Adaline "Addie" Dickman Miller (July 26, 1859 — 1936) was an American college professor, a founder of the town of Ruskin, Florida, and the co-founder and vice-president of the town's Ruskin College. She patented a design for a dish washer and she was president of two different

temperance organizations The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or total abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emphasi ...

in Oregon.

Early life and education

Adaline "Addie" Dickman was born in

West Union, Iowa West Union is a city in Fayette County, Iowa, Fayette County, Iowa, United States. The population was 2,490 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the county seat of Fayette County. History Originally called Knob Prai ...

, to John Dickman and Lydia Jane (Newton) Dickman. She was raised on a farm in a nearby town. Although she had only intermittent schooling, she became a teacher at the age of 15. She went on to study at Western College (now Leander Clark College), focusing on Latin and the sciences and continuing to teach during her vacations. She graduated with a B.S. in 1881.

Early academic career

On leaving Western College, she took a position as chair of history and literature at Avalon College in Avalon, Missouri, later also teaching German. At the end of her first year, she married George McAnelly Miller, a former Chicago prosecuting attorney and professor of ancient languages at Avalon College. In 1883, Addie and George moved to Oregon, where both took positions at Philomath College in the town of

Philomath A philomath () is a lover of learning and studying. The term is from Greek (; "beloved", "loving", as in philosophy or philanthropy) and , (, ; "to learn", as in polymath). Philomathy is similar to, but distinguished from, philosophy in that ...

. Addie taught German and superintended the young women's department, while George was the college president. In 1886, when George ran for Congress, Addie took over as acting college president.

Writing and social activism

For a time in the late 1880s, the couple lived in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, where Addie gave up teaching for writing and working in the

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting Temperance (virtue), temperance or total abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and ...

. She served as president of the Oregon Temperance Alliance and for two years as president of the Portland

Woman's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program that "linked the religious and the secular through concerted and far ...

. For a few years, Addie edited the women's section of ''West Shore'', a Portland periodical. She also published a series of "Letters to Our Girls" in eastern magazines. In 1890, she invented and patented a dishwashing machine.

Ruskin College years

In 1907, the Millers and their four children moved to what is now Ruskin, Florida, where on August 7, 1908, Addie set up a post office; this date is taken to be the town's official founding day. There in 1910 the Millers founded

Ruskin College Ruskin College, originally known as Ruskin Hall, Oxford, is a higher education institution and part of the University of West London, in Oxford, England. It is not a Colleges of the University of Oxford, college of Oxford University. Named ...

, an outgrowth of the British Ruskin Hall Movement, which foregrounded socialist principles of the dignity of labor. Addie was vice-president of Ruskin College and George was president. By 1913 their school had 160 students. In 1919, the college burned down, although the Millers' house was spared and is now on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

; it currently houses the Ruskin Woman's Club. Addie died in 1936, surviving George by 17 years.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Addie Dickman 1859 births 1936 deaths American women academics 19th-century American women writers 19th-century American writers American women academic administrators People from West Union, Iowa Writers from Portland, Oregon American academic administrators People from Philomath, Oregon Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century