Juanita Ellsworth Miller (April 27, 1904 – August 17, 1970) was an American social worker and clubwoman, based in Los Angeles.
Juanita Ellsworth Miller | |
|---|---|
 Juanita Ellsworth Miller, from a 1928 publication | |
| Born | Juanita Ellsworth April 27, 1904 Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. |
| Died | August 17, 1970 (aged 66) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Social worker, clubwoman |
| Spouse | Loren Miller |
Early life and education
editEllsworth was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and raised in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Edward Thomas Ellsworth and Fannie C. Williams Ellsworth. Her mother was one of the founders of the Eastside Settlement House in Los Angeles.[1] She attended Jefferson High School in Los Angeles; she was one of seven Black graduates from Jefferson in her year, along with Ralph Bunche.[2]
She graduated from the University of Southern California in 1927.[3] She helped establish and lead the Delta Sigma Theta chapter at USC, and represented the western chapters of the sorority at its national meeting in 1926.[4] At one Delta event, she and journalist Fay M. Jackson, music director Roena Muckleroy Savage, and librarian Miriam Matthews were also members of the USC Delta chapter with Ellsworth.[5]
Career
editMiller was a social worker and relief administrator in Los Angeles.[6][7] She was the first Black administrator of a social agency in Los Angeles County.[8][9] She was dismissed from her county administrative role during personnel cuts and agency reorganization in 1940.[10][11] In the 1940s, she worked for housing programs the city of Los Angeles.[12]
Miller vice-president of the Los Angeles Civic League,[13] and a charter member of the Allied Arts League. She was a life member of the NAACP,[14][15] beginning with the junior branch of the Los Angeles NAACP in 1924,[16][17] and remained active in Delta Sigma Theta.[6] She was also involved in the YWCA.[4][18]
Personal life
editEllsworth married publisher and judge Loren Miller in 1933.[19] They had two sons, Loren Jr. and Edward.[20][21] Her husband died in 1967; she died in 1970, at the age of 66, in Los Angeles. A large collection of her husband's papers is held in the Huntington Library.[22]
References
edit- ^ Mounts, Barbara (1961-10-19). "Quiet Services Conducted for Mrs. Ellsworth". California Eagle. pp. 1, 4. Retrieved 2024-02-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Bunche becomes 'Mr. NAACP convention' himself". Los Angeles Tribune. 1949-07-16. p. 10. Retrieved 2024-02-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Reed, Mary E. (1925-04-24). "Clubs: Who's Who in the Production of 'The Star of Ethiopia': Miss Juanita Ellsworth". California Eagle. p. 5. Retrieved 2024-02-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Robinson, Fay (1926-04-16). "U.S.C. Delta Elected Head of Western Chapters". California Eagle. p. 9. Retrieved 2024-02-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "'Delta Rendezvous' Scores Success". California Eagle. 1924-05-09. p. 6. Retrieved 2024-02-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Prominent Deltas to be Honored at Presentation Tea at Home of Mrs. Bessie Burke, an Honoree". California Eagle. 1939-10-26. p. 4. Retrieved 2024-02-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Negro Work Forum Topic". The Southwest Wave. 1935-09-06. p. 4. Retrieved 2024-02-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Juanita Ellsworth Miller, Social Case Worker". California Eagle. 1939-01-19. p. 13. Retrieved 2024-02-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Jones, Lillian (1939-01-05). "Occupational Sketches: Juanita Ellsworth Miller, Social Case Auditor". California Eagle. p. 11. Retrieved 2024-02-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Fight Against 'Starvation Relief' Urged by Hawkins". California Eagle. 1940-02-22. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-02-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Express Concern Over Well Being of Negro Relief Clients". California Eagle. 1940-02-08. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-02-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Speed Up Housing Project in Furlong Tract; Families to be Aided by CHA". California Eagle. 1941-02-13. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-02-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Civic League Council Meets". California Eagle. 1931-11-20. p. 4. Retrieved 2024-02-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Mrs. Miller Urges Women to Join Fight". California Eagle. 1963-09-19. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-02-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "NAACP Life Member Banquet Honors Miller". California Eagle. 1964-10-22. p. 13. Retrieved 2024-02-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "When We Were Young". California Eagle. 1954-03-25. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-02-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "California N.A.A.C.P. Popularity Contest". The Crisi. 35 (11): 369. November 1928.
- ^ "Three Honorary Chairmen Named to Spearhead Drive". California Eagle. 1957-05-02. p. 10. Retrieved 2024-02-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Bridge Luncheon Honors Recent Bride". California Eagle. 1933-03-31. p. 6. Retrieved 2024-02-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Hassan, Amina (2015-09-22). Loren Miller: Civil Rights Attorney and Journalist. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-5266-0.
- ^ Negro who's who in California. San Francisco Public Library. 1948. p. 46 – via Internet Archive.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ "Miller (Loren) Papers". Huntington Library, via the Online Archive of California. Retrieved 2024-02-05.
External links
edit- "Dr. Dorothy Height, Dr. Vada Somerville, Juanita Miller, Louise Grooms, Eunice H. Carter, Mamie Davis and others at a gathering, Los Angeles, 1950s", a photograph in the UCLA Library Digital Collections
- "Tony Curtis, Sidney Poitier, Juanita Ellsworth Miller and two others, circa 1958", a photograph in the UCLA Library Digital Collections
- Harry H. Adams, "Juanita Ellsworth Miller and others, probably an NAACP event, Los Angeles, 1964" photograph in the UCLA Library Digital Collections
- Harry H. Adams, "Juanita Ellsworth, Los Angeles, 1956", a photograph in the Tom & Ethel Bradley Center Photographs collection at California State University, Northridge