Willie J. Miller Papers

Papers of Willie J. Miller (1902-1996), a native of Yazoo City, Mississippi, and a resident of Jackson, Mississippi, who established the Mississippi Enterprise, a weekly newspaper targeting Mississippi African-Americans in 1938. The forerunner of the paper was the Mississippi Weekly begun by Julia Hibbler Miller, Miller's first wife. The paper was sent to St. Louis for printing during the early days of its publication history. In the 1950s, editions of the Mississippi Enterprise were also published in Meridian, Vicksburg, Greenville and St. Louis. Apparently materials generated from the early production years of the newspaper are no longer extant. The papers include manuscripts of articles, press releases, obituaries, advertising copy, photographs, financial records, newspapers and other materials, primarily from the years 1974-1988. Photographs are those collected for printing in the paper and these document African American events, institutions, issues and personalities. The textual materials in the newspaper files also document national, state and local African American history, including materials on events, issues and personalities. The papers also contain some general documentation of non-African- American historical events and personalities.