Rev. Kenneth Dexter Miller papers

Kenneth Dexter Miller, a Presbyterian minister, was a leader in interdenominational efforts to make churches responsive to urban needs, especially the needs of ethnic minorities. He received an A.B. degree from Princeton University in 1908 and a B.D. from Union Theological Seminary in 1912. After graduation from the seminary, Miller was chosen to participate in a one-year study program in Bohemia. The time spent in Bohemia was designed as preparation for work among Czech immigrants in the United States. While Miller was living in Bohemia, he became acquainted with Thomas Garrigue Masaryk (who later became president of Czechoslovakia). Miller returned to the United States in 1913, and until 1917 he directed social and educational programs at the Jan Hus Neighborhood House in New York. Miller was employed by the YMCA War Work Council from 1917 to 1919 and was assigned to work with a group of Czech legionnaires. He traveled with the Czech troops as they marched across Siberia in an offensive effort for the Allies in World War I. Miller then returned to America to continue his work with the Presbyterian Church. From 1919 to 1928 Miller worked as part of the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions, assisting Slavic immigrants in the United States. During this time he also traveled abroad to investigate conditions in Czechoslovakia and Eastern Europe, and to initiate programs of relief when necessary. Miller served as a minister in a New Jersey church from 1928 to 1936. From 1936 to 1939 he served as Executive Secretary of the Presbytery of Detroit. In 1937 he was a founding member of the Masaryk Institute of New York, which was established to promote cultural and educational exchange between the United States and Czechoslovakia. Miller served as head of the New York City Mission Society from 1939 to 1955. In 1946 Miller took a one-year leave of absence from the Mission Society to work in Prague as chairman of the American Relief for Czechoslovakia program. Miller was appointed European Director of the work of the American Fund for Czechoslovak Refugees in 1955. He retired several years later and died on 6 July 1968 in Livingston, New Jersey, at the age of 81.

In 1931 Miller was the first American to be awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from The Hussite Theolgical Faculty of the Charles University in Prague. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Princeton University in 1956. Miller was also awarded the highest decoration of the Order of White Lion of the Czechoslovak Republic of Masaryk and Benes. He authored many articles and several books.