Miller, William M., Sr. and Anna Mae Stuart

William M. Miller, Sr. (1872-1920), born in Kentucky, was a lawyer. In 1902, he arrived in Madison, WI, where he had been promised the position of Advisor to Governor Robert M. LaFollette, Sr. But after his arrival, Miller was not allowed to practice law in Wisconsisn, and his job title was not that of Advisor but rather messenger.

Anna Mae Stuart (1875-1963), a school teacher from Kentucky, came to Madison in 1902 to marry William Miller. They were among the first African American residents of Madison.

The Millers were fairly well off; according to their granddaughter, Betty Banks, the Millers owned their own home as well as a boarding house and a summer home, employing a cook, nanny, and housekeeper. The boarding house was used to lodge African Americans who were new arrivals from the South.

In the Betty Banks interview (in The People's Stories of South Madison in the State of Wisconsin Collection, Betty Banks speaks of the Millers as civil rights activists: William Miller was a friend of W. E. B. DuBois, who would often visit the Miller home. William Miller started the Book Lover's Club, a precursor to the Madison NAACP. He helped found the St. Paul AME Church in Madison and was a member of the Niagara Movement. Anna Mae spoke before the Wisconsin Legislature on women's and children's issues. At the age of 86, Anna Mae Miller took part in the sit-in at the Wisconsin Capitol Building in support of the bill that would eliminate housing discrimination in Wisconsin.

For more see "Madison sit-in enters 4th day," Corpus Christi Times, 8/03/1961, p. 5.