Oxford City Council and Hamilton YWCA Honor LWV-Oxford President

Sibyl Harris Miller, Co-President for Organization, League of Women Voters of Oxford, was recently honored by the Oxford City Council with a proclamation read by Mayor Kate Rousmaniere and presented to Sibyl in celebration of her life-long commitment to social justice, both as a professional and as a volunteer.

The proclamation was in recognition of Miller's receiving two 2019 awards from the Hamilton YWCA: The Outstanding Woman of Achievement Award and The Dr. Julia Goodman Award. Goodman, the first woman medical doctor in Butler County, was the founder of the YWCA in Hamilton in 1900. The mission of the organization is to eliminate racism, empower women, and promote peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all. In her acceptance speech at the YWCA awards banquet at the Courtyard Marriott in Hamilton on March 20, Sibyl stated, "The most meaningful civil rights work that I was able to do in the 1960s was organized by the national office of the YWCA. They trained college students on non-violent philosophy and tactics, and sent us to different parts of the South to do voter registration. We helped many people register to vote for the first time, and I gained a life-changing exposure to the brutal and brazen racism, battering our country."

After graduating from Miami University ('66), Sibyl her husband, William Miller (MU '67 ) moved to New York City where they earned graduate degrees, established careers in social service, and raised their two children. Thirty-five years later, the Millers returned to Butler County and began raising 100%-grass-fed beef on their Certified-Organic Harris-Miller Farm. Sibyl also served for ten years as the Executive Director of the YWCA in Hamilton. Her husband is the Vice President of the Ohio Farmers Union and advocates in Washington, DC and in Columbus for family farms. Both Millers are active in NAACP and the League of Women Voters of Oxford.