
associatedWith McBride, Mary Margaret, 1899-1976. person
associatedWith McCormack, John W., 1891-1980. person
associatedWith Mesta, Perle Skirvin, 1891- person
associatedWith Meyer, Agnes Elizabeth Ernst, 1887-1970. person
associatedWith Miller, Carroll, 1875-1949 person
associatedWith Miller family family
associatedWith Miller family. family
associatedWith Miller, Frieda Segelke, 1889-1973 person
associatedWith National Woman's Party corporateBody
associatedWith Norton, Mary Teresa, 1875-1959 person
associatedWith Owen, Ruth Bryan, 1885-1954 person
associatedWith Parisi, Angela R., 1914-1961 person
associatedWith Paul, Alice, 1885-1977 person
associatedWith Pennsylvania Federation of Democratic Women corporateBody
associatedWith Pepper, Claude, 1900- person
associatedWith Pepper, Claude, 1900-1989. person
associatedWith Perkins, Frances, 1880-1965. person
associatedWith Peterson, Esther Eggertsen, 1906-1997 person
associatedWith Pinchot, Cornelia Bryce, 1881-1960 person
associatedWith Pollitzer, Anita, 1894-1975 person
associatedWith Price, Margaret, 1912-1969 person
associatedWith Putnam, Elizabeth Lowell, 1862-1935 person
associatedWith Ralston, Cameron person
associatedWith Rayburn, Sam, 1882-1961 person
associatedWith Republican Party (Pa.) corporateBody
associatedWith Robb, Inez person
associatedWith Robb, Inez. person
associatedWith Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962 person
associatedWith Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945 person
associatedWith Ross, Nellie Tayloe, 1876-1977 person
associatedWith Sabin, Pauline Morton person
associatedWith Sabin, Pauline Morton. person
associatedWith Scandrett, Richard B. Jr., 1891-1969 person
associatedWith Schlesinger, Arthur M. (Arthur Meier), 1917-2007. person
associatedWith Sharpe, Mary Elizabeth, 1884-1985 person
associatedWith Slippery Rock State College corporateBody
associatedWith Sloan, Grace M. (Grace McCalmont), 1902-2001 person
associatedWith Smith, Alfred Emanuel, 1873-1944 person
associatedWith Smith, Corinna Lindon, 1876-1965. person
associatedWith Smith, Margaret Chase, 1897-1995. person
associatedWith Starrett, Agnes Lynch, 1899-1988 person
associatedWith Stevens, Doris, 1888-1963 person
associatedWith Stevenson, Adlai E. (Adlai Ewing), 1900-1965. person
associatedWith St. George, Katharine, 1894-1983 person
associatedWith Thomas, M. Carey (Martha Carey), 1857-1935. person
associatedWith Thompson, Malvina, d. 1953. person
associatedWith Truman, Bess Wallace person
associatedWith Truman, Bess Wallace, 1885-1982 person
associatedWith United States. National Recovery Administration. corporateBody
associatedWith United States. National Youth Administration. corporateBody
associatedWith United States. Work Projects Administration. corporateBody
associatedWith Varallo, Mary, 1897-1979 person
associatedWith Wagenhorst, Lewis H. (Lewis Hoch) person
associatedWith Wallace, Henry A. (Henry Agard), 1888-1965. person
associatedWith Wallace, Ilo Browne person
associatedWith Wallace, Ilo Browne. person
associatedWith Weisenfluh, Norman Naegeli, 1899- person
associatedWith Williams, G. Mennen, 1911-1988. person
associatedWith Wilson, Edith Bolling Galt, 1872-1961. person
associatedWith Women's Joint Legislative Commitee for Equal Rights corporateBody
associatedWith Women's Joint Legislative Committee for Equal Rights. corporateBody
associatedWith Women's Organization for National Prohibition Reform. corporateBody
associatedWith Women's Universal Movement. corporateBody
associatedWith Woodward, Ellen Sullivan, 1887-1971. person
associatedWith World Woman's Party. corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
Pennsylvania PA US
Japan 00 JP
People’s Republic of China 00 CN
Subject
American
Anti
Dairy farmers
Depressions
Elected officials
Equal rights amendments
Family records
Hate mail
New Deal, 1933-1939
Patronage, Political
Politics, Practical
Prohibition
Voyages and travels
Women
Women's rights
Women's Universal Movement
Occupation
Feminists
Political activists
Women's rights activists
Activity

Person

Birth 1874-07-06

Death 1970-02-23

Female

Americans

English

Information

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SNAC ID: 85688034