Neville Miller, American lawyer Member American, Federal, District of Columbia, Federal Communications (past president), Kentucky, Louisville (past president), Kentucky bar associations, Washington Planning and Civic Association (trustee).
Background
His father, Shackelford Miller, was Chief Justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals (the highest state appellate court at the time). Miller practiced law in Louisville with his father and brother, Shackelford Miller, Junior., in the firm Miller and Miller, and was elected president of the Kentucky Bar Association in 1924.
Education
Bachelor of Arts, Princeton, 1916. Juris Doctor, Harvard, 1920.
Career
He was valedictorian of his 1912 class at Louisville Male High School, and earned a bachelor"s degree from Princeton University in 1916 and a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1920. However, he primarily taught law during this time, and became the first dean of the University of Louisville School of Law in 1930. After being active in the party for years, he was narrowly elected mayor as a Democrat in 1933, ending 15 years of Republican dominance of the office.
He led the city during the worst years of the Great Depression and helped reorganize city finances for the changing times.
Miller is best known as the "flood mayor" for his leadership during the Ohio River flood of 1937, the worst in the city"s history. He directed evacuations and relief efforts and made nationwide appeals for donations and volunteers over the radio.
He practiced communications law in Washington, District of Columbia from 1945 until his retirement in 1974. He also served as director of the Louisville Water Company and on the boards of the Louisville Free Public Library, the Park Board and the Civil Service Board.
He was buried in Cave Hill Cemetery.
Achievements
Membership
Member American, Federal, District of Columbia, Federal Communications (past president), Kentucky, Louisville (past president), Kentucky bar associations, Washington Planning and Civic Association (trustee). Clubs: Ivy (Princeton).
Connections
Married Katherine Castleman Wilson, September 20, 1924. Children: Barbara Neville, Gale, Katherine Wilson, Mary Welman.